New York Accommodation & Cheap Lodging

New York is pure energy. You've seen the towering skyscrapers, the bustling traffic and bright lights in the movies. The Big Apple is home to the world's finest museums, most diverse restaurants, and top rate music and entertainment. Infinite sidewalks lead to café-lined streets, unique designer stores, and the green grass hills of Central Park. The spring you feel in your step is just one reason why this is the world's favorite city.

New York City is small in size but big in numbers. It's the most densely populated city in North America with 8 million citizens on just 830 square km of land. It has always been a city of immigrants, and even today about one third of its citizens are foreign born. Roughly 138 languages are spoken here, and vibrant new ethnic enclaves pop up all over the city, offering visitors interesting cultural and culinary experiences. While the city pulses with the blood of its newest residents, old New York is still alive and well. Opera still bursts from the venerable stage of Lincoln Center. Wall Street, the hive of capitalism, still bustles with the excitement and tension of the stock market and the stately apartments of New York's wealthy still frame the majestic Central Park. Mostly when people speak of New York they mean Manhattan but New York City is made up of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. Visitors with a little extra time on their hands should at least pay a visit to Brooklyn with hipster headquarter Williamsburg and memories of the olden days at the Coney Island boardwalk. New York is nowadays one of America's safest cities and the best way to see it is to walk. Numbered streets in Manhattan make navigation easy. Streets run from east to west, and avenues intersect from north to south (uptown and downtown). New Yorkers are, contrary to their reputation, friendly and talkative and nearly every night of the week the city's bars and clubs are crowded with revelers. There are several universities in New York, which contribute to keeping the city young.

You'll never run out of things to do in New York. Hitting all of the major sights in one trip requires ambition, but hey, New Yorkers are ambitious. Choose between visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a stroll in Central Park, trip to Ellis Island to see the Statue of Liberty, see a Broadway show or go for a "Sex and the City" tour.

Metropolitan Museum of Art The "Met," as it is commonly known, is New York's most popular tourist destination. Enjoy the museum's permanent collection of some 2 million works; including some of the finest paintings of Picasso, Matisse; and the wonders of ancient Greek and Egyptian civilizations.

Museum of Modern Art MoMA, as New Yorkers refer to it, features the world's most comprehensive collection of modern art.

Central Park The "lungs of the city," Central Park is Manhattan's largest and most beautiful green space.

Times Square Today, families bask safely in the neon glow of the square's massive, illuminated advertisements.

Broadway Shows If you're willing to stand in line for up to an hour you can get theater and musical tickets for 25-50% off the box office price for shows the same day.

Circle Line Boat The 3-hour "Full Island Cruise" circumnavigates the entire island of Manhattan and takes visitors past 25 major historical landmarks; including the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the magnificent Brooklyn Bridge.

Washington Square Park One of the best spots for people watching on a sunny day, the park is filled with street performers, chess players, musicians and students from nearby New York University. Address: West 4th Street and MacDougal

Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island When immigrants arrived by boat in the late 19th century, the first sight they saw was the Statue of Liberty - an enduring symbol of the American dream.

Empire State Building Currently the tallest skyscraper on the American east coast.

"Sex and the City" Tour Guides take you everywhere your favorite TV-show characters go, and fill you in on all the show's juicy, behind- the-scenes gossip in the process.

New York Restaurants
Competition between bars and restaurants in New York is fierce. With so many new establishments opening daily, everybody's got to have a gimmick to distinguish their place from the rest. You'll be amazed at the variety of coffees, hot chocolates, wines or desserts on a single menu. And you'll wonder how specialty establishments who only sell cupcakes, pudding, raw food, or whiskey even survive. It's consumer heaven for those who like lots of options. While the legendary New York steakhouses and diners are still popular among locals and tourists alike, getting adventurous with the thousands of ethnic restaurants is where the real fun begins. Waiters should be tipped 15-20%.

New York Bars & Nightlife So many bars, so little time. New York has plenty of cool bars and clubs for those who want a fun night on the town. Most nightlife revolves around the bar scene, but here are the hotspots for those who prefer to get dressed up and dance with the beautiful people. New York bars are smoke free by law.

New York Cafes There's a Starbucks Coffee a stones throw away from any street in Manhattan. If you crave cheaper java, or a slice of cake with your "joe" New York won't let you down. Let us guide you through a few of New York's many cafés.

New York Stores and shopping streets
Shopaholics and fashionistas whisk out your credit cards. New York may possibly be the best shopping city in the world. Every major chain and label has an outpost here, and there are so many small designers and flea markets, you are guaranteed to bring home much more than you bargained for. Shopping in New York is retail heaven!

Midtown If you're able to tear yourself away from Macy's there are retail shops of all kinds as far as the eye can see in this neighbourhood.

Chinatown/Canal Street Bustle through the street stalls to find bargain versions of top designer handbags, shoes, watches, and perfumes.

Soho/Prince Street The most stylish of neighbourhoods for expensive designer goods and unbeatable window-shopping.

Lower East Side/St. Marks Ave Every designer boutique you encounter is hipper than the next.

Macy's The world's largest department store, with seven floors of merchandise covering an entire city block.

Saks Fifth Avenue Ten floors of world famous luxury goods.

Bloomingdale´s Designers share floor space with mid-priced labels since 1886 in this art deco landmark building, housing one of the world's most famous department stores.

Century 21 New York's "best kept secret". Shop here for discounts of up to 75% on designer goods.