Exploring NYC on a budget

A few months ago I wrote about my incredible experience visiting New York City back in April (mentally I’m still there), but I wanted to write a bit more about some advice I would give to those travelling to the famous city. New York is known for being pricey, and is one of the most expensive cities to live in. But it is possible to explore on a budget, providing you know where to look!

Smart travel

One of the most famous symbols of NYC is the yellow taxi, but I did not actually use one when I visited. Much like many other cities, public transport is considerably cheaper! Taxis from JFK Airport charge a flat rate of $70 for journeys to Manhattan. Although taxis may seem like the easier option, travelling by train will save you a massive amount of money. The JFK AirTrain runs from the airport to Jamaica and Howard Beach Stations, and you can then get on the subway to Manhattan. The fee for the AirTrain is $8.25, and the current subway fare is $2.90 (no matter where you’re going). Although it probably takes longer and does require carrying your luggage around on the subway, I would 100% use this option again just because of how much of a bargain it is!

Although we did do a lot of research before we went, the one mistake we did make was not getting the 7-day metro pass. As we were only going for 4 days, we thought “what’s the point?”, but we ended up using the subway a lot more than we realised. Rather than paying $2.90 for every journey, you can buy a 7-day pass for $34. So you’d need to take about 12 journeys to make it worth it, and we definitely did more than that; I actually lost count of how much we spent on single journeys. Everything in New York is further apart than you think, and the subway is such a quick and easy way to travel around the city – just make sure you don’t spend more than you need to!

Cheap food

Food is probably where most of your money ends up going in New York, but there are ways to eat on a budget. I noticed that food was on average more expensive than in my local city of London, including chain outlets like Starbucks and Joe & the Juice (I’m still in shock as to how much we spent on a smoothie!). But, New York is known for its quick eats, such as bagels and pizza. We went to Joe’s Pizza, which is arguably the most famous pizza restaurant in the city, and we spent just $2.75 on a slice. Obviously this isn’t the healthiest option, and New York does have a number of both chain and independent bakeries where you can grab a cheap snack. We went to Liberty Bagels, where you can get a bagel with cream cheese for a surprisingly low cost.

If you’re looking to go out for dinner, we found that the cheapest way of dining out was by sharing food. It’s quite popular in America to get a bunch of appetisers and share them, so that’s what we did on multiple occasions. It’s a lot cheaper than buying multiple meals, and you can just share a bunch of starters amongst your group. Also, the portion sizes are huge so you’ll have plenty of food, even with just starters!

Avoid tourist traps

As expected, New York is full of tourist traps. Whether it’s popular restaurants or tourist attractions, there’s plenty of places to tick off your bucket list. But, something to bear in mind is that they’re not always worth the time or money you may spend there. One example of this that I discovered back in 2018 – and took advantage of again this year – was visiting the Statue of Liberty. When we emerged from the Bowling Green subway station, there were so many tour guides offering trips to Liberty Island. Many of them were quite forceful in trying to sell you a tour so it’s easy to see why people would go ahead and sign up for one, but many of these tours are much more expensive than they should be. I also found, after visiting Liberty Island back in 2013, that you don’t always get the best view from the Island itself. The Staten Island Ferry is free of charge, and goes right past Liberty Island. You get a great view of both the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan, so it’s definitely worth doing if you want to save money but get a great view of one of the city’s most famous landmarks.

Another thing to bear in mind is choosing your observation decks wisely. New York has 5 observation decks: the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, the Edge, Summit One Vanderbilt and One World Observatory. They all tend to be around the same price ($30-$40); the Empire State Building a little bit more expensive but not much more. I’ve personally never been up the Empire State Building, but it is one of the top rated attractions in the city. I actually found that you get a much better view from the other observation decks, as then your view will actually include the iconic Empire State Building. For example, I would choose Top of the Rock as you do get that fantastic view, it’s much quieter and also a bit cheaper. I’ve now done 3 out of the 5 decks, and I would say that Summit One Vanderbilt is my favourite. You really get value for money there; although it’s around the same price as the other decks, you get to experience what’s essentially an immersive art exhibition as well as incredible views of the city.

Free attractions

Following on from the tourist traps, there are plenty of ways to explore the sights of the city without spending a single dollar (apart from getting there of course!). The most obvious example of this is Central Park – you can easily spend a whole day exploring this incredible green space, and of course because it’s a public park it’s free to enter. New York has so many parks – including Bryant Park, Washington Square Park and Battery Park – where you can pause and just take in the atmosphere of the city. Another incredible green space is the High Line, a recently renovated 1.45 mile-long park built on a former rail line. This will take you all the way from Hudson Yards to the West Village, and it’s a great space to just walk and relax.

A great way to explore New York is by doing a self-led walking tour – by not signing up for an organised tour and just planning your route beforehand, you will be able to explore all of the best areas at your own pace without spending anything. This is what we did in the West Village and also Lower Manhattan; we just walked around, taking in the sights and ticking things off our list. We also walked the Brooklyn Bridge, which was something we’d never done before – just be prepared for the crowds! The free attractions to tend to attract a lot of crowds, but they’re definitely worth it.

In conclusion, there are definitely a lot of ways to explore this incredible city on a budget. Obviously it is going to be pricey – it’s a big city in America – but don’t let it put you off; you just need to be smart about how and where you spend your money. New York is one of my favourite cities, and I’ll absolutely be visiting again – as the great Taylor Swift once said: “Welcome to New York, it’s been waiting for you!”