Planning a Vacation to New York

So in August I'm planning a trip to NewYork for four full days. I know some of the big touristy stuff we will do. Central Park, Times Square etc. but what are some cool things to do in New York. Great places to eat, stuff I might miss?

Hello duder! As a New Yorker who works in Manhattan welcome! The problem (well not really problem) with NYC is that it is so big it's impossible to see everything. Rather than say a specific place I say head to West Village/Soho area while you're here...it's very pretty with lots of great places to eat. NYC has so many fantastic restaurants that it's really hard to name a specific place but if you are in that area The Spotted Pig is kinda the most popular place around there, but don't rely on getting a table at a place like that.

I'd say you should probably head to Brooklyn as well, Williamsburg and Greenpoint have some really nice restaurants/bars too. Barcade in Williamsburg is an awesome spot for gamers like us.

Times Square may be cool for an outsider but it is crazy crowded and not very pretty. Do you have tickets to any Broadway shows? Broadway is the best part of Times Square.

If you have the money you should see some kind of show! There's Lincoln center where you can see ballet or wonderful musical performances, or you could hit up the local UCB theater for some improv comedy. Videogamesnewyork is a video game store that is cramped but has EVERYTHING. If you're into rock music chances are someone cool is playing at some venue around the city...you can check out brooklynvegan to see who will be playing that night.

The best museums are probably The Metropolitan Museum of Art and MOMA. Moma is if you like modern art...The Met has everything and is massive. Museum of Natural History if you like Dinos but thats really it to me its not as good as the others in my opinion.

The High Line is very interesting...it's like a highway in a post-apocalytic Last of Us world...in a good way. Tell me more about where your from and what you're into its easier to recommend stuff that way!

@sagesebas Awesome! You'll have a ton of fun. I would say for your first day just spend some time walking around Manhattan. bring comfortable shoes, you'll walk everywhere, in 4 days I wouldn't be surprised if you walk 30+ miles.

If you get a chance, Take the L train out to Brooklyn to visit the Brooklyn Brewery its a really good time. If you like sports, they maybe expensive but get some Yankee tickets and go to a game. Even if they are bleacher creatures still a great experience.

My favorite thing to go to in NYC is the Museum of Natural History ( THE BIG BLUE WHALE!!!) you can EASILY spend a full day in here. You could go to top of the Empire State Building, but I personally think the view from Top of The Rock is better. AND! The Nintendo World Store is right there. The High Line is also awesome to see , if you like parks and walking.

If you like historic things go downtown and see the 9/11 Memorial. Depending the type of person you are, it's a pretty hard thing to see knowing what has happened there.

Chelsea piers is fun as well. A lot to do out there. You could also head out to Coney Island as well during the day.

In terms of food..you should probably check out Shake Shack at least one day, I know it may be over hyped,but still a solid fast food burger. I personally love Dallas BBQ, there's a ton of locations around NYC. They have some decent (i wouldn't say great) BBQ for an affordable price. Depending where you are from, pretty much any place you get pizza from that isn't a chain will be incredible (I'm going to miss good pizza everywhere...)

Theres a small Italian place on 38th and 8th that is like my fiancee and I's "spot" called Carbrone that is awesome. they have daily specials and there is not a bad thing on the menu. Also any place in Hells Kitchen is always solid to eat at. Check out 5 Napkin Burger.

I'll post more as I think of it, have fun in NYC! I am moving away from it, but I will 100% miss it.

@sagesebas: Piggybacking on MaKiNbAcoN if you are looking for good NYC pizza there's a lot of good places but in my opinion there's a lot of average places as well since there are SOOO many pizzerias! My personal favorite is L'asso in Nolita, soo good lots of unique pies. In Brooklyn I'd say Roberta's. I say look for places that cook Neapolitan pies rather than the traditional large cheese pizza. I say that because the places that do neapolitan pies in NYC usually do it right (like roberta or l'asso). They look like this...(example from robertas)

Museums like the Met and Natural History are "pay what you want"

@plop1920: Yes. Good for the OP to know, lots of the museums in the city are actually pay what you want. Most tourists don't know that and end up paying the recommened prices. I've payed 5 dollars at the met before and they let you do it.

@counterclockwork87: awesome thanks!

I'm pretty sure we are doing the moma and natural history museum for sure

Thanks for the suggestions!

@counterclockwork87: my girlfriend and I are from Portland. Videogame stuff, craft breweries, record stores, book stores, comedy(we wanna got to the comedy cellar) are some of the stuff we like.

If you like bookstore definitely check out the Strand in the East Village. I also really like Housing Works Bookstore Cafe and McNally Jackson, both in SoHo.

For records stores take a look at Rough Trade in Williamsburg, Generation Records in Greenwich Village, or Bleeker Street Records in the West Village.

Video Games New York in the East Village is really cool. The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria has a pretty cool video games exhibit.

if you want to go to the cellar book reservations early or plan on waiting in a stand by line. Same with UCB for weekend shows or harold/lloyd nights. one of my favorite places to go for a drink is a very gay piano bar called Duplex in the village. Right across the street is the fat cat where you can play scrabble and shit in the grungiest dive bar. They have live jazz and the drinks are new york-cheap, but they only serve beer and wine. There are generally fun events in the summer that you could just keep an eye out for, maybe check that out as you get closer to the date.

and i'd stay the fuck away from times square and even soho

Sounds like the village is a good place to hit up, I'll be brushing up on my Vinny Caravella New York accent until then

@sagesebas: @effache: @rabincrabmink: Housing Works, rough trade, fat cat, harold/lloyd...yep you guys know whats up...listen to everyone in this thread OP fantastic suggestions all around...and based on what you're into you should definitely visit Williamsburg and check out Barcarde (nice craft beer selection there), maybe union pool, then head to Rouge Trade for a nice clean modern record shop with decent prices (not really any old stuff only new records though).

@counterclockwork87: awesome thanks I'm super excited to go, gunna try and play ocarina of time for the first time on the plane ride

@sagesebas: Good call on OoT for your first time.

I'll +1 the Video Games New York. If you like craft beer, check out Beer Authority or Rattle and Hum. They are both in Midtown area. So if your floating around in the region 100% worth going to to get a flight or two. If you want an interesting fun night life experience. Check out the Crocodile Lounge, They have decent craft beer selection and you (I don't know if they still do this..) get a personal pizza with purchase of a pint! A few years back I got a Magic Hat and a personal pizza for $5, Pizza wasn't the best in NYC but it was better than most other areas in the nation.

Dave and Busters can be fun also, there is one in Time Square. But if your looking for unique experiences, stay away from it.

The village is quirky but fun. You'll see interesting characters down there as well as some stuck up people. Sixpoint is becoming a much larger regional brewery out of Redhook region of Brooklyn,highly recommend The Crisp and Sweet Action beers by them.

I'll probably be asking you for Portland things to do once I get settled on the west coast!

@makinbacon: cool thanks, surprisingly we get Sixpoint in Portland but I definitely wanna check out there brewery. And yeah I've lived in Portland my whole life and have it down pretty well.

What is your budget?

• The food and nightlife in NYC are fantastic but it's tough to give recs without knowing your age, budget, where you are staying, and what kind of crowd you like to hang in. One place I would highly recommend to pretty much anyone on any budget, especially if you are going to check out Soho as some others have recommended, is getting breakfast at Jack's Wife Freda. Oh my god, I miss that place so much. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
• Spent some time in Brooklyn for sure. I'd recommend walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, and then checking out the Brooklyn Bridge park as well as the the Brooklyn Heights promenade during the evening for some kick ass views of the city. You can get a bite to eat from Grimaldis (famous, eat in pizza place but probably a wait) or some Ice Cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory while there. There are some cool quirky places further into Brooklyn, depending on how comfortable you are and how far off the beaten path you want to travel, but Brooklyn Heights in particular is super accessible.
• A broadway show or a Yankees game would be fun but pricey.
• Out of all the touristy stuff, I don't enjoy the area but for your first time in NYC, I would say that you probably should check out Times Square one night. You also could do the 9/11 Memorial, Wall Street, Battery Park, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island in one day. I would not pay for one of those tour agencies to show you around though because they are huge ripoff.

Depending on your budget, the website theskint.com has a lot of great, affordable shit to do. For music, check out brooklynvegan. But the best thing would be to hook up with some folks in the city. There are so many cool neighbourhoods and things to do outside of Manhattan.