New York is the easiest famous city in the world to travel in and one of the most expensive. Almost nothing about the logistics is difficult: the subway runs all night, the grid means you always know where you are, and everyone speaks English. What is difficult is the money and the pace.
The three decisions that shape the trip
Where you sleep. This matters more than which hotel. Midtown puts you within walking distance of most of what you came for and is an office district with nothing to do at night. Downtown and Brooklyn are cheaper and have evenings in them, and cost you twenty minutes each way. On a first trip of three or four days, Midtown is the right answer and everyone who tells you otherwise is answering a different question.
How many observation decks. The correct number is one. They show you the same city, they cost a great deal, and the one worth doing is the one with the Empire State Building in the view rather than under your feet.
Which direction you walk the Brooklyn Bridge. Brooklyn to Manhattan, so the skyline builds in front of you for twenty-five minutes instead of behind your shoulder. This is a small thing that people get wrong constantly and cannot undo.
What it costs
Accommodation is the biggest number by a wide margin and the most controllable — a subway stop into Queens or Brooklyn is routinely a third cheaper. Transport is close to free by comparison, and the fare caps automatically after twelve rides in a week.
Food ranges from three dollars to three hundred, and the three-dollar end is genuinely good. Budget about 30 per cent on top of any menu price for tax and tipping, which are not included and are not optional.
When
Late September and October are the best weeks of the year and the most expensive. Late January and February are cold, grey, half the price, and the museums are empty — which for a certain kind of traveller is the better trip.
Avoid the fortnight before Christmas unless the crowds are the point.
How long
Three days covers the famous things at a run. Five lets you walk rather than sprint and gets you into Brooklyn. New York is one of the few cities where a first trip that is too short reliably produces a second one.