MY wife and I are going to be in Manhattan next week. We’ll be there two days and three nights. We have two of the nights covered (that’s why we’ll be there), but need ideas for the open two days and one night.
We’re from the Philadelphia area, and have already done the typical “things to do on your high school outing” stuff - Status of Liberty, Empire State Building, Central Park, etc. And the 911 memorial would be too intense for personal reasons.
We’re thinking in terms of museums (or other things) that don’t have equivalents in Philadelphia, Broadway shows, etc.
History, aviation, or techie buff? Try the USS Intrepid. It has a lot of aircraft (not just a few navy birds) and a fair amount of historical stuff. (There is a bit more to it than the US Olympia has.)
If your days are pretty much open, consider the Hop-On-Hop-Off buses. The ones in New Orleans provided decent tours and you are not limited to specific times. Buy the tickets there or order them on-line, (with a small extra international fee since the company operates out of the UK). Wave the pass at the conductor and get on, then get off for as long as you like while the bus is making its rounds. (Multiple buses are used; you don’t have to wait for just one bus to make it all the way around Manhattan. Intervals are typically 10 to 15 minutes, although construction can mess up their routes/schedules.) The web site lists attractions that the line passes.
If you go to TKTS, booth, you can see a Broadway show for cheap, if you’re not fussy about what you see.
I personally like the Ellis Island museum and memorial.
And then there’s the MOMA. It’s probably the only museum NYC has the will give you an experience you can’t get in Philly or DC-- unless you are into rare books, and then there’s the Morgan Library.
Eat a bagel.
If you play chess, go to Washington Square Park, and watch the guys there. Some of them really are geniuses. They’ll be happy to beat you in five moves for five dollars.
[ul]
[li]Walk the High Line (& see what Philly is getting in a year or two).[/li][li]NYSE tour[/li][li]One WTC observation deck[/li][li]Met[/li][li]Rock/NBC tour[/li][li]Yankee Stadium tour[/li][li]Junior’s Cheesecake[/li][/ul]
If you’re interested in spending money on a formal tour, I’ve used Viator internationally & they were great.