How to Plan Your New York City Trip

To avoid getting lost when planning your New York City itinerary, follow our method. Here's how to easily organize your trip day by day!

1/ Make a list of everything you want to see and do

Start by writing down everything you want to see in New York: the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Wall Street, One World Trade Center, and more. This helps you organize your days and ensures you don’t miss what matters most to you.
To build your list, check out my guide to New York’s top landmarks and attractions. You’ll also find separate guides to New York’s museums and New York’s parks.
Add activities too: the free Staten Island Ferry, the Roosevelt Island Tramway, helicopter tours over New York, a harbor cruise, or other tours and excursions. This gives you a complete picture of what your trip could include.

Once you’ve listed everything, grab a map of the city and organize each site and activity by neighborhood. For example, One World Observatory, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, and Wall Street are all in the Financial District—you can visit them back-to-back. Similarly, Top of the Rock, Bryant Park, the Chrysler Building, and Times Square are all in Midtown, making for a full day of exploration in one area.
To help you group things, here’s a map of New York. If you prefer a paper version, you’ll find New York maps in my Destination New York guide.
You can also draw inspiration from my one-week New York itinerary and my three-day New York itinerary.

Now that you’ve grouped attractions and activities by neighborhood, build your itinerary. Depending on how much you want to do, plan a full day or half-day for each area. This creates a logical flow that minimizes travel time and maximizes what you see.
The beauty of organizing by neighborhood is flexibility: you can swap days around based on weather or mood, while keeping track of what interests you in each area.
Once you’ve built your itinerary, share it on the New York Forum in the Planning Questions section. I and other members will be happy to help you refine it and point out any closures or details you might have missed.

As you plan your days, check New York’s events calendar. You might catch a parade or major event you don’t want to miss. See the New York events for 2019 page.
Each month, I also post upcoming events in the News section. Stay in the loop!

Don’t pack every minute of your schedule. While an itinerary keeps you organized, you need flexibility to follow your instincts and make discoveries. Central Park is a perfect example—its paths naturally lead you to places you never planned to see.
Think of your itinerary as a guide, not a rigid plan. It keeps you from going home wishing you’d seen something you really wanted to see. But once you’re there, stay flexible and enjoy yourself!
If you need help, feel free to reach out via the contact form.
If you’re looking for a current, detailed paper guide written by someone who loves the city, I recommend my Destination New York guide. Its 256 full-color pages cover all the major sights and attractions. It also includes three pages on planning your trip, with a sample seven-day itinerary to help you get started.

To help you plan your trip, here are our suggested itineraries based on how long you’re staying in New York: