A seven day trip to New York planned carefully should allow the keen visitor enough time to see all the top places that should not be missed from the itinerary. On everyone’s list of places to visit is the Empire State Building and whilst it may be busy, no trip would be the same without a trip to the 86th floor. For even better views, when the weather is fine, it requires a trip to the top of the 820 feet tall Rockefeller Centre. Huge numbers of visitors have meant it can often be difficult landing at the Statue of Liberty and getting off the tour boat at Ellis Island is often the easier option.
As an alternative why not go to Staten Island via the free ferry and look at the Statue of Liberty from there; dropping off at the terminal is the best place because it is where there are some good street artists. Of course almost everyone who spends seven days in New York City will, at some pint, make their way to the site of where the Twin Towers once stood. Whilst there is a strange eeriness about the place that is larger than you expect at the same time it does not feel as if it needs to be photographed. Shopping is one of the many reasons visitors flock to New York whether it is for good old-fashioned discounts along Broadway or in the Warehouses down Lower East Side or the beautiful and extravagant Tiffany’s, New York has it all.
If you’re up for more discount shopping then you need to get to Maceys and have your tourist discount card handy as it can save you eleven percent after which a trip to Bloomingdales would be in order. At the time of writing the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum was closed for refurbishment but should be open by the fall of 2008; if you’re going to be there next year it will be a worthwhile place to see. For those that are interested in large vessels like planes and aircraft carriers for example, then this is the place to visit with the aircraft carrier - Intrepid; submarines and even a Concorde to name but a few of the craft they have there. If you have the time the New York City Police Museum is also worth a look and although it’s free to enter, a five dollar donation per visitor is advised; especially for those people in love with the crime side of New York City!
After that why not visit the Lower East Side Tenement Museum as it’s a time capsule of migrant New York built in 1864 and was a grim home for waves of immigrants; it’s what made America great (and appalling for a time). On Central Park is the fascinating Museum of the City of New York with millions of objects for researchers but for tourists, an ever-changing program of exhibitions showing the past, present and future of the Big Apple. The museum is in a beautiful building which is free to enter but a nine dollar donation is normally given with plenty of souvenirs available. As I am sure you can imagine if you have been on a trip to any major capital city, there is far more to see and do than a short stay or even a seven day trip to New York can accomplish.