New York

Most visitors know only the city's five boroughs – but the state stretches from the Atlantic beaches of Long Island to Niagara Falls on the Canadian border. A vacation in New York can mean Broadway and skyscrapers, but it can just as easily mean canoeing in the Adirondacks or wine tastings in the Finger Lakes. The capital, by the way, is not the big city but smaller Albany on the Hudson.

The City: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island

Manhattan is the heart: Central Park, the Empire State Building, Times Square, the museums along Fifth Avenue such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim, plus One World Trade Center and the 9/11 Memorial. The Brooklyn Bridge leads you to Brooklyn, where neighborhoods like Williamsburg, DUMBO, and Park Slope each have their own scene and Coney Island offers a beach atmosphere on summer weekends. Queens is one of the most diverse boroughs in the world, and in Flushing and Jackson Heights you can eat your way through Asia and Latin America. The Bronx has Yankee Stadium, the Bronx Zoo, and the Botanical Garden, and the free ferry to Staten Island offers the best view of the Statue of Liberty.

Long Island and the Hudson Valley

East of the city lies Long Island, with suburbs like Hempstead, Oyster Bay, and Brookhaven whose populations rival those of some major cities. Farther east come the beaches of the Hamptons, lighthouses in Montauk, and wineries on the North Fork. North of the city, the Hudson Valley leads upriver past mansions and country estates such as the Roosevelt home in Hyde Park, the military academy at West Point, and the art center Dia Beacon. In fall, driving through the brightly colored forests is one of the finest experiences in the Northeast.

Sights in New York Beyond the Metropolis

Niagara Falls near Buffalo is the best-known natural attraction; aboard the "Maid of the Mist" boat you can travel right up to the foot of the Horseshoe Falls. Adirondack Park is larger than some national parks in the West and encompasses mountains, more than 2,000 lakes, and the Olympic town of Lake Placid, which has hosted the Winter Games twice. The Hudson River School of landscape painters once hiked in the Catskills. The Finger Lakes, long, narrow glacial lakes, are lined with waterfalls and gorges such as those in Watkins Glen State Park. Other New York destinations include the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River.

History and Culture

The Dutch founded New Amsterdam at the southern tip of Manhattan in 1625; in 1664 the English took over and renamed the colony. After independence, New York briefly served as the capital of the United States, and George Washington was sworn in on Wall Street in 1789. The Erie Canal, opened in 1825, connected the Hudson with the Great Lakes and made the port the most important in the country. Starting in 1892, millions of immigrants arrived via Ellis Island, many of them from Germany. Today the city is home to the United Nations and a center of finance, media, theater, and art.

Food and Drink

New York pizza is sold in thin, foldable slices, bagels with cream cheese and lox are a breakfast staple, and a pastrami sandwich at a Jewish deli is an institution. Spicy chicken wings were invented in Buffalo. The Finger Lakes are known for Riesling, the Hudson Valley for apples and cider, and Long Island for oysters and white wine.

Getting There and Best Time to Visit

JFK and LaGuardia airports, as well as nearby Newark in New Jersey, connect the city with the world. In the city itself, the best way to get around is the subway, which runs around the clock. Amtrak trains run along the Hudson to Albany and on to Buffalo and Montreal. The best times to visit are May and June as well as September and October, when the leaves begin to change color. Summer can be sweltering and humid in the city; winter brings snow, and in the Adirondacks bitter cold, but also winter sports and holiday spirit at Rockefeller Center.