The NYC Bucket List: 50 Things Every New Yorker Should Do Once
Not the Empire State Building. A dawn walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, a lime rickey at Tom's, a free kayak on the Hudson, a 1 a.m. set at Smalls. Fifty specific things, and how to do each one.
The best NYC bucket list is not a list of observation decks. It is a list of specific experiences: a certain counter, a certain crossing, a certain hour. Below are 50 of them, the things New Yorkers tell each other they have to do at least once, each with a line on why it matters and how to do it right. Most are cheap. A lot are free. A few take planning. None of them involve a double-decker bus.
We grouped them by type so you can build a weekend: water, food, culture, walks and the once-a-year events worth arranging a calendar around. Check them off in any order.
At a glance.
- 01Ride the Staten Island Ferry at sunsetA free 24-hour ride that passes close to the Statue of Liberty
- 06Eat pastrami at Katz'sAn enormous sandwich from the Lower East Side spot open since 1888
- 22Catch the 10 p.m. set at the Village VanguardLive music in the most famous jazz basement in the world
- 34Walk the Brooklyn Bridge at 7 a.m.Beat the crowds and get the classic skyline view
- Good for
- Free museum admission on first Fridays and select Thursdays
- Hours
- Some spots run late, like Smalls (past 1 a.m.) and Veselka (24h weekends)
On the water
Ride the Staten Island Ferry at sunset.
It is free, runs 24 hours and passes close to the Statue of Liberty in 25 minutes. Stand on the right side going out, then walk around at St. George and catch the next boat back.
Take the Roosevelt Island Tram.
A cable car over the East River for the price of a subway ride ($3, tap your card). Board at 59th Street and Second Avenue and ride it for the view up the river, then walk the island's southern tip. Our Roosevelt Island guide has the rest.
Ride the NYC Ferry to Rockaway Beach.
$4.50 for an hour on the water to the only real surf beach in the city. Go on a summer weekday morning, since weekend boats fill up. See the NYC Ferry guide for routes.
Paddle the Hudson for free.
The Downtown Boathouse lends kayaks for free just north of Pier 26 in Tribeca, first come, first served, on weekends from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The 2026 season runs May 23 to October 4. Arrive early; the sign-up line closes when it is full.
Spend a day on Governors Island.
Open year-round, with ferries from the Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street. Rent a bike, lie in a hammock at Hammock Grove, and climb the Hills for a harbor view that faces the Statue of Liberty head on.
Photo: Rhododendrites via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (license)
Eat and drink like you live here
Eat pastrami at Katz's.
205 East Houston Street, since 1888. Hold onto the paper ticket, order at the cutter's station, and split one sandwich between two people, because it is enormous.
Get a bagel with lox from Russ & Daughters.
The appetizing counter at 179 East Houston Street has been slicing fish since 1914. Get in line, order Gaspe Nova on an everything bagel, and eat it on a bench nearby.
Photo: Kidfly182 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (license) Fold a slice at Joe's Pizza on Carmine Street.
The reference New York slice, thin and wide, at 7 Carmine Street. Eat it on the sidewalk. More in our best pizza slices guide.
Have dim sum at Nom Wah Tea Parlor.
Serving dim sum since 1920 at 13 Doyers Street, the crooked little lane in Chinatown. Check off the original egg roll and the shrimp and snow pea leaf dumplings on the paper menu.
Order a lime rickey at Tom's Restaurant.
A Prospect Heights diner since 1936, at 782 Washington Avenue. Go on a weekday for pancakes at the counter; the weekend line runs down the block.
Eat your way down Roosevelt Avenue.
Walk from 74th Street to Junction Boulevard under the 7 train in Jackson Heights, stopping for momos, tacos and arepas. Our Jackson Heights guide maps it.
Get lost in the New World Mall food court.
The basement at 136-20 Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing is a maze of regional Chinese stalls. Bring friends, split up, order from four counters and share.
Shop Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.
Fresh mozzarella, cured meats and cannoli on the street New Yorkers call the real Little Italy. The Arthur Avenue guide has the stops.
Photo: Leonard J. DeFrancisci via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (license) Eat a Nathan's hot dog on Surf Avenue.
The original at 1310 Surf Avenue in Coney Island, with crinkle-cut fries and a walk on the boardwalk after. Then ride the Cyclone if you are brave. See our Coney Island guide.
Slurp oysters at the Grand Central Oyster Bar counter.
Under the vaulted tile ceiling of the terminal's lower level. It is open weekdays and closed on weekends, so plan a lunch. Test the whispering gallery outside the door on your way in.
Have a martini at Bemelmans Bar.
The Carlyle's bar at 35 East 76th Street, with murals by the man who drew Madeline. Sit at the bar, arrive before the evening music starts, and expect a cover once it does.
Order a chopped cheese at a bodega.
Ground beef and cheese on a hero, griddled while you wait, at a corner deli uptown or in the Bronx. Say thank you to the bodega cat.
Eat pierogi at Veselka after midnight.
The Ukrainian diner at 144 Second Avenue runs around the clock on Fridays and Saturdays. Order them fried, with onions.
Shows, music and culture
Get a rush ticket to a Broadway show.
Same-day rush, digital lotteries and standing room can get you into a hit for a fraction of full price. Our cheap Broadway tickets guide explains each method.
Win the Met Opera lottery.
A seat under the chandeliers at Lincoln Center for very little. Our Met Opera lottery guide explains how to enter.
See Free Shakespeare in the Park.
The Public Theater's summer productions at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park are free. Enter the digital lottery or line up in person; details go up each spring on the Public Theater's site.
Catch the 10 p.m. set at the Village Vanguard.
The most famous jazz basement in the world, at 178 Seventh Avenue South, with sets at 8 and 10 p.m. nightly. Book ahead, and remember the one-drink minimum. See our best jazz clubs.
Photo: Josh Staiger via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (license) Stay for the last set at Smalls.
A few doors from the Vanguard, at 183 West 10th Street, where the music and the jams run past 1 a.m. and the cover is low.
Sit through a set at the Comedy Cellar.
The MacDougal Street basement where famous comics drop in unannounced. Reserve online, lock your phone in the pouch and sit close.
See a 35mm revival at Film Forum.
The nonprofit cinema at 209 West Houston Street runs repertory programming all year; a ticket is $18. Our movie theaters guide has the rest.
Sit in the Rose Main Reading Room.
The great hall on the third floor of the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street is open to visitors from 10 to 11 a.m., Monday through Saturday.
Go to the Frick on a First Friday.
Free evenings at the Upper East Side mansion from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on the first Friday of most months (not January or September). See the Vermeers with a drink in hand.
Visit the Met Cloisters.
Medieval art, gardens and the Unicorn Tapestries at the top of Fort Tryon Park. Your Met ticket covers it the same day, and New York residents pay what they wish. Closed Wednesdays.
Photo: Polka0505 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (license) Tour the Dyckman Farmhouse.
The last farmhouse in Manhattan, built around 1784, at 4881 Broadway and 204th Street in Inwood. It is open Thursday through Saturday and costs a few dollars. Pair it with our Inwood guide.
Take a Tenement Museum tour.
Restored apartments at 103 Orchard Street show how immigrant families lived on the Lower East Side from the 1860s on. Book a building tour ahead.
Crash a Thursday night gallery opening in Chelsea.
Galleries between West 19th and 28th Streets open new shows on Thursday evenings, free and open to anyone. Our art galleries guide has the map.
Hear a slam from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe.
The East Village institution that helped birth slam poetry is renovating its home on East 3rd Street, so events run at partner venues nearby. Check the calendar at nuyorican.org.
Lose an afternoon at the Strand.
828 Broadway, famous for "18 miles of books." Start at the bargain carts outside, then work down to the lower level.
Walks everyone should take once
Walk the Brooklyn Bridge at 7 a.m.
Go from Manhattan into Brooklyn so the skyline is behind you when you turn around, and beat the midday shuffle. End in DUMBO for coffee.
Climb Battle Hill in Green-Wood Cemetery.
478 acres of hills and ponds in Brooklyn, free and open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. The hilltop looks back to the harbor.
Walk the High Line north.
From Gansevoort Street to 34th Street on an old freight rail line, open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. from April through November. Go on a weekday morning.
Photo: Dansnguyen via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (license) Watch the sunset from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
A third of a mile of benches facing lower Manhattan and the harbor. See our Brooklyn Heights guide.
Find the Little Red Lighthouse.
An 1880 lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge in Fort Washington Park, made famous by a 1942 children's book. Walk down from the Heights along the Hudson.
Visit Wave Hill on a free Thursday.
A garden estate in Riverdale in the Bronx overlooking the Hudson and the Palisades, free all day every Thursday and $10 for adults otherwise. Closed Mondays.
See the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
The Cherry Esplanade usually peaks in April. Go on a weekday morning, since weekends at peak bloom are packed.
Sit in the Noguchi Museum garden.
Isamu Noguchi's own museum in Long Island City, open Wednesday through Sunday, and free on the first Friday of the month.
Photo: Torstenkunz-Germany via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (license) Take the bus to City Island.
A fishing village in the Bronx with fried seafood at the end of the road. Our City Island guide has the route.
Once a year, and worth it
Cheer at the New York City Marathon.
Sunday, November 1, 2026, the morning after Halloween, and the 50th year of the race running through all five boroughs. Stand on First Avenue in the East 60s or on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn and yell for strangers.
March in the Village Halloween Parade.
Anyone in costume can join the parade up Sixth Avenue on October 31. Our Halloween Parade guide explains how.
Dress up for the Mermaid Parade.
Coney Island's art parade is usually held on a Saturday in late June. Wear glitter, bring sunscreen, and check the date at coneyisland.com.
Watch the July Fourth fireworks from a rooftop.
The Macy's show moves locations some years, so check the barge positions before you pick a roof. Our rooftop bars guide has options that book up early.
See the Christmas lights in Dyker Heights.
Whole blocks of Brooklyn houses lit up from early December. Go on a weeknight and walk up from the R train at 86th Street.
Skate outdoors in winter.
Rockefeller Center is the famous one; Bryant Park and the Brooklyn rinks are cheaper and calmer. Our ice skating guide compares them.
Photo: Billie Grace Ward from New York, USA via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (license) Go to the West Indian American Day Parade.
Labor Day on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, with steel pan, costumes and jerk chicken for miles. See our Crown Heights guide.
Sit in the cheap seats at a ballgame.
The Yankees in the Bronx or the Mets in Queens, on a summer weeknight, with a hot dog and the 4 or 7 train home.
How to use this list
Do not try to finish it in a year. Pick one from each section for a weekend and you will have a better time than any tour can offer. For the free ones, start with our free things to do in NYC. For the seasonal ones, keep an eye on our October events guide.
Questions, answered.
- What should be on an NYC bucket list?
- Mix the big experiences with the small ones: a crossing on the free Staten Island Ferry, a dawn walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, pastrami at Katz's, a rush ticket to a Broadway show, a late jazz set in the Village, the Cloisters, a food crawl in Jackson Heights or Flushing, and one of the big annual events like the Marathon or the Village Halloween Parade.
- What are free bucket list things to do in New York?
- The Staten Island Ferry, walking the Brooklyn Bridge and the High Line, free kayaking from Pier 26 in season, Green-Wood Cemetery, Wave Hill on Thursdays, the Frick on its free First Fridays, cheering the Marathon and watching the Village Halloween Parade all cost nothing.
- What do New Yorkers do that tourists don't?
- They take the Roosevelt Island Tram for the view, eat at old diner counters in Brooklyn, ride the NYC Ferry to Rockaway in summer, go to the Cloisters and Wave Hill, and spend whole afternoons eating along Roosevelt Avenue in Queens instead of around Times Square.
- When is the 2026 NYC Marathon?
- Sunday, November 1, 2026, the morning after Halloween. First Avenue in the East 60s and 70s and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn are two of the best stretches to cheer.
Next up
Things to Do Alone in NYCA bar seat at Via Carota, a 10 p.m. set at the Vanguard, free Friday nights at the Morgan. The best solo plans in New York, and how to do them well.Read it Get the Shout Sheet.
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