New York tourist attractions

You could easily spend a whole day (or week or month) at the Met, exploring everything from Egyptian artefacts to modern masters. Some say it’s America’s best museum, taking in over 2million works spanning the cultures of America, Europe, Africa, the Far East, and the classical and Egyptian worlds. The American Wing is close to being a museum in its own right, featuring every big name from Jackson Pollock to Edward Hopper. And you won’t forget encountering Damien Hirst’s 13ft tiger shark in a glass tank of formaldehyde, jaws open wide, on the second floor.

The incredibly moving National September 11 Memorial & Museum was dedicated on 11 September 2011 to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Two memorial pools represent the footprints of the original towers, each around one acre in size, with 30ft waterfalls tumbling down their sides. The underground 9/11 Memorial Museum lies in between the two memorial pools. In its Foundation Hall are remnants of the original Twin Towers, a half-crushed FDNY fire truck and the heavily inscribed “Last Column”, the last piece of steel to be removed from Ground Zero in 2002. At the heart of the museum is the September 11, 2001 Historical Exhibition, a poignant blend of images, recordings and videos covering the 9/11 attacks minute by minute.

Ride on classics like the Wonder Wheel or Cyclone, or on the newer Thunderbolt coaster, high above the boardwalk, for a proper New York-style seaside thrill. Generations of working-class New Yorkers came to relax at this far point of Brooklyn, and its slightly shabby, raucous brand of entertainment makes it an intriguing place for tourists today. The boardwalk makes for a fun sunny-day stroll, and the 50-or-so rides of Luna Park (late March to Oct, days and hours vary), are a thrill. Considered the “birthplace of the hot dog”, devouring a big fat ‘dog on the beach is a must.

The towering signs and flashing lights of Times Square, just north of 42nd Street where Seventh Avenue intersects with Broadway, bring a whole new meaning to the term “sensory overload”. More than 300,000 people pass through daily to see the spectacle of ostentatiously big advert screens, mass consumerism and dazzling bright lights. On New Year’s Eve, hundreds of thousands more come to watch the “ball drop”, New York’s famous ball’s 60-second descent down a flagpole, which marks midnight. The adjoining Theater District and its million-dollar Broadway productions is a major New York tourist attraction - taking in a Broadway play or musical is always an unforgettable experience.