Things to do · Indoors

Things to Do in New York on a Rainy Day

80 verified experiences, each checked against its official source.

Rain is no reason to stay in. New York's indoor life runs deep: an hour inside a restored tenement apartment, the Queens Museum's model of the entire city, the Transit Museum's vintage subway cars in a real station, and small, odd collections you won't find anywhere else.

Everything here happens under a roof. Some need booking ahead, especially guided tours, which run at set times; others you can walk into. Pair one with a long lunch nearby and the weather won't matter.

Art & Culture

The tree-lined street front of Matthew Marks Gallery in the Chelsea gallery district — Ajay Suresh · CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CHELSEA, MANHATTAN

A Chelsea Gallery Crawl

World-class contemporary art, gallery after gallery, all of it free to enter.

Free · A good afternoon — two to three hours.

Carnegie Hall's brick and terracotta facade lit gold at dusk on the corner of 57th Street and Seventh Avenue, flags over the entrance — Photo: Jeff Goldberg / Esto, courtesy of Carnegie Hall

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

A Concert at Carnegie Hall

An evening in the 1891 hall on 57th Street, where the upper tiers are cheaper and the sound is famous.

$$ · About 2 hours.

Official site ↗

Black-and-white view of the Paris Theater marquee on West 58th Street, with a crowd under the canopy — DavidSchwartzNetflix · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

A Film at the Paris Theater

Manhattan's last single-screen cinema, across from the Plaza, with a balcony, a curtain and 35mm series.

$ · About 2.5 hours.

Official site ↗

Inking up a cylinder press in the letterpress shop at the Center for Book Arts — Karen Horton · CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FLATIRON & NOMAD, MANHATTAN

A Letterpress Workshop at the Center for Book Arts

Set your name in metal type and pull your own prints on vintage presses, in one four-hour workshop off Broadway.

$$$$ · Four hours, one session.

Official site ↗

BAM's Peter Jay Sharp Building lit up at night on Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene — Courtesy of BAM

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN

A Night at BAM

Brooklyn's multi-arts center, home of the Next Wave festival, with the Howard Gilman Opera House, the Harvey Theater and BAM Rose Cinemas.

$$ · About 2 to 3 hours.

Official site ↗

Hands on a red accordion — Illustrative photo · Yan Krukau / Pexels

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN

A Night at Barbès

A Park Slope back room where the music changes country every night and the hat gets passed.

$ · About 1 to 2 hours.

Official site ↗

A crowd lined up at night outside Metrograph's glowing windows — Photo: Mettie Ostrowski, courtesy of Metrograph

LOWER EAST SIDE, MANHATTAN

A Night at the Metrograph

A two-screen Lower East Side cinema of 35mm rarities, a bookshop and a bar upstairs, made for a whole evening.

$ · About 2.5 hours with a drink and a film.

Official site ↗

The Village Vanguard's red awning and entrance on Seventh Avenue South at night — Alwin Tong · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

A Night at the Village Vanguard

The most storied basement in jazz, in continuous operation since 1935.

$$$ · About 2 hours for a set and a drink.

Official site ↗

Audience judges holding up scorecards, a 9.8 among them, at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam — Courtesy of Nuyorican Poets Cafe

EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

A Nuyorican Poetry Slam

Poetry as a contact sport: Monday slams on the Bowery and a monthly Final Friday bracket in Loisaida.

$ · About 2 hours.

Official site ↗

A crowd with raised hands in front of a lit stage — Illustrative photo · Jeremy Li / Pexels

Brooklyn

A Show at The Bell House

A former Gowanus warehouse where national comics, live podcasts and Brooklyn variety nights share the stage.

$$ · About 2 hours.

Official site ↗

The dark-painted facade of Smoke Jazz & Supper Club on Broadway, with its name across the top — Jim.henderson · CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN

A Supper Set at Smoke

An Upper West Side supper club where week-long residencies get recorded live for the house label.

$$$ · About 2 hours with dinner and a set.

Official site ↗

The brick facade of the Louis Armstrong House on a residential street in Corona, Queens — Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CORONA, QUEENS

A Visit to Louis Armstrong's House in Corona

Satchmo's own Queens home, kept as he and Lucille lived in it and seen on small guided tours.

$ · About 1.5 hours with the exhibition.

Official site ↗

A band performing under red stage lights at Joe's Pub, seen from the audience — Elwynor · CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Manhattan

An Intimate Show at Joe's Pub

The Public Theater's cabaret room, where the bill swings from downtown performance art to Broadway voices.

$$ · About 1.5 hours.

Official site ↗

Anthology Film Archives' red-brick former courthouse at Second Avenue and East 2nd Street, 2026 — Ajay Suresh · CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

Avant-Garde Cinema at Anthology Film Archives

A former courthouse on Second Avenue devoted since 1970 to the films no one else will show.

$ · About 2 hours.

Official site ↗

The Birdland marquee and storefronts on West 44th Street in daylight, 2026 — Ajay Suresh · CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

HELL'S KITCHEN, MANHATTAN

Big Bands and Cabaret at Birdland

The jazz club named for Charlie Parker, with a supper-club main room and a cabaret stage downstairs.

$$$ · About 1.5 to 2 hours for a show and dinner.

Official site ↗

Close-up of the keys of a gold saxophone — Illustrative photo · Caique Araujo / Pexels

HARLEM, MANHATTAN

Bill's Place on Swing Street

A Harlem brownstone speakeasy room where saxophonist Bill Saxton plays two sets every weekend.

$$ · About 1.5 hours per seating.

Official site ↗

Theater signs and billboards crowding Times Square in the Broadway theater district — Jailyn Funn / Pexels

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

Broadway the Smart Way: Lotteries and Rush

How to see Broadway for a fraction of the price: daily digital lotteries and rush, through official channels.

$$ · About 2.5 to 3 hours for the show.

Official site ↗

Lillias White singing on the 54 Below stage under blue and violet light, with her band behind her — Tony Award® winner Lillias White. Photo by Nina Westervelt.

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

Broadway Voices at 54 Below

Broadway's own supper club, where stars, songwriters and newcomers sing a few feet from your table.

$$$ · About 1.5 to 2 hours with dinner.

Official site ↗

The canopied East 76th Street entrance of the Carlyle hotel, home of Café Carlyle, with potted topiaries and holiday wreaths — CVB · CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

UPPER EAST SIDE, MANHATTAN

Cabaret at Café Carlyle

The Carlyle hotel's supper-club room, with seasonal headliners singing to a hundred people at dinner.

$$$$ · About 2.5 hours with dinner and the show.

Official site ↗

A microphone on a dim basement stage — Illustrative photo · Katrien Grevendonck / Pexels

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN

Comedy in the Basement at Union Hall

A Park Slope bar with indoor bocce upstairs and Brooklyn's alt-comedy scene in the basement.

$ · About 1.5 to 2 hours with a drink and bocce.

Official site ↗

The Nitehawk Prospect Park marquee on the restored Pavilion theater — Kermitslaw · CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN

Dinner and a Movie at Nitehawk

Brooklyn's dine-in cinema, with cocktails at your seat, midnight cult films and themed menus.

$$ · About 2.5 hours.

Official site ↗

A full house at Dizzy's Club, the band lit blue against the windows over Columbus Circle — Lawrence Sumulong / Jazz at Lincoln Center

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN

Dizzy's Club Above Columbus Circle

Jazz played in front of a wall of glass over Central Park, in Jazz at Lincoln Center's own club.

$$$ · About 1.5 hours per set.

Official site ↗

David Geffen Hall across the Lincoln Center plaza fountain, 2024 — D. Benjamin Miller · CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN

Dudamel's First Season at the New York Philharmonic

Gustavo Dudamel's first season in the orchestra's rebuilt hall, where the audience wraps around the stage.

$$ · About 2 hours.

Official site ↗

The white clapboard Edgar Allan Poe Cottage in Poe Park on the Grand Concourse, its porch edged with flowers — Courtesy of The Bronx County Historical Society

Bronx

Edgar Allan Poe's Last Home in the Bronx

The small Bronx cottage where Poe spent his last years and his wife Virginia died, now a literary center.

$ · About 45 minutes.

Official site ↗

NYFF64 festival banners lining the sidewalk outside Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center — Courtesy of Film at Lincoln Center

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN

Film at Lincoln Center and the New York Film Festival

The New York Film Festival's home, with year-round retrospectives and premieres across West 65th Street.

$ · About 2.5 hours.

Official site ↗

The Juilliard School building on West 65th Street with its blue Juilliard banner — Kidfly182 · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN

Free and Low-Cost Performances at Juilliard

The next generation of performers on stage at Lincoln Center, with many shows free this season.

Free · About 1.5 to 2.5 hours.

Official site ↗

Two empty chairs on a dark stage under spotlights — Illustrative photo · Av E / Pexels

EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

Improv at the UCB Theatre

Long-form improv in the basement theater where the Upright Citizens Brigade restarted its New York life.

$ · About 1 hour per show.

Official site ↗

A small band on a candlelit club stage — Illustrative photo · cottonbro studio / Pexels

TRIBECA, MANHATTAN

Jazz Below the Roxy at The Django

A brick-vaulted cellar under a Tribeca hotel, with two sets of live jazz most nights.

$$$ · About 1.5 hours per set.

Official site ↗

A corridor washed in magenta light — Illustrative photo · Jan van der Wolf / Pexels

TRIBECA, MANHATTAN

La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela's Dream House

A Tribeca room of continuous sound and colored light by La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela, in its 33rd year.

$ · 20 minutes to an hour; there is no set length.

Official site ↗

A quartet playing on the small, crowded bandstand inside Smalls Jazz Club, photographed from the audience in 2025 — Overseesaw · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

Late Sets at Smalls

A Village basement where working New York jazz musicians play from early evening into the small hours.

$$ · About 1.5 hours per set; longer if you stay for the late jam.

Official site ↗

IFC Center's marquee and facade on Sixth Avenue at West 3rd Street, 2024 — BruceSchaff · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

GREENWICH VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

Midnight Movies at IFC Center

Independent premieres, director Q&As and weekend midnight cult films in the old Waverly theater.

$ · About 2 to 2.5 hours.

Official site ↗

Visitors exploring an exhibition gallery of screens and installations at the Museum of the Moving Image — Jason "Textfiles" Scott · CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ASTORIA, QUEENS

Museum of the Moving Image

Astoria's museum of film, television and games, with hands-on galleries and a cinema for classics and new work.

$ · About 2 hours; longer with a screening.

Official site ↗

A saxophonist playing in warm stage light — Illustrative photo · Yan Krukau / Pexels

FLATIRON & NOMAD, MANHATTAN

New Music at The Jazz Gallery

A fifth-floor nonprofit loft where new jazz gets its first hearing, founded by Roy Hargrove and friends.

$$ · About 1.5 hours per set.

Official site ↗

The David H. Koch Theater's auditorium seen from the fourth ring before a New York City Ballet performance — DEGA MD · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN

New York City Ballet for $30

Balanchine's company in its own theater, with $30 rush tickets for anyone aged 13 to 30.

$$ · About 2.5 hours.

Official site ↗

A double bass played in a dim jazz room — Illustrative photo · Maor Attias / Pexels

WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

Piano and Bass at Mezzrow

The hushed piano room down the block from Smalls, made for duos, trios and listening up close.

$$ · About 1.5 hours per set.

Official site ↗

A row of old clothbound books — Illustrative photo · Suzy Hazelwood / Pexels

EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

Readings at KGB Bar

A red, poster-covered bar on East 4th Street where New York's writers read most nights of the week.

Free · About 1.5 hours.

Official site ↗

Film Forum's marquee and glass-block entrance on West Houston Street at dusk — Photo: Peter Aaron/OTTO, courtesy of Film Forum

GREENWICH VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

Repertory Nights at Film Forum

A nonprofit four-screen cinema since 1970, known for its repertory double bills and new restorations.

$ · About 2 to 3 hours for a film or double feature.

Official site ↗

A jazz drum kit under blue light — Illustrative photo · Yan Krukau / Pexels

BEDFORD–STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN

Saturday Jazz at Sistas' Place

A Bed-Stuy community coffeehouse where Saturday nights mean a serious jazz band and a room of regulars.

$$ · About 2 to 3 hours for both sets.

Official site ↗

A singer in a spotlight on a dark stage — Illustrative photo · Alena Darmel / Pexels

HELL'S KITCHEN, MANHATTAN

Sing-Along Nights at Don't Tell Mama

A Restaurant Row piano bar and twin cabaret rooms where the staff sing and the theater crowd joins in.

$$ · About 1.5 to 2 hours.

Official site ↗

A microphone in front of a brick wall — Illustrative photo · Aaron Johnson / Pexels

GRAMERCY & UNION SQUARE, MANHATTAN

Stand-Up at The Stand

A Union Square comedy club whose lineups mix late-night TV regulars with the comics they came up with.

$$ · About 1.5 hours per show.

Official site ↗

The stone Gothic facade of Abyssinian Baptist Church on West 138th Street in Harlem — DennisInAmsterdam · CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

HARLEM, MANHATTAN

Sunday Worship at Abyssinian Baptist Church

Join a historic Harlem congregation, founded in 1808, for Sunday worship as a guest rather than a spectator.

Free · Allow the whole morning and stay for the full service.

Official site ↗

A vintage microphone on a stand — Illustrative photo · Clement Lepetit / Pexels

Citywide

Telling Stories at a Moth StorySLAM

Ten names from a hat, five minutes each, true stories with no notes: The Moth's open-mic nights.

$ · About 2 hours.

Official site ↗

A first-floor room at the Merchant's House Museum set for dinner, with red drapes, a chandelier and period furniture — Epicgenius · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Manhattan

The Merchant's House Museum

A 19th-century family home with its original furnishings intact, and a hidden passage from the early Underground Railroad.

$ · 45 to 60 minutes self-guided; 75 minutes guided.

Official site ↗

The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center at night, its arched windows lit from within — Lydia Liu · CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

UPPER WEST SIDE, MANHATTAN

The Met Opera on Rush Tickets

A night under the Met's chandeliers for $25, if you know how the rush tickets work.

$ · About 3 to 4 hours, depending on the opera.

Official site ↗

The restored sanctuary of the Museum at Eldridge Street, its great round window glowing above the ark — Courtesy of the Museum at Eldridge Street

CHINATOWN, MANHATTAN

The Museum at Eldridge Street

The Museum at Eldridge Street, in a restored 1887 synagogue: the first grand house of worship built by Eastern European Jewish immigrants in North America.

$ · About an hour with a docent tour.

Official site ↗

The Museum of Modern Art's main entrance on West 53rd Street, under its lit canopy — The Museum's main entrance on West 53rd Street.© 2023 The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Photo: Noah Kalina

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

The Museum of Modern Art

Starry Night, the water lilies, and the sculpture garden — the modern canon under one roof.

$$ · About 3 hours; the devoted stay longer.

Official site ↗

The Panorama of the City of New York at the Queens Museum, a vast scale model of Manhattan's skyline and the surrounding boroughs — OptimumPx · CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CORONA, QUEENS

The Panorama of the City of New York

All five boroughs in miniature: a 9,335-square-foot scale model of the city built for the 1964 World's Fair.

$ · About an hour for the Panorama; longer with the galleries.

Official site ↗

The fieldstone Van Cortlandt House seen across a lawn under bare trees in Van Cortlandt Park — Epicgenius · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

RIVERDALE & KINGSBRIDGE, BRONX

The Van Cortlandt House Museum

A 1749 stone manor house in Van Cortlandt Park, free for Bronx residents, with Saturday educator-led tours.

$ · About an hour.

Official site ↗

St. Ann's Warehouse, the brick former Tobacco Warehouse, beneath the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn Bridge Park — Wgreaves · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

DUMBO, BROOKLYN

Theater at St. Ann's Warehouse

International theater inside an 1860 tobacco warehouse, with the Brooklyn Bridge lit up outside the door.

$$ · About 2 to 3 hours with a drink beforehand.

Official site ↗

Eileen Myles performing at the Poetry Project's 60th Anniversary Celebration in St. Mark's Church, September 2026 — Christopher Rivera / The Poetry Project

EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

Wednesday Readings at the Poetry Project

Poets have read in St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery since 1966; go on a Wednesday, when the headline series takes the room.

$ · About 1.5 hours.

Official site ↗

Play & Adventure

Two players side by side in the Daytona USA racing seats at Barcade in Williamsburg, arcade cabinets along the brick wall — Courtesy of Barcade

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN

Barcade Brooklyn

Classic arcade games on quarters and a rotating craft-beer list — the original Barcade.

$ · As long as your quarters last.

Official site ↗

Climbers on the angled walls of a bouldering gym — Illustrative photo · Pavel Danilyuk / Pexels

Brooklyn

Bouldering Project Brooklyn

Gowanus bouldering with walk-in day passes and free rental shoes on your first visit.

$$ · Stay as long as you like on a day pass; an hour or two is plenty for beginners.

Official site ↗

The brick smokestack and vertical 'Bowling Bar' sign over the Brooklyn Bowl entrance yard on Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg — Jim.henderson · CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN

Brooklyn Bowl

Bowling and live music under one roof in Williamsburg — lanes by the half hour.

$$ · A half-hour lane is plenty for two; stay for the show.

Official site ↗

Colorful holds bolted to a climbing wall — Illustrative photo · Pavel Danilyuk / Pexels

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN

MetroRock Bushwick

Ropes and bouldering in Bushwick, with a belay class so two of you can climb together.

$$ · Allow two hours with a belay class.

Official site ↗

A climber chalking up in front of a bouldering wall — Illustrative photo · César Guillotel / Pexels

HARLEM, MANHATTAN

Movement Harlem

Bouldering on 125th Street, across from the Apollo — no ropes, no experience needed.

$$ · Intro class 90 minutes; most visits run one to two hours.

Official site ↗

Rope-climbing routes on a tall indoor climbing wall — Illustrative photo · cottonbro studio / Pexels

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS

Movement LIC

Rope climbing and bouldering in LIC, with 90-minute intro classes for first-timers.

$$ · Intro class 90 minutes; a day pass lasts as long as your arms do.

Official site ↗

The glass storefront of the Museum of Ice Cream at 558 Broadway in SoHo, with its neon name sign and pink displays inside — Jim.henderson · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

SOHO, MANHATTAN

Museum of Ice Cream

A sprinkle pool, an indoor slide and unlimited ice cream in SoHo — playful, not serious.

$$ · About 60–90 minutes.

Official site ↗

A golf ball on a putting green under a spotlight — Illustrative photo · Kindel Media / Pexels

Manhattan

Puttery NYC

Two themed indoor mini-golf courses on West 14th Street, with a bar for between rounds.

$$ · About 30 minutes per nine-hole course.

Official site ↗

A ping-pong table in the wood-paneled hall at SPIN New York Flatiron, the bar glowing behind — Kwebrobinson · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FLATIRON & NOMAD, MANHATTAN

SPIN New York Flatiron

Ping pong by the hour and a full bar in Flatiron — cheapest on Sundays and Mondays.

$$ · Tables rent by the hour.

Official site ↗

Looking up at SUMMIT One Vanderbilt's glass Ascent elevator on the side of the tower against a blue sky — @SUMMITOV

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

SUMMIT One Vanderbilt

Ride an all-glass elevator up the outside of One Vanderbilt, entered from Grand Central.

$$ · Open daily 8am–midnight; last entry 10:30pm.

Official site ↗

A hand holding a brass padlock — Illustrative photo · Nathan Thomas / Pexels

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

The Escape Game New York City

Sixty minutes to solve your way out — escape rooms in Times Square and Midtown.

$$ · Every game is 60 minutes; arrive 10–15 minutes early.

Official site ↗

Uniquely New York

A show on the red-curtained stage at House of Yes in Bushwick, lights sweeping over the crowd — Raffi Asdourian · CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN

A Night at House of Yes

A Bushwick club where aerialists fly above the dance floor and the dress code is your best costume.

$$ · About 3 to 4 hours.

Official site ↗

The 'Russian & Turkish Baths, Since 1892, Health Club' sign hanging over the entrance on East 10th Street — PK-WIKI · CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

EAST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

A Schvitz at the Russian & Turkish Baths

An East Village bathhouse running since 1892: five hot rooms, a cold plunge and a roof deck, walk-ins only.

$$ · Plan on 2 to 3 hours to do it properly.

Official site ↗

A singer and the pianist at the grand piano under the 'Cabaret Duplex Piano Bar' banner, regulars gathered round — Courtesy of The Duplex

WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

Piano Bar Nights at The Duplex

A piano bar on Sheridan Square since 1989, with singing staff downstairs and cabaret and drag upstairs.

$ · About 1 to 2 hours.

Official site ↗

Marie's Crisis, the red-and-white-awninged piano bar at 59 Grove Street in the West Village — Jim.henderson · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

Show Tunes at Marie's Crisis

A Grove Street basement where a pianist plays Broadway and the entire room sings along, no microphones.

$ · About 1 to 2 hours.

Official site ↗

The City Reliquary's storefront on Metropolitan Avenue, with its painted sign and windows packed with objects — Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN

The City Reliquary Museum

A Williamsburg storefront museum devoted to the everyday ephemera of New York and the people who collect it.

$ · 30 to 45 minutes.

Official site ↗

The Comedy Cellar's bulb-lit sign above its MacDougal Street stair entrance — Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA · CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

GREENWICH VILLAGE, MANHATTAN

The Comedy Cellar

Short sets, close tables, and the ever-present chance of an unannounced drop-in.

$$ · About 2 hours with seating and the full lineup.

Official site ↗

Free

Looking up into the coffered dome and oculus of the City Hall rotunda — Rhododendrites · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Manhattan

A Free Tour Inside New York City Hall

Reserve a free tour of the 1812 landmark: its rotunda, the Council Chamber and the portrait-lined Governor's Room.

Free · Plan on about an hour.

Official site ↗

The Rose Main Reading Room, with readers at long wooden tables under chandeliers and a painted ceiling — Nan Palmero from San Antonio, TX, USA · CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

A Free Tour of the Rose Main Reading Room

Docents lead free tours of the Fifth Avenue library, ending beneath the painted ceilings of the Rose Main Reading Room.

Free · One hour for the building tour; 15 minutes for the reading room tour.

Official site ↗

The yellow Federal-style Hamilton Grange with its wraparound porches, set in St. Nicholas Park — Kalfatovic · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

HARLEM, MANHATTAN

Alexander Hamilton's Grange

Free ranger-led tours of Alexander Hamilton's country house, now set in St. Nicholas Park in Harlem.

Free · About an hour with the visitor center.

Official site ↗

The Schomburg Center's brick and glass building at Malcolm X Boulevard and 135th Street — ajay_suresh · CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

HARLEM, MANHATTAN

Exhibitions at the Schomburg Center

Free exhibitions at Harlem's world-leading research library of Black history and culture.

Free · About an hour for the exhibitions.

Official site ↗

The columned facade of Federal Hall on Wall Street, with the statue of George Washington on the front steps — Ajay Suresh from New York, NY, USA · CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, MANHATTAN

Where Washington Took the Oath: Federal Hall

Free history on Wall Street, on the site where George Washington became the first president in 1789.

Free · 30 minutes self-guided; 1 to 2 hours with a ranger program.

Official site ↗

Tours & Attractions

Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall seen from the stage, a grand piano in front of the red seats and five gilded tiers rising to the oval ceiling — Photo: Jeff Goldberg / Esto, courtesy of Carnegie Hall

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

A Guided Tour of Carnegie Hall

An hour inside the city's most famous concert hall, from Stern Auditorium to the Rose Museum's artifacts.

$$ · One hour.

Official site ↗

The Tenement Museum's storefront and sign on Orchard Street, beneath a red-brick tenement with fire escapes — Jay manday · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

LOWER EAST SIDE, MANHATTAN

An Apartment Tour at the Tenement Museum

Step into restored Lower East Side apartments and meet the real immigrant families who once lived in them.

$$ · About 1 to 1.5 hours per tour.

Official site ↗

The tiled vaults of the Whispering Gallery outside the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal, with travelers passing through — Ɱ · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

MIDTOWN, MANHATTAN

The Official Grand Central Terminal Tour

A 90-minute walk through Grand Central's hidden corners, from the Whispering Gallery to a 1920s tycoon's office.

$$ · About 90 minutes.

Official site ↗

The long nave of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine seen from floor level, rows of chairs leading to the altar — The groundview · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Manhattan

The Vertical Tour of St. John the Divine

Climb spiral stairs more than 124 feet up inside the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for views few visitors get.

$$ · About an hour, most of it climbing.

Official site ↗

Family-Friendly

A vintage blue-and-orange subway car parked at the platform inside the New York Transit Museum — Jakub Hałun · CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Brooklyn

Vintage Subway Cars at the New York Transit Museum

Walk through a century of subway cars parked on the tracks of a decommissioned Brooklyn station.

$ · Allow 1.5 to 2 hours.

Official site ↗

Food Experiences

Freshly shaped filled pasta dusted with flour, from ICE's Handmade Filled Pastas class — Courtesy of the Institute of Culinary Education

FINANCIAL DISTRICT, MANHATTAN

A Pasta-Making Class at the Institute of Culinary Education

Four hours in a professional kitchen making ravioli and tortellini from scratch, then eating them with wine.

$$$ · About four hours, including the meal.

Official site ↗

For Two

Students in aprons gather round as an instructor centers clay on the wheel at BKLYN CLAY — Photo: Lucy Schaeffer, courtesy of BKLYN CLAY

Brooklyn

A TryDay Night on the Pottery Wheel at BKLYN CLAY

Two hours at the wheel on a Friday or Saturday night, with an instructor, a glass of wine and wet clay up to the elbows.

$$$ · Two hours.

Official site ↗

Seasonal

A New York skyline built from bark, seeds and leaves over a reflecting pool in the Haupt Conservatory at the Holiday Train Show — Courtesy of New York Botanical Garden

Bronx

The Holiday Train Show at the New York Botanical Garden

Model trains wind past nearly 200 New York landmarks made of bark and pinecones, inside a Victorian glasshouse.

$$ · About an hour in the conservatory; longer with the outdoor garden.

Official site ↗

Plan the rest

More things to do