Weekend in New York, what to see in the Big Apple in 48 hours

Two days to see the capital of the world? They are very few. But a taste of the Big Apple is possible. Here is a special guide: a weekend in New York. To savor all corners of the city that never sleeps. And that it would be a shame not to visit. The premise is mandatory: New York for many it is just Manhattan. Here the history of the city was born, here are the headquarters of the United Nations, the Empire state building, Times Square and the most famous museums. And here the movies we all love were filmed. But remember: New York is big. And there’s a lot of New York beyond manhattan, also in the other districts. That’s why we’ll try to see beyond the Hudson.

A weekend in New York: Breakfast in Manhattan.

The first unmissable date is with the most stars and stripes breakfast there is. An American coffee and a bagel (preferably with cream cheese and jam) and then off we go: towards the Big Apple. Given the short time you have to choose and among the classic attractions of New York choose one: the Empire State Buildinga museum like the MOMA or the sprawling METthe Natural History Museum, the Guggenheim or the Whitney.

If you are very, very original, you could choose something extravagant like the Police Museum from New York or the Sex museum. Personally I would lean towards the MET: it’s a real experience. Vermeer’s five paintings alone make up the largest collection of the artist’s work in the world. And it’s just one of the records. So after the visit, Stendhal syndrome permitting, start walking. A weekend in New York is also and above all made up of this: a long way on foot.

Lunch in street food trucks.

It will now be time for lunch. And here’s another unmissable opportunity: i food trucks that are so fashionable in New York. The choice is endless in terms of type of food and origin even if the curry often seems to reign supreme. You take your lunch from one of those that seem most appetizing to you and aim straight for Central Park. If the weather is nice, the weekend is filled with people like you. New Yorkers sunbathing, big boys training to run, girls wearing headphones in full style”Sex in the city” and old ladies with the dog on a leash and wrinkles. There will also be hipsters with their ethnic takeaway and long beards. But you will be there too. And you won’t forget it easily.

Let’s cross the bridge: the weekend in New York continues in Brooklyn.

With a full stomach, rested and satisfied, it’s time to leave. If you want to avoid blisters you can aim for the metro: destination Chinatown. Once you arrive in the neighborhood, start wandering around aimlessly. Don’t think, however, that you are in the Chinatown of the past: it is now a quiet area where if you are tired you can just stop for some rolls. Where is it? Where it happens, there are dozens of places and they are very similar. So once again reassured we continue the our weekend in New York.

Continuing you will arrive at Little Italy (now dull and quite disappointing: here there is nothing left of the Godfather epic). After a nice walk, head towards City Hall Park: another stage of our weekend in New York starts from here. One awaits us bridge and then Brooklyn. Absolutely not to be missed.

What awaits you on the other side is the Brooklyn area called Dumbo: no, the little elephant has nothing to do with it, but it is the said area Down Under the Bridge Overpassing Manhattan. It was once an industrial area, gray and without charm: then artists, architects, designers and people with money arrived who transformed the old industrial buildings into lofts that were more fashionable than ever. Add the view that you have from the windows on the neighbor manhattan and you will understand why the prices here have now skyrocketed. You walk around and wait for the sunset sitting on one of the benches: the lights that come on Downtown they are always fascinating. And how could you ever feel so much like Woody Allen again? Your weekend in New York will be scented with myth and celluloid.

Brooklyn, the fashion area to discover

But the night comes. And from fiction we must move on to reality. To do this we always stay at Brooklyn even if a little far from here: destination Williamsburg. To get there you need the subway and then the desire to have fun. Nothing remains of what used to be an industrial area known only to those who frequented it for work. Now it attracts New Yorkers and tourists attracted by trendy clubs and glamorous shops designed for a different type of tourism than the one strolling along the Fifth Avenue.

So the sheds have become pub, restaurants much appreciated, vintage shops and laboratories. The population that inhabits the neighborhood is a mix of nationalities and origins while this area was once populated mainly by Jews and immigrants from Eastern countries. You choose the place that inspires you the most Bedford Ave and start watching and being watched. This is the Big Apple and this is yours weekend in New York can only end with a little of live music.

A weekend in New York: greetings to Miss Liberty

Now it’s Sunday: and it’s the right time to do something trivial and free. Or peek at the Statue of Liberty without paying for the ticket. But first a dutiful stop: alla Frances Tavern Museum. No, you didn’t get it wrong. It is a restaurant and a museum. This place has been around since 1762 and he had lunch here George Washington. For a time it also housed the offices of the War Department but now it is a place to eat classic American dishes. The prices aren’t even too high.

So let’s continue our weekend in New York and to do so we take one of the huge ferries that reach from the southern tip of Manhattan Staten Island, the least visited neighborhood in New York. We will do like most tourists: that is, we will look at the Manhattan skyline behind us and shortly after we will admire, not too far away Miss Liberty. So got to Staten Island we will be able to get back on the ferry immediately (it’s free, a lot) or take a walk to look for new glimpses. After all, it’s not every day that you get to admire New York surrounded by silence and the song of the seagulls.

A weekend in New York: now it’s Queens’ turn

We’re back in Manhattan: now from the boat we’re going back to the subway. To be precise, line 7 in the direction of Flushing. Much of the route takes place not underground but above ground and so there will also be a way to admire the panorama. Destination is Queensanother of districts of New York. This too has been underestimated by tourists for too long but is now buzzing with life. And what was just a melting pot of cultures and nations is a successful experiment on what the future of the city will be. To give some examples, here are also one Chinatown to flushingone Little India to Jackson Heights and a piece of Cyclades in the area of Astoria.

This has transformed Queens in a mix of cultures that has enriched the area. now for Long Island city an important contemporary art center has developed: the new trends, fashions and trends of tomorrow are brewing here today. Also in Long Island City is the PS1an exhibition center affiliated with the museum MoMA (if you have visited the MOMA in the previous days know that you will not pay for the ticket here), or the Socrates Sculpture Park, a park where sculptures and installations are housed. And don’t say that the your weekend in New York it was not rich in cultural cues.

Yes, but the stomach demands: a short subway ride to aa Jackson Heights allows us to reach Roosevelt Avenue in the section between 72nd Street up to Junction Blvd. They are streets but it is as if they were an atlas of flavours: from the Caribbean to India passing from plate to plate. Then the atmosphere is that of a Hollywood thriller: the underground rattling above and a heterogeneous crowd passing by and eating below. Do like them: follow the nose and enter to order.

You still have some time for the your weekend in New York? Here are two options: The first is the Bronx. Don’t be scared. The bad reputation of the neighborhood is absolutely outdated by the facts and it is enough, as everywhere, to pay normal attention. The liveliest area remains the southern one, the South Bronx, while other areas are absolutely quiet and residential. There are so many cultures and ethnicities that coexist: Europeans, Puerto Ricans, Asians. The southern part, for example, is inhabited by Dominicans and Mexicans while Arthur Ave is probably much more real, sincere and characteristic of the Little Italy of Manhattan. Here hip hop was born and here the legendary existed and demolished Yankee Stadium.

Now the stadium is new and worth a visit as well as the Bronx Zoo, the largest zoo in the United States, with more than 4,000 animals living in environments that are as natural as possible, with almost no cages.

From the High Line to Times Square

Still not enough for you? Then don’t miss out L’Highline, an elevated park born from the restoration of an old elevated railway. Now it’s a wonderful walk of about a couple of km in the area of Chelsea in Manhattan . You walk uphill enjoying the views and occasionally stopping for a photo or a coffee. And fear not: it’s not just for tourists. Even New Yorkers love it a lot. It can be traveled every day from seven in the morning to 7 pm.

The our weekend in New York is about to end. So to finish it off with a flourish, all that remains is to go to Times Square: stop on the sidewalk among figures dressed as Batman and strange people hanging around and look up at the buildings covered in writing and lights. This is the last image of the weekend in New York: but the memories are many. And it will be nice to be back in the Big Apple soon. For a thousand new emotions.