Visiting the most emblematic places of New York spending the least is not only possible, but it is probably also the best option that you can consider now that the crisis is taking a toll on your pockets.
If you want to enjoy the "capital of the world" without going out of your tight budget, take a look at these tricks that will be great for you to save some dollars.
The essentials
Taking a photo with the Statue of Liberty will probably be one of the first goals of your trip. To do this, you can pay about $ 24 to visit Liberty Island, take a tourist boat for about $ 15 … or choose the free alternative: the Staten Island Ferry , which offers an incredible view of the Statue of Liberty as well as a beautiful panoramic view of the city and, best of all, at zero cost . Although it is intended as a means of transport for the inhabitants of the ‘city’, when you take the boat you will see that they should barely reach 10% of the passage. In fact, you can easily spot them: they are those few who stay inside the boat, sitting down and reading their newspaper!
Of course, you cannot miss the impressive views of the city from one of its skyscrapers. The most common is to do it from Rockefeller Center or from the Empire State Building (the tallest building in the city), although this time you will have to scratch your pocket since there is no ‘low-cost’ alternative that is worth it.
If you are one of those who cannot leave a city without having visited its most famous museums, take note, because many of those in New York have a good trap that most of us fall into. The city’s Natural History Museum (famous for its fossils and full-scale reproductions of dinosaurs), for example, charges about $ 20 per ticket, yes, as a donation. And what does this mean? Well, when you approach the counter, you must remember to mention that you want to donate 5, 10 or whatever you want, and not the 20 dollars that they kindly suggest. As in this one, many other museums use this ingenious donation method .
Broadway musicals are undoubtedly another of the city’s attractions, one of the best entertainment options to enjoy in the afternoon or at night. Forget about buying tickets online and in advance, and remember to stop by the TKTS box office in Times Square from day one , where the remaining tickets for the same day shows are sold with discounts of up to 60%.
Cheap shopping in New York
We all know that in NY it is not difficult to find good bargains to show off back home, because in addition to the favorable exchange rate from the euro to the dollar, we can find many discount stores and outlets throughout the city. However, the best bargains can be found at the Century 21 shopping center (22 Cortlandt Street, near Broadway) or at the Jersey Gardens Outlet Mall (New Jersey), about an hour away by public transport.
Of course, you will want to make some memories for family and friends … Any advice? Haggle , haggle and haggle , especially at street level stalls. As for the souvenir shops, I recommend that, no matter how much you feel the temptation, do not settle for buying in the first one you enter; You would regret to find that less than a block have a better offer. In my case, for example, I managed to find bargains like three of the typical “I (L) NY” t-shirts for $ 10 (and in various colors, too) or 10 keyrings for $ 4, for example.
But, in fact, New York City is already a museum in itself and, therefore, enjoying it to the fullest will cost you nothing (literally): getting to know its cosmopolitan neighborhoods (Soho, Little Italy, etc.), walking around along its avenues of huge skyscrapers, sitting in any of its well-kept parks, visiting its beautiful churches surrounded by buildings or enjoying the settings of your favorite movies and series are just some of the activities that will make your days in the Big Apple fly by … Like in a dream!
