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45 Things to See and Do in New York City

Here are the best things to do, see, eat, and buy when you're in the Big Apple.

From the best shops and restaurants to experiences you won't find anywhere else, here's how to get the most out of New York City.

Have breakfast at Tiffany's.

Tiffany & Co. has been a fixture on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street in Manhattan since it opened its doors on October 21, 1940, and the all-day Tiffany Blue Box Cafe drew crowds from around the country when it opened in 2018. Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud took over the cafe following Tiffany's reopening , and now diners can choose from breakfast, afternoon tea, or a seasonal all-day menu. Reservations are available here .

More : The 7 Best Places for Afternoon Tea in New York City

Take in outdoor theater at Shakespeare in the Park.

“Seeing a Broadway show is great, but if you’re in New York in the summertime, nothing beats Shakespeare in the Park . It’s a free series put on by the Public Theater in an open-air venue in Central Park, and combines astonishing performances from incredible talent with a night under the stars for an unbeatable theatrical experience.” —Adam Rathe, Senior Editor (Arts and Culture)

Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

"Every time I go, I encounter a room I’ve never been to before. But I never leave without visiting the medieval armor on the first floor."— Jamie Rosen, Contributing Editor

Go for a walk in Central Park.

843 acres are open to visitors in America's most-visited urban park, which was designed in 1858 by landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux after they beat out 32 competitors for the project. Now a National Historic Landmark, the park is full of places to explore, starting with its zoo , Bethesda Fountain, the Boathouse , the mall ( shown here ), and Woolman Rink. Even the Metropolitan Museum of Art technically falls within its confines.

See a show at the Park Avenue Armory.

The expansive 55,000-square-foot drill hall plays host to year-round events, including the Winter Show , TEFAF New York , and its own cultural programming . But what you might not know is that visitors can tour other areas like the first-floor period rooms and restored Board of Officers Room and Veterans Room with a guide. To learn more about the events at the Armory, visit its website here .

Walk around the Columbia University campus.

Even if your college days are in the past, you can still explore the city's only Ivy League institution. Head out on a self-guided tour or choose one of the options with a guide, including one that covers the history, architecture, and sculpture of the Morningside Heights campus. For more architectural splendor in the neighborhood, don't miss the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine .

Go skating in Central Park.

Ice skating at Woolman Rink is a quintessential New York experience—and has been for more than 70 years. Book your tickets here .

Take in a show at the Café Carlyle.

There isn't an Upper East Side experience more traditional than drinks at Bemelmens Bar and a show at Café Carlyle . The cabaret theater has hosted luminaries like Alan Cumming and Judy Collins since its debut in 1955.

Source some rare bottles on Madison Avenue.

Collezione New York is New York's first luxury spirits boutique, and it fits right in among the designer shops on Madison Avenue (Oscar de la Renta is a few steps away). Founder and CEO Stefano Pileggi, a third-generation retailer, emigrated from Italy in 2011. After amassing an enviable Scotch collection, Pileggi decided to offer fellow spirits collectors a better shopping experience. And while you can find extremely rare offerings like a vertical of every 18-year-old Macallan bottled between 1954 and 1986 (available as a lot for $250,000), Collezione also stocks bottles ideal for kicking off a casual dinner at home—like Via Carota's craft cocktails .

Wander around The Cloisters.

Located on four acres overlooking the Hudson River in Upper Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park, this annex of the Metropolitan Museum of Art includes four cloisters and a group of reconstructed chapels and halls from medieval French monasteries and abbeys.

Check out the New York Botanical Garden.

The 250-acre National Historic Landmark in the Bronx hosts more than a million visitors annually. One of its top draws?The Holiday Train Show, which has been on view during the holiday season for 30 years and features more than 190 replicas of New York landmarks.

Explore the history of design at the Cooper Hewitt.

America's only museum dedicated solely to design has been a branch of the Smithsonian since the 1960s. It now has a collection of more than 210,000 design objects that span 240 years, all housed in industrialist Andrew Carnegie's former mansion on the Upper East Side. Plan your visit here .

Tour the Frick Collection.

The Gilded Age mansion of industrialist Henry Clay Frick is one of the most visually interesting places to visit in the city today. But through late 2024, the Frick won’t be where we’ve always known it. While the museum is being upgraded by architect Annabelle Selldorf, its treasures are a few blocks away in the Frick Madison, the building Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer designed for the Whitney Museum of American Art in the mid-1960s.

Pick up cheese (and a lot more) at Zabar's.

"The king of the old-school appetizing shops, Zabar's is not a deli, as you can’t order lunch. It’s not a supermarket, as there’s no produce (well, not much), and you can’t get paper towels or dish soap. But it has the best selection of cheeses on earth (not an exaggeration), many of them very inexpensive. And prepared foods. And outstanding, reasonably priced coffee. And loose tea of several dozen kinds. And who else has a lox counter—just lox, nothing else. And I haven’t even mentioned the kitchenwares department upstairs, which is one of New York’s best-kept secrets." —James Lochart, Copy Chief

Pay a visit to Lincoln Center.

The Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and New York City Ballet all perform here. The latest change is the newly renovated David Geffen Hall, the home of the New York Philharmonic.

Visit the Museum of the City of New York.

Located at the northern end of Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile, MCNY offers exhibitions on the city's art and history, including the recent " Food in New York: Bigger Than the Plate ," which was first developed at London's Victoria and Albert Museum before being adapted to examine eating and food systems in New York City.

Go to the American Museum of Natural History.

Founded in 1869, the American Museum of Natural History now has more than 32 million specimens and cultural artifacts in its collection. Stroll through the museum's 570,000-square-foot space on Central Park West, which includes 45 permanent exhibit halls including dinosaur fossils, stunning dioramas, and, in the Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life, a 94-foot-long, 21,000-pound model of a blue whale suspended from the ceiling.

Dine at one of the world's best restaurants (without breaking the bank).

The city is home to 73 Michelin-starred restaurants , but eating at them doesn't require spending your entire paycheck in one fell swoop. Here's a handy guide with a few tips for making the most of the culinary scene on a tight budget .

Sam Dangremond is a Contributing Digital Editor at Town & Country, where he covers men's style, cocktails, travel, and the social scene.

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TRAVEL + LEISURE inspires and empowers the world’s most curious and passionate travelers to travel more–and travel better. We help elevate reader's experiences through content and tools that aid in the entire journey, from dreaming to planning to booking to traveling.

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Exclusive photos, these are america’s best small towns in 2024 — and one of them is only an hour from nyc.

Size isn’t everything.

A prestigious ranking of the country’s best small towns has been published — and a charming locale just an hour’s drive from the hubbub of NYC has made the list.

Compiled by editors at Travel + Leisure and a handful of industry experts, the America’s Best Small Towns 2024 survey tapped the larger-than-life artist’s colony of New Hope, Pennsylvania as tops for arts and culture in the fifty states.

Calling it “packed end to end with idiosyncratic and intellectual allure, all crammed into just 1.4 utterly charming square miles,” writer Jackie Caradonio cites the location, the arts scene and the “quirky charm” of the upscale Bucks County community as reasons for inclusion.

Area native Bradley Cooper dropped a cool $6.5 million on a 33-acre farm outside of New Hope only recently, in an effort to be close to the family home of girlfriend Gigi Hadid, The Post reported earlier.

New Hope takes the spotlight along with historic Bisbee, Ariz., named the best desert town for its “downtown that looks straight out of a storybook.”

The Hawaiian surfer haunt of Paia, another artsy town on the island of Maui , was tapped as America’s best beach town.

In order to be considered, each town had to have a full-time population under 25,000, as well as a strong identity and a solid reputation in one category or the other.

The towns needed to offer “a variety of activities, accommodations, and a timely reason to visit — be it a notable new festival, hotel, restaurant, attraction, or tourism initiative,” the experts explained.

America’s Best Small Towns of 2024

• America’s Best Mountain Town Island Park, Idaho
• America’s Best Beach Town Paia, Maui
• America’s Best Lake Town Harbor Springs, Michigan
• America’s Best Desert Town Bisbee, Arizona
• America’s Best Food & Wine Town Elk, California
• America’s Best Shopping Town Round Top, Texas
• America’s Best Spa & Wellness Town Ouray, Colorado
• America’s Best Arts & Culture Town New Hope, Pennsylvania
• America’s Best College Town Clemson, South Carolina
• America’s Best Retirement Town Stuart, Florida

New Hope was the only town selected in the Northeast United States.

Other East Coast towns included Stuart, Fla., cited for its retiree-friendly lifestyle, and Clemson, SC for its college town vibe.

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Travel + Leisure’s New Subscription Travel Club Turns Expert Inspiration into Bookable Experiences

Benefits Include Preferred Pricing, Concierge Services, Exclusive Experiences and Magazine Subscription for Introductory Rate of $10 per month

Curated Itineraries Debut Today Featuring Magazine’s 2021 ‘World’s Best Awards’ Winners

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Travel + Leisure Group, a new business line from Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE: TNL) today launches Travel + Leisure Club , the only travel subscription service with the power to turn the aspirational pages from the iconic Travel + Leisure magazine, the world’s most influential travel brand, into real life, bookable experiences.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210908005678/en/

The new, members-only subscription travel club, Travel + Leisure Club, brings the trusted content from the storied Travel + Leisure brand to life, allowing travelers to dream, plan, book and go – all in one place. (Photo: Business Wire)

"Throughout the storied 50-year history of Travel + Leisure magazine, there was never a way for consumers to easily book a trip based on the inspirational stories they read in the pages of the magazine," said Noah Brodsky, president of Travel + Leisure Group. “With the launch of Travel + Leisure Club, we’re able to harness the award-winning magazine content to bring members one step closer to the transformative power of travel by providing expert guidance, personalized service and preferred pricing so they can create their own travel stories.”

The new, members-only subscription travel club brings the trusted content from the storied Travel + Leisure brand to life, allowing travelers to dream, plan, book and go – all in one place. Travel + Leisure Club members have access to preferred pricing on featured itineraries inspired by editorial coverage, extra savings on more than a million travel options, personalized concierge service, exclusive experiences, and a complimentary subscription to the iconic Travel + Leisure Magazine, all for an introductory rate of just $9.95 a month. Subscribers enjoy an average of 25 percent off of retail rates on hotels and resorts as well as members-only pricing on activities, car rentals and more. The Travel + Leisure Club has an expansive array of travel options for members to choose from when planning their vacation with an inventory featuring more than 600,000 hotels and resorts, more than 345,000 activities, all major car rental services, dozens of airlines and more.

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For those travel enthusiasts who haven’t yet subscribed to Travel + Leisure Club, the new Travel + Leisure GO is an open online retail travel site that connects inspirational travel stories, destination guides and curated itineraries with planning and booking tools, whether for everyday adventures or a once-in-a-lifetime getaway.

In celebration of today’s reveal of the 2021 World’s Best Awards from Travel + Leisure magazine, club members and visitors to Travel + Leisure GO can explore the first of these exclusive experiences, curated travel itineraries that feature top destinations, hotels and activities from this year’s winners. These bookable travel experiences are fully customizable and start at $1,650 for a four night stay featuring accommodations, activities and ground transportation for two. Highlights include:

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Travelers can explore these new itineraries online at Travel + Leisure GO and then call to create their customized dream trip, with Club members enjoying preferred pricing.

Over the coming months Travel + Leisure GO will continue to add more services including one-click booking on customizable itineraries; additional destination guides; integrated booking opportunities on editorial content; as well as expanded lifestyle elements such as a retail marketplace featuring a collection of Travel + Leisure branded products; and more.

Travel + Leisure Club and Travel + Leisure GO are the first consumer offerings from Travel + Leisure Group , a new business line from Travel + Leisure Co . (NYSE: TNL). The new consumer offerings are a part of the group’s larger mission to take the Travel + Leisure brand beyond inspirational content and bring it to life through a curated suite of consumer products and services. As previously announced, Travel + Leisure’s successful multi-platform media assets, renowned for journalistic excellence, will continue to be operated by Meredith Corporation.

About Travel + Leisure Group

Travel + Leisure Group offers travelers a way to turn vacation inspiration into exceptional experiences through a suite of products and services that bring the world’s most influential travel brand to life. Travel + Leisure Club is a subscription travel club where members can dream, plan, book and go – all in one place, while enjoying preferred pricing, personalized concierge and travel planning services, exclusive experiences and more. Travel + Leisure GO is an online retail travel site that connects trusted inspirational content with bookable travel services and expert-curated itineraries. Travel + Leisure Group is also expanding the offerings of the storied brand through licensing agreements and a growing collection of branded consumer products. The business line is a part of Travel + Leisure Co., the world’s leading membership and leisure travel company, with a portfolio of nearly 20 resort, travel club and lifestyle travel brands. Learn more here or follow Travel + Leisure GO on Facebook , Instagram , Twitter , or Pinterest .

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210908005678/en/

Media Contact: Christina Baez [email protected]

Source: Travel + Leisure Group

Released September 8, 2021

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New York City

New York City Skyline Sunset (Photo: Mike Lee via Flickr)

Writer Tom Wolfe declared: “One belongs to New York instantly; one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years.” And that is the beauty of visiting New York, where a tourist can blend into the crowd and become part of the energy of the city in one magical moment. An island only 13 and a half miles long and just over two miles wide at its broadest point, Manhattan packs more famous icons and attractions into one compact area than any other place on earth. With limitless activities and events, time is your only constraint, so plan accordingly! The diversity of its inhabitants is matched only by the to the variety of things to do, from Central Park, the Empire State Building, Ellis Island, the world-renowned museums, Times Square and Broadway, to the local flavor of each distinctive neighborhood and the hidden treasures they have to offer. And don’t forget the other four bustling boroughs: walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, eat ethnic food in Astoria, Queens, visit the Bronx Zoo, and take the Staten Island ferry for a glorious (and free!) view of Lady Liberty. Discover your own version of New York City by wandering its streets and taking it all in, becoming fully immersed in the NYC experience.

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I’ve Been to Istanbul Every Year Since 2014 — This Time I Brought My 1-Year-Old

Turkish tapas, donkey-milk skin care, and vintage caftans..

Everyone knows that person who spends weeks sniffing around travel blogs, going deep into Tripadvisor rabbit holes, collecting Google docs from friends of friends, and creating  A Beautiful Mind– style spreadsheets to come up with the best  vacations /itineraries possible. In this recurring series, we find those people who’ve done all the work for you and have them walk us through a particularly wonderful, especially well-thought-out vacation they took that you can actually steal.

Host of the Naked Beauty podcast and @ nakedbeautyplanet and creator marketing manager at Instagram Brooke DeVard has been traveling back and forth to Turkey since 2014 — first on her own, and then with her now-husband Umut Ozaydinli, who grew up there. “I love going both as a tourist and with someone who lives there,” she says. “It’s not one of those cities where if you don’t know the right people it can be challenging to navigate.” For Ozaydinli, Istanbul matches New York’s energy and pace, but what DeVard sees as its biggest draw is that it otherwise resists comparison to other cities: “If you travel a lot, some cities start to seem very similar. I think Istanbul is so special because it’s a unique combination of old-world and new that really feels distinctly its own.” This summer, she returned to Istanbul with her husband and new permanent plus-one, 13-month-old son Mavi, for whom it was the first trip abroad. Her priorities when she’s traveling (and, frankly, when she’s home in New York) are the same: “I love food, beauty treatments, and shopping, so they are always top of my list to experience wherever I am.”

We often stay in Kanlica, where my husband’s family lives. Their house is right on the Bosphorus, so you wake up to this amazing view of the water. Kanlica is the Asian side — it’s the quieter and more residential side of Istanbul — and it’s connected to the European side by bridge. If you want an area that feels much less busy and low-key, there are some hotels on the Asian side or you can book an Airbnb. But it is farther away from many of the attractions, so just be prepared to spend more time in traffic or on water taxis (which I’m obsessed with, anyway). If we’re staying on the European side, we like to stay at Soho House in Beyoglu or the Four Seasons. At Soho House, you’re really just in the thick of it, with tons of art galleries, restaurants, and shopping walking distance from the hotel, which also has a beautiful pool on their rooftop. If you’re going in the summertime, that’s a nice place to pop up to for a drink. For a luxury experience, I love the Four Seasons, which has gorgeous views of the water.

8 a.m.: Breakfast before anything else

We always start with a traditional Turkish breakfast, which includes simit bread — The best! Like a bagel, but way better — white cheeses, fruits, eggs, jams, and maybe even sucuk (Turkish sausage). Most hotels and restaurants will serve Turkish breakfast in the morning (the Four Seasons has an amazing one), but Migros, a grocery store with locations throughout the city, is a good one-stop shop to get everything if you want to make your own. Or there’s a fancier version of Migros called Macrocenter. I really like visiting grocery stores when I’m traveling abroad.

9 a.m.: Start in Old Town

I believe in doing the tourist attractions first and then relaxing on the back end. We started by going to the old town center and visiting the architectural marvel that is the Hagia Sophia . I like going as early as possible because it’s less crowded and it’s easier to get through it all. It is a Muslim country, so when I’m in the historic areas of Istanbul, I tend to cover up more. But all across Istanbul when you go to tourist places and you’re in a tank top, they usually have little shawls at the entrance that you can just drape over your shoulders.

10 a.m.: Stop at Topkapi Palace

A five-minute walk away is Topkapi Palace , where you can easily spend three or four hours. If you want a guide, you can find English-speaking ones on the grounds. There’s a separate ticketing kiosk to visit the palace’s harem quarters, and I recommend paying a few dollars extra to do that. You’ll see rare artifacts, like the Spoonmaker’s Diamond (the fourth-largest diamond in the world at 86 carats), and it’s an amazing way to learn how the sultans of the Ottoman Empire lived. I’m African American and I had no idea that there were Black eunuchs that played this big role in the sultans’ life. There’s a small community of Afro Turks, Black Turkish people, that can trace their lineage back to these people working in the palace with the sultan.

3 p.m.: A late lunch and spice shopping

Topkapi Palace does have a nice outdoor restaurant, but we took a ten-minute taxi or tram ride to the spice market instead. There, you can have a late lunch at the famous Pandeli restaurant (Rüstempaşa Mah), which has been there since the early 1900s and serves incredible Turkish food. Start with piyaz, a dish of beans and onions, and köfta (meatballs); these were the original two dishes on the very first menu of the restaurant. You can also order the hünkar begendi, translated as “sultan’s delight”; a divine slow-cooked lamb served on charred eggplant purée; döner kebab; and, for dessert, the classic kazandibi, a milk pudding with minced chicken … which sounds weird, but is actually delicious. After our meal, we wandered around the spice market before it closed, where I love loading up on fragrant teas and lots of dried jasmine flowers.

7 p.m.: Walk the Galata Bridge at sunset

We were tired after all of the day’s adventuring, so we strolled over the famous Galata Bridge taking in the scenery and watching the fishermen, then took a ferry back to where we were staying in Kanlica, which is the best and most accessible kind of boat tour. It’s under $1 per person, and while people use it to commute, you get the most beautiful views, especially at sunset. If you have any stamina left, you could also visit the Galata Tower, one of the oldest towers in the world with its own showstopping views of Istanbul.

10 a.m.: Get subterranean

The Basilica Cistern is entirely underground, and it’s really one of the most fascinating sites in the world. It’s definitely cooler down there, so plan your outfit accordingly. The Cistern shows how water traveled through the city in the Byzantine era. There’s mood lighting and classical music (they even have concerts there sometimes), so the overall vibe is surprisingly kinda romantic. We never get a guide, just wander around ourselves.

12 pm: Fuel up with kebabs

We stopped at Şeyhmuz Kebap for kebabs, which, if you’re a meat eater or love Anthony Bourdain–style local spots, you have to definitely get. It’s from the city of Mardin, and it’s a combination of lamb or beef that’s put on this spit and roasted and there are different ways it’s served: adana kebab, which is spicy, or sarma beyti kebab. I really like the Şeyhmuz kebap with pistachio; it’s basically almost like a flat meatball with pistachios and is usually served with grilled peppers, tomatoes, onion, and fresh parsley, and sometimes with rice or pita. Or sarma beyti is also amazing; that’s kebab wrapped in pita bread with yogurt and red sauce on top.

1 p.m.: Buy vintage caftans and argan-oil soap at the Grand Bazaar

I never miss a chance to go to the Grand Bazaar; if you like shopping, it’s a must. There are 4,000-plus shops, so you could spend ten hours there and still not see everything. The experience requires focus, planning, and some negotiating skills, but that’s all part of the fun. Over the years, there’s been more and more counterfeit stuff; you walk in and it’s like Off-White and Gucci, Balenciaga, and Bottega, even that Prada headband that Amanda Gorman wore at the inauguration. For shoppers that are impatient, they may enter the Grand Bazaar, see all the counterfeit stuff, and be like, There’s nothing really here for me . I always just veer away from the main area and head to the outskirts. My favorite things to shop for are vintage caftans, Turkish towels, rose water (it’s used in a lot of beauty treatments there), and natural soaps at a specific place called Kash. I got argan-oil soap, goat’s milk soap, and even pistachio. On this trip, I also got really into donkey’s milk, which is a big thing there; it’s very rich and hydrating and great for people with eczema.

6 p.m.: Sunset rooftop drinks and dinner

We showed up early for our dinner reservation at Neolokal to get drinks on the rooftop, which has panoramic views of all of Istanbul and an incredible bar. Neolokal has been voted the best restaurant in Istanbul, and it has a set menu so you don’t have to think about what to order. We had beef cooked in duck juice with various yogurts that I’m still fantasizing about.

9 a.m.: Meander around the waterfront

We took a water taxi to Ortakoy, an area along the water, where we really enjoyed taking Mavi in the stroller for a walk; I think he appreciated the view. The literal translation of Ortakoy is the “middle village,” and it’s a cute area full of shops, restaurants, cafés (we love House Café there), and a gorgeous mosque that creates the quintessential Istanbul photo backdrop. We did a family photo there.

11 a.m.: Get in a little more shopping

We walked to the nearby Nisantasi neighborhood; it’s a very chic area, and if you love shopping, you can spend a day exploring here. I start at Vakko , which is kind of like their Barneys, and then make my way up and down the streets popping into little shops. I discovered a new store there on this visit called Gizia, a great shop with only Turkish designers.

1 p.m.: Wine and people-watch

We paused to grab lunch at Foxy Nisantasi ; order the eggplant with molasses and a glass of local wine, and then just sit outside and people-watch while you eat.

3 p.m.: Sweat it out at the hammam

Turkish bath culture is huge, and I always do one day at the hammam when we’re in Istanbul. We went to the hammam at the Ritz-Carlton this time, which isn’t the most traditional place to do it, but it was wonderful. You’re still on the marble slab with the warm water, and they exfoliate your whole body with that kese mitt and soap you down and follow up with an oil treatment. The marble treatment rooms at the Ritz are beautiful and because they’re used to tourists, they will let you take a photo covered in bubbles before the final massage. You can also book a couples room there if you’re with your boo so you can get scrubbed down and bathed together.

7 p.m.: Have an epic meal

We brought a change of clothes for dinner along with us to the spa, so afterward, we set off to have one of the best meals of our life at Mikla . The tasting menu is phenomenal and is all about traditional Ottoman cuisine in newly imagined ways. We had the most delicious braised lamb and their take on manti, which are traditional spiced-meat dumplings.

9 a.m.: Walk and coffee

We took a long walk (about an hour) from Kanlica to Balat, which is this very cool, creative neighborhood. There are coffee shops everywhere in Istanbul, and they open early and stay open until like 11 p.m., but a lot of people go to Balat just to drink coffee. Turkish coffee is so strong and very thick. I can’t really drink it without having a mild seizure … it’s just too much for me. But if you like strong coffee, then it’s a literal dream. What I love is that you can have a piece of Turkish delight with it, a sweet square of sugary gelatin that offsets the taste if it’s too intense for you.

11 a.m.: Instagram ops and glassmakers

Everything is super-bright in Balat, with all the houses painted different colors (green, yellow, blue), and there are cobblestone streets. It’s fun and vibrant. All the colors means there will be many people taking Instagram pictures; there were literally lines to take pictures! We found some lovely shops specializing in glass objects, like these really pretty delicate straws. We didn’t end up buying any because I was worried they would break in transit. Then we meandered over to nearby Fener to visit a historic school sometimes called the Red Castle, the oldest Greek Orthodox school in Istanbul, and the beautiful Church of St. George.

12 p.m.: A moment for mezes

We stopped for lunch at Agora Meyhanesi , a famous Greek tavern that’s over 100 years old. They don’t have a proper menu, but the best move is to get mezes and share a piece of fish.

3 p.m.: Watch the whirling dervishes

We ended the day in Taksim Square with a whirling dervish show. The dervishes are religious people, but more on the mystical side, who sing and dance and wear these tall hats and outfits that twirl as they move. The skirts they wear as they spin create this amazing illusion, and watching it feels almost meditative. It’s one of the coolest cultural experiences I’ve had, and it’s so specific to this region. I’ve really never seen anything like it.

8 p.m.: Try Turkish tapas

On our way back to Kanlica, we stopped in Bebek for a late dinner. There’s a whole genre of restaurants in Turkey called meyhane , which just means “wine house,” and they all specialize in a version of small plates. It’s almost like tapas, and it’s all meant to be shared with the table. The meyhane place we went to, and loved, was Sisko Perihan , which has a very fun vibe and great food; we had great kokorec (a type of intestines) on toast, all of the small dips with white cheese, and kofte.

Brooke’s Istanbul Packing List

It’s foldable, so it’s easy to roll up in your bag. Mine has little ties so you don’t have to worry about the wind blowing it off. It’s also chic and goes with everything.

[Editor’s note: While this hat doesn’t have ties, it’s similar in style to the one Brooke has.]

The ultimate travel lip gloss. It hydrates and actually lasts, and it looks great for daytime and night.

Prada fanny pack

My No. 1 travel bag so I can roam hands-free and in crowded places. I don’t have to worry about my bag being open or accessible.

[Editor’s note: This bag is a little smaller than the one Brooke has , but it’s currently the only Prada belt bag in stock.]

Hand sanitizer

The scent — it has cedarwood, vetiver, and ylang-ylang — is just divine, but it also thoroughly sanitizes your hands, which is important when you’re scouring through items at someplace like the Grand Bazaar.

[Editor’s note: This hand sanitizer is currently sold out, but we also like Megababe’s hand sanitizer , which, like Ona’s, is made with plant-based alcohol and contains scented oils — in this case, bergamot and orange — to leave your hands smelling fresh.]

I’m never without it. It’s invisible, so it’s so easy to apply it in the back of a car or walking down the street and not worry that I look like Casper the Ghost.

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America’s Best Small Arts and Culture Town Is a Mecca for Theater, History, and Charming Hospitality

Located in the heart of the “genius belt,” New Hope, Pennsylvania, is building on its long-standing reputation as a progressive arts and culture hub with new hotels, shops, and restaurants.

Jackie Caradonio is a New York–based writer and photographer who specializes in travel, dining, sustainability, and art and design. Her articles and photography have appeared in publications such as Condé Nast Traveler, Bloomberg Pursuits, Afar, The New York Times, and others. 

Why New Hope Is the Best Food and Culture Town in the U.S. for 2024

Where to stay.

• Things to Do

Where to Shop

Where to eat and drink, best times to visit, how to get there.

Alessandra Amodio/Travel + Leisure

For a small town with just a few thousand residents, New Hope has an outsize reputation. The Bucks County borough on the edge of the Delaware River is the birthplace of early-20th-century Pennsylvania Impressionism; the location where countless stars of the stage, from Liza Minnelli to Robert Redford, got their start; one of the most LGBTQ+-friendly destinations in the U.S.; and the muse of George Nakashima, a founding father of the American Studio Craft movement whose workshop still operates on the outskirts of town to this day. Add to that its location, about an hour from both New York City and Philadelphia, and it’s no surprise that modern-day creatives continue to gather here, injecting their own flair to its enduring natural beauty, long-established artistic culture, and quirky charm.

New Hope’s origin story says it all: Previously known as Coryell’s Ferry, the town was rechristened in the 1800s after a devastating mill fire. The name was selected to bring hope back to the community, to inspire a new sense of joy and prosperity. That spirit continues today, says David Myers, a New Hope local and president of Bridge Hospitality, which opened the River House at Odette’s hotel in 2020. “New Hope is a town for all,” says Myers. “The residents and people here hold ourselves accountable to a high level of expectation of inclusivity and kindness.”

Here's everything you need to know before visiting New Hope, including how to get there, where to stay, and what to do.

Alessandra Amodio/Travel + Leisure

“There’s a reason they call this the genius belt,” says Michael Traupman, director of marketing for the Bucks County Playhouse. “Authors, playwrights, actors, artists — they all flocked here. Dorothy Parker, James A. Michener, Charlie Parker, and George Kaufman all called Bucks County home at some point.”

While many of the most recognizable names in art and theater have put New Hope on the worldwide stage, a new generation of tastemakers is continuing to give visitors the curtain-up treatment. The hotel welcoming them with open arms — and a healthy dose of dramatic flair — is the River House at Odette’s.

Beloved mainstays like Farley’s Bookshop and restaurant The Salt House have cultlike followings — especially after a recent renovation by chef-owner Steven Lau — while newcomers and returning natives like Sean Paben and Emily Paige Paben, co-owners of The Meanings of Things , have arrived in recent years, drawn as much to the creative culture as to the small-town vibes.

New Hope is packed end to end with more of that idiosyncratic and intellectual allure, all crammed into just 1.4 utterly charming square miles. Catch dinner and a Broadway-worthy show at the Bucks County Playhouse ; dine on the fruits (and produce and meats) of Pennsylvania’s fabled farms at Stella ; go around the world in more than a dozen cuisines — and shop local makers while you’re at it — at Ferry Market ; catch live tunes at the Piano Lounge at the River House at Odette’s; and uncover a trove of recherché antiques and curios at any number of quirky shops dotting the town: Exquisite Earth (for rare stones and jewelry), God Save the Qweens (for vintage-punk vibes and loads of Dr. Martens), and Artichaut (for French-country decor).

River House at Odette’s

Named after Odette Myrtil, whose cabaret club stood for decades on this very spot, River House at Odette’s is a glamorous ode, featuring 38 rooms and suites dressed in vibrant florals and punchy patterns. In keeping with the location’s history, the casual-cool restaurant, Odette’s, puts on live music several nights a week. Head to the rooftop club — a local members’ club that’s also open to hotel guests — for alfresco cocktails and bites overlooking the Delaware River.

Things to Do  

Catch a performance..

Built on the site of the 18th-century New Hope gristmill that gave the town its name, the Bucks County Playhouse is an esteemed institution with a direct line to Broadway. “By and large, we cast and rehearse in New York City,” says Traupman. “A number of highly recognizable Broadway names cut their teeth here.” Indeed, Grace Kelly, Angela Lansbury, and Dick Van Dyke have all performed on its stage. Catch Broadway classics like Grease , original productions like Last of the Red Hot Mamas , a musical about the vaudeville starlet Sophie Tucker; or the theater’s annual run of Richard O’Brien’s cult classic  The Rocky Horror Show .

Be inspired by nature.

New Hope’s captivating landscapes inspired the early-1900s Pennsylvania School of Painting, a cornerstone of American Impressionism. Paint yourself into the scenery today by kayaking or canoeing the Delaware River thanks to Bucks County River Country rentals. Or, explore on dry land at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve , 134 acres of parkland that’s home to 4.5 miles of nature trails dotted with native plants like the dazzling eastern redbud.

Hit the museum trail. 

Go to the Michener Art Museum to see the works of Pennsylvania Impressionist masters such as Edward W. Redfield, whose plein-air paintings prominently feature New Hope landmarks — and continue to inspire the artists who line the riverfront with their own easels today. The museum is also home to the Nakashima Reading Room, a meditative retreat filled with legendary woodworker George Nakashima’s creations. More Nakashima can be experienced at the George Nakashima House, Studio, and Workshop , a by-appointment-only, 12-acre complex with 21 buildings that served as the artist’s family homes and studio spaces.

Shop and eat local.

“What keeps New Hope’s unspoiled charm intact is its ability to stay small and noncommercialized,” says Myers. Local businesses are the lifeline of the borough, whether on bustling Main Street or at the farms on the outskirts of town. Find our shopping and dining recommendations below.

The Meanings of Things

Magnolia Home alumni Emily Paige Paben (a native of New Hope) and Sean Paben are the creative forces behind The Meanings of Things , an eye-candy-filled boutique on North Main Street. Tucked behind its tidy, olive-green facade lined with flowers and ivy is a menagerie of their favorite bits and baubles, from delicate handmade paper flowers to the modern Impressionist landscapes of local artist Michelle Farro.

Farley’s Bookstore

Intellectual gathering place, community center, and historic monument — Farley’s Bookshop is all of these things. The fiercely treasured New Hope institution is revered as much for its curated selection of titles as for the early 19th-century building it has resided in since 1971.

Just across the river in Stockton, New Jersey, Black Shed is a multi-hyphenate concept from landscape designer Joe Liana and partner Laith Abdulkareem. The garden center outside turns into an aesthete’s dream inside, where decor from around the globe comes together in vibrant vignettes of ceramics, floral arrangements, and furnishings. An all-day café serves fresh pastries and lattes; weekends are filled with cocktails in the bar and events spotlighting local chefs and musicians.

Playhouse Deck

A 2018 expansion of the Bucks County Playhouse included the addition of the riverfront Playhouse Deck , which serves American fare like truffle mac and cheese and sea scallops with corn and blistered tomatoes, amid theater memorabilia. (Don’t miss the 1964 photo of Liza Minnelli in front of the playhouse ticket window, taken before a performance of Time Out for Ginger. ) Even better every dollar spent at the restaurant supports the nonprofit playhouse and its mission to build more theater opportunities for all.

The Salt House

Located behind Farley’s Bookshop, the recently renovated Salt House is a legend in its own right, occupying a circa-1751 stone building filled with intimate nooks and crannies. Have lunch in the library lounge or on the riverfront brick patio. For dinner, join owner and executive chef Steven Lau at the Fireside Chef’s Table, where Nantucket Sound sea scallops and Wellfleet oysters are paired with wines from his own Napa Valley vineyard.

Manoff Market Gardens

The ne plus ultra of farmers markets, Manoff does it all (and lets you do some of it, too): pick your own peaches and apples by the pound; sip artisanal ciders, brandies, and eau-de-vies during regular cider nights; and shop house-made and handcrafted indulgences, from apple butter and apple toffee to bouquets and fragrant soaps.

Overlooking a stretch of the Delaware River where artists regularly gather to paint New Hope’s famous landscapes, Stella offers dishes heavy on locally grown apples, corn, and beets, as well as farm-raised chicken, duck, and pork, all sourced from within the state.

Roof , a members-only lounge located on the top level of the River House at Odette’s, unlocks its doors to hotel guests, too. The VIP vibe plays out in arguably the best views of the Delaware River, but the scene is as charming as you’d expect in this town, with casual New England-inspired fare and low-key live music.

Ferry Market

Ferry Market is the gastronomic embodiment of New Hope’s come-one, come-all ethos, with a dozen vendors specializing in different global cuisines. Peruvian empanadas, Brazilian burgers, Japanese crepes, and Moroccan eggplant salad are all on the menu — as are local favorites like Market Pizza and SkyRoast Coffee.

New Hope’s strong sense of community and busy cultural calendar keep the borough occupied all year round. Summer is peak season, and hotel rates — and traffic — reflect that. For a more laid-back introduction, opt for a shoulder-season visit. April, May, September, and October enjoy crisp but comfortable temperatures, climbing as high as the 70s during the day and making outdoor activities enjoyable. Farmers markets and other seasonal attractions remain open well into these months. Winters are brisk and sometimes snowy, but no less engaging thanks to plenty of indoor diversions.

New Hope’s annual Pride Parade takes place every May, while fall brings the New Hope Arts & Crafts Festival .

New Hope is around 70 miles by car from New York City and just 40 miles from downtown Philadelphia. The closest airport, approximately 10 miles away, is New Jersey’s Trenton-Mercer Airport (TTN), a hub for Frontier Airlines that serves cities throughout the Southeast. Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) and Newark Liberty Airport (EWR) are about 50 and 60 miles away, respectively.

America's Best Small Towns 2024

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