New York itinerary: 4 days for a first visit

New York is not a city you finish. Four days is enough to get the shape of it: the harbour and the oldest streets at the bottom of Manhattan, the towers and stations of Midtown, the park and the great museums on the Upper East and West Sides, and the neighbourhoods in between, where the city feels like a place people live. You will walk a great deal, so this plan keeps each day to one part of Manhattan, with a bridge into Brooklyn on the first day.

Distances on the map are deceptive. The island is about 21 kilometres long and only three or four wide, and the subway runs the length of it, so a long walk can often be a short ride.

Before you go: the short version

• How long: four days for a first visit. Five lets you add Brooklyn or a longer museum day.
• Where to stay: Midtown for convenience and the subway; the Lower East Side or the Village for restaurants and nights out; the Upper West Side for quiet streets next to the park; Brooklyn Heights or Williamsburg for a view of the skyline.
• From the airport: three airports serve the city. JFK and Newark connect by rail to the subway or trains into Manhattan in about 45 to 60 minutes; LaGuardia is closest and reached by bus or ride-hail in about 30. See airport to city.
• Getting around: walk, and use the subway for everything over about 20 blocks. More in the United States travel guide.
• Book ahead: timed entry for the Statue of Liberty and the observation decks, tickets for a Broadway show or the major museums, and dinner on weekend nights.

Day 1: Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge

Morning. Take the ferry from Battery Park to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the old immigration station. Go on the first sailings, since the queues and the security check build quickly. The ferry runs all day, and you can spend two or three hours on the islands. If you would rather skip the crowds, the Staten Island Ferry sails past the statue and gives a good look at the skyline from the water.

Afternoon. Walk north through the Financial District: Wall Street, Trinity Church and the New York Stock Exchange's columned front, then the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, with its two reflecting pools set in the footprints of the towers. Allow time to be quiet there. Then cross the Brooklyn Bridge on foot, about two kilometres of wooden walkway above the traffic, with the skyline behind you. Keep to the pedestrian side of the path, as cyclists share the span.

Evening. Come down in Brooklyn to DUMBO, the cobbled streets under the bridge, and walk the waterfront park for the view of the bridge and the downtown towers at dusk. Eat in Brooklyn, or take the subway back to Manhattan. Brooklyn Heights, a short walk away, has a promenade with the best free view of the skyline in the city.

Day 2: Midtown

Morning. Start in Grand Central Terminal, where the main concourse has a ceiling painted with the constellations. Walk up to the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue and its great reading room, then to Bryant Park, which fills with people on lunch breaks. Fifth Avenue itself runs north from here past St Patrick's Cathedral to Rockefeller Center.

Afternoon. Choose one viewpoint rather than three. The Empire State Building is the classic, the observation deck at Rockefeller Center has the best view of the Empire State Building, and the One World Observatory is the highest. Go an hour before sunset and you will see the city in daylight, dusk and lights. Then take a walk through Times Square: bright, loud and crowded, worth fifteen minutes but not an hour.

Evening. See a show in the theatre district around Times Square. A Broadway musical or play is a big part of what the city does well, and you can usually find something on every night. Book ahead for popular shows, or look at same-day options if you are flexible. Afterwards, eat late: the neighbourhood known as Hell's Kitchen, just west, has a long street of restaurants of every cuisine.

Day 3: Central Park and the museums

Morning. Choose your museum day before you arrive, because the choices are large. The Metropolitan Museum of Art on the east side of the park holds everything from Egyptian temples to European paintings and could fill a week. The American Museum of Natural History on the west side suits families and anyone who likes dinosaurs. If you only have time for one, pick the Met, and give it three hours.

Afternoon. Walk into Central Park, which is 340 hectares of meadows, lakes, rocks and woods in the middle of the island. Walk to the Bethesda Fountain and the Mall, the tree-lined promenade, cross the Bow Bridge over the lake, and keep going to Strawberry Fields, a memorial to John Lennon. In the warm months, rent a rowing boat on the Lake. In winter, the ice rinks open.

Evening. Spend the evening on the Upper West Side, a calm, tree-lined neighbourhood of brownstones and old apartment buildings. Many films and television series have been set here. Eat at a neighbourhood restaurant, and walk down Broadway to Lincoln Center, home of the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic. If you have the energy, walk along the Hudson River promenade in Riverside Park at sunset.

Day 4: The Village, Chelsea and the High Line

Morning. Start in Greenwich Village. Walk around Washington Square Park, with its arch, chess players and street musicians, and then wander through the quiet, curving streets of the West Village, where brownstones and townhouses have front steps and trees. It is a good place for a long breakfast. Stop at a deli or bakery for a bagel with cream cheese, one of the city's signature foods, and a slice of pizza at lunchtime from a counter, folded in half and eaten standing.

Afternoon. Walk north to Chelsea Market, a food hall in a former biscuit factory, then onto the High Line, a park built on an abandoned elevated railway that runs about two kilometres through Chelsea to Hudson Yards. It is planted with grasses and flowers and has views across the neighbourhood and the river. Stroll to the end at Hudson Yards, where towers and shops stand over the rail yards.

Evening. For your last night, head to the Lower East Side or SoHo for dinner, then a drink in a neighbourhood bar. The Lower East Side, to the south-east of the Village, has a long history as the arrival point for immigrant families. The cast-iron buildings of SoHo are among the city's most photographed streets.

With more time

• A fifth day in Brooklyn: Williamsburg for its markets and bars, Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Brooklyn Museum.
• Harlem: a walking tour of the historic neighbourhood and its music and churches, with soul food for lunch.
• Day trips: the Hudson Valley by train, the beaches of Long Island or Coney Island by subway, and the Cloisters, the medieval museum at the northern tip of Manhattan.

Where to stay

• Midtown: close to the main sights and train and subway hubs, but quiet in the evenings and full of business travellers. The easiest base for a short first visit.
• Lower East Side and SoHo: restaurants, nightlife and shops on the doorstep, and close to Lower Manhattan.
• Upper West Side: calm, residential and beside the park, with direct subway lines to Midtown.
• Brooklyn: a quieter, more local feel with a view of Manhattan, and often a better choice for a group or a longer stay.
• Avoid for a first short visit: areas far from the subway, since time lost to commuting is the real cost.

For a group, one larger apartment is rarely an option in Manhattan, so book two rooms close together. See where to stay with a group.

Getting around

New York is a walking city with a very good subway, running all day and night. Learn the lines by their colours and numbers and the difference between local and express trains: an express skips stops, and getting on the wrong one means a long trip in the wrong direction. A map app gives live directions. Buses cover places the subway doesn't, and yellow taxis and ride-hail cars are easy to find. Cross the road at the corners and wait for the walking sign, as drivers expect it. Tipping is expected in restaurants and for services.

Planning New York as a group

New York works for a group if you accept that it will split. Different people want the museums, the shopping or the food, so agree the fixed points, such as the Statue of Liberty and the show, and leave the rest of each day loose. Book timed tickets and tables for everyone at once, and share a map of where you are meeting. Some restaurants add a service charge for large parties, so check the bill before you split it. Keep the shared costs in one place.

What to pack

The one thing that matters is shoes: you will walk many kilometres a day, and the pavements are hard. Bring layers, since the city is hot and humid in summer, cold and windy in winter, and unpredictable in spring and autumn. Pack a small umbrella and a bag that closes. The city break packing list covers the rest.