How to Spend an Inexpensive Day in NYC
Everyone loves a good deal and NYC is full of them. The Big Apple is a beautiful, bustling city filled with too many adventures to count. While it can seem intimidating and expensive, there’s also plenty to enjoy and explore in this amazing city on a budget. For as little as $20, the city is a treasure trove of museums, exhibits, shops, food, and outdoor adventures that are quintessential to the city that never sleeps. Here is a sampling of a few affordable and fun NYC treats:
Free museum days and Culture Pass: NYC has some of the most famous museums in the world, such as the Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Here’s a tip: check for free hours or free days to visit (although it's nice to still give a suggested donation when you do go!). Also, with a library card you can get free tickets once a year to basically any museum in the city.
Signature NY pizza slice for just $2: It wasn’t long ago that you could get a dollar pizza slice in the city. The $1 slice might be a thing of the past but cheap and delicious pizza is still available. Popular pizza chain 2 Bros Pizza sells a regular cheese pizza slice for just $2.
Catch a game at Yankee Stadium for $10: There’s a cheap way to get a seat at Yankee stadium. There aren’t many of them but if you’re lucky, you can score a $10 seat in a very limited area of the stadium in the Grandstand seating area.
Visit a farm in the heart of the city: There’s a farm hidden in the midst of the concrete jungle where you can buy fresh eggs and seasonal fruits and vegetables. The Queens County Farm Museum, located in Queens, is a NYC landmark that dates back to 1697. It’s an actual 47-acre farmland in the city where you can also find goats, sheep and alpaca. Admission is free.
It’s called Five Below for a reason: NYC has a couple of Five Below stores where a lot of the products – chips, large selection of candy, socks, cute photo frames, phone cases, room décor, board games are under $5. It’s a fun and budget-friendly place to stock up on simple necessities.
Bubble tea that won’t break the bank: Who doesn't love delicious bubble tea! It's possible to enjoy it without shelling out $10 for it. At Gong Cha, enjoy your bubble tea order for just $4.50. Gong Cha is a fast growing bubble tea chain in the city with many locations from the Lower East Side all the way up to the Bronx.
Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge: A free yet really fun activity to do in NYC is walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. This walk across New York City’s most iconic bridge lets you enjoy the views of the city’s skyline including the Empire State Building, the World Trade and are in Brooklyn you should go and explore the Brooklyn Bridge Park filled with fun sports, great views, and rich ecology
Visit the High Line: Another fun walking activity is exploring the Highline. There are over a dozen entrances to the high line across NYC and once you are in the elevated park you can take a stroll through the gardens, walkways and even explore public art exhibitions. This is another way to get a unique perspective of Manhattan’s West Side.
Little Island: A more recent addition to NYC has been Little Island, which is just off pier 55. This new park is open to the public at no cost and allows visitors to explore nature just off of the Hudson River on the West Side. This suspended above the water park is 2.4 acres and has plenty of areas to explore and some great views of the city and up the Hudson River.
As you can see, there are so many options for amazing experiences in our Big Apple that all cost as little as $20. We hope that you take one of your days this break to try one of these fun activities. Any of these experiences are a great way to make a day memorable with your friends or family. The best days in NYC are the days spent enjoying all this special city has to offer, and these are only some of the things that anyone can do to have a great day in NYC!
