18 tips for doing New York on a budget (2024)

New York City is known for a lot of things: glittering Broadway shows, the sprawl of Central Park, world-class restaurants and buildings that shoot towards the sky. But one thing it’s not known for is being cheap. Even a short trip to the Big Apple can set you back a tidy sum — yet while the city will never fall into the “budget break” category, there are ways to save money on your travels. From scoping out affordable eats and free things to do to timing your trip just right, these are our hacks for a cheap New York holiday.

Main photo: Brooklyn Bridge (Getty Images)

1. Find free things to do

Some of the best things to see in New York City come without a price tag. Wake up early to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and you’ll be rewarded with sun-flooded views of the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Heights and all of Lower Manhattan.

There’s no admission charge at the National Museum of the American Indian, whose large permanent collection includes reliefs, clay heads and musical instruments, or at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. You can peek inside the New York Public Library’s famous Rose Main Reading Room for free as well.

Feel like getting out on the water? You can hire a complimentary kayak from the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in summer.

bbpboathouse.org

2. Feast on cheap eats

Food is where your money goes furthest in New York City. In the morning, street carts pop up on Midtown corners to cater to office drones and construction workers, selling everything from hot coffee to breakfast tacos to Turkish eggs for just a couple of dollars. A warm toasted everything bagel with spring onion or veggie cream cheese is also an inexpensive, delicious start to the day.

As far as fast food goes, nothing beats New York pizza — good value whether you buy a slice or a whole pie from the ubiquitous pizza parlours found across town. The same goes for hot dogs; Nathan’s Famous on Coney Island is a crowd pleaser.

Affordable restaurants dish up cuisine from every corner of the globe in this city. Head to Chinatown for dim sum at Nom Wah Tea Parlor, but also lamb dumplings at Xi’an Famous Foods. Or try hawawshi, an Egyptian beef patty, at Zooba in Nolita or a juicy American cheeseburger at 7th Street Burger in the East Village.

3. Plan your trip for Restaurant Week

During Restaurant Week (more like Restaurant Month), many of New York’s top chefs such as Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Daniel Boulud, Marcus Samuelsson and Leah Cohen serve fixed-price meals for either £17 or £31 (or £99 if you want to push the boat out). This is the best way to dine at five-star restaurants such as Pastis, Union Square Café, Gramercy Tavern, Lafayette, Sylvia’s and Babbo.

nyctourism.com/restaurant-week

4. Discover some green space

The Big Apple has some fine parks and whiling away an afternoon in one won’t cost you a dime. Central Park is the king of them all. Opt for the route that takes you through Sheep Meadow, past the Bethesda Fountain, around the lake and the boathouse and out by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, also designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, is another winner. Highlights include the newly restored Concert Grove Pavilion and sprawling Long Meadow, which is perfect for picnics. Don’t miss a wander through East River-hugging Brooklyn Bridge Park, either.

5. Get discounts on Broadway shows

It’s possible to bag Broadway tickets at a snip of their usual price. For discounted same-day or next-day tickets, visit the TKTS booth in Times Square or download the app.

You can book tickets weeks or months ahead on the TodayTix app, which has tickets that start as low as £25. Pick them up from their friendly, red T-shirted employees who stand outside the theatre before show time.

nytix.com/tkts/tkts-times-square

6. When it comes to museums, time it right

It’s possible to see some of the city’s museums for free if you know when to go. Many have weekly free or “pay what you wish” hours, such as Frick Madison on Thursday afternoons and the Guggenheim Museum on selected Saturday afternoons. There’s free entry to the Jewish Museum on Saturdays too.

On the first Friday of each month, there’s no charge for Neue Galerie New York, which holds an impressive store of works by Gustav Klimt. You can also get free tickets to the Rubin Museum of Art on Friday evenings.

The New York Aquarium is a great bet for families and it’s free after 3pm on a Wednesday (you’ll still need an advanced, timed ticket).

7. Bed down on a budget

Hotels in New York are notoriously expensive, but there are a few lower-priced jewels. You can bag rooms at Manhattan’s Pod 51 for less than £190 and it’ll place you within kissing distance of the city’s big-ticket attractions. The sophisticated Harlem Flophouse and West Village The Jane also offer decent value for money (by Big Apple standards, anyway).

Outside Manhattan, big brand properties like La Quinta Long Island City or Brooklyn’s Comfort Inn Prospect Park are failsafe options.

• Best affordable hotels in New York

8. Go on a free walking tour

A walking tour is a great way to get to grips with New York City’s neighbourhoods and several are free. Among them, as the name suggests, is Free Tours By Foot, leading pay-as-you-wish excursions into Greenwich Village, Harlem, Brooklyn’s Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and more, with themes running the gamut from food to street art. SANDEMANs is another top option, providing a deep dive into Central Park and digging into food-focused neighbourhoods such as Chinatown and Little Italy.

freetoursbyfoot.com/new-york-tours

9. Make the most of happy hour

Drinks don’t always come cheap in the city that never sleeps, so it’s well worth joining New York’s after-work crowd and milking happy hour.

In the Lower East Side, snug wine bar Jadis sells pours from £6 until 7pm each day, while you’ll get drinks deals at crowd favourite Bunton’s World Famous in Brooklyn from 5pm–9pm. co*cktail lovers should make a beeline for Verlaine, where lychee martinis are the speciality and happy hour runs right up until 10pm. Beer fans will also be glad to know that Brooklyn Brewery leads free tours on Sunday afternoons.

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10. Seek out free views

While they do reveal epic skyline panoramas, observation decks such as the Rockefeller Center’s Top of the Rock and the Empire State Building’s 86th floor are expensive and packed. Happily, there are some alternatives that won’t break the bank.

The High Line, an elevated park built on a disused rail track, provides sweeping vistas across Manhattan, while the Manhattan Bridge views from Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighbourhood attract plenty of attention too. A rooftop bar is another great way to drink in New York’s jungle of skyscrapers. Try Nyma Hotel’s Cloud Social in Koreatown, which rewards punters with stellar skyline views and well-priced co*cktails. Happy hour is from 3pm to 7pm.

thehighline.org

11. Be savvy with public transport

Those yellow taxis might be movie-star famous, but they’re not easy on the wallet. Get to grips with New York’s public transport system instead. The subway is pretty extensive and easy to navigate, and if you’re using it a lot, it’s worth investing in an unlimited ride MetroCard — it’ll set you back £26 for seven days and you can take as many subway or bus rides as you wish.

The Staten Island Ferry, which has camera-worthy views of the Statue of Liberty, is totally free too — and a great alternative to the full tour. The city’s bike-sharing programme, Citi Bike, can also be a great money saver.

new.mta.info/fares/where-to-buy-a-metrocard

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12. Hunt around for sports tickets

Geared up to see the New York Yankees on their home turf? Check out the Yankees ticket exchange to see if there are any low-priced seats up for grabs — there’s an exchange site for the New York Mets basketball team too. There are also sometimes cheap, last-minute tickets available on official websites, so be sure to have a look once you arrive.

13. Go to free festivals

Make the most of your time in New York City with a free festival. Bookish travellers should time their trip for autumn, when the Brooklyn Book Festival’s free readings, author talks and discussion groups are in full swing.

In spring, the Shakespeare in the Park series draws crowds to the open-air Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Also in the city’s “green lung”, the free GMA Summer Concert Series welcomes big-name artists (from Black Eyed Peas to the cast of Hamilton), while the SummerStage Festival hosts everything from jazz recitals to dance shows.

brooklynbookfestival.org

14. Consider a CityPass

If you’re going hard on the sightseeing, a CityPass might be a worthwhile investment. It costs around £110 for one adult and includes entry to five attractions: the Empire State Building and the American Museum of Natural History, plus three choices from the Top of the Rock observation deck, the Guggenheim Museum, ferry access to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Circle Line sightseeing cruises, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

If you tick off everything on your list, you should save around £80 on attractions — but it’s really only worth it when it’s maxed out.

citypass.com/new-york

15. Go beyond Manhattan

You might be blinded by the bright lights of Manhattan, but striking out into the city’s other boroughs could save you some cash — and reveal a whole host of cultural and gourmet treasures you’d otherwise miss out on.

The hotel scene in Queens has expanded in recent years and properties there are typically much cheaper than their Manhattan counterparts (the same goes for Airbnbs). Queens’ Long Island City neighbourhood, known for its mammoth flea market, is particularly hip.

Make time to explore the Bronx too — beyond Yankee Stadium, you’ll find the New York Botanical Garden and mom-and-pop joints serving up family-style Italian food for bargain prices.

nybg.org

16. Go in January or July

New York is known for its distinct four seasons and, in connection, its weather extremes: a bitingly cold, Atlantic-facing winter and a heat-trapping, meltingly hot summer. If you’re truly interested in finding the cheapest hotel rooms and lowest flight fares, you could look into freezing January, when rates at some of the top five-star hotels drop by half, while the city’s budget hotel rates dip as low as £150 or even £90 a night. Meanwhile, the hottest part of summer (July-August) sees an almost-as-heady drop in rates, though you’ll find it too hot for sightseeing. Those who are prepared to wrap up warm or stick to air-conditioned indoor venues, however, can bag a bargain.

17. Plan for tipping

When you’re researching things to do, factor in the US tipping culture — from a barista handing you a coffee to a cab driver dropping you off for an agreed fare, you’ll be expected to whack some extra dollars on top of your spend. For dinners, 20 per cent is now given as the minimum on restaurant bills and yellow cab card machines, while for a co*cktail or coffee at the bar a couple of dollars will usually do. Factoring this into your spend can really help you stick to a budget: obviously, places with hefty menu prices will rack up a sizeable tip amount, while cheap eats from a street vendor will set you back less. Similarly, buying water, coffee and other on-the-go nibbles from a grocery store or bodega will help keep the tip drain to a minimum.

18. Take trains from the airport

Learning how New York’s public transport works is a rite of passage, the peak of which is figuring out how to get into town via a £13 (maximum) train route, rather than a £62 airport cab. First, let’s look at JFK airport in Queens: the cheapest way to get into Manhattan is the £7 AirTrain to Jamaica station, followed by a £4 MetroCard (including the new MetroCard fee; a single journey costs £2 of your balance). You can also take the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) into town from Jamaica station for a little more — around £8 at peak time. This takes around an hour and a half, a little longer than a taxi (on average 50 minutes). From Newark Airport in New Jersey, it’s much more straightforward: head to the airport’s station via the free AirTrain and board an Amtrak or NJ Transit train into Pennsylvania Station, to be deposited in the heart of Manhattan. This costs as little as £12, and takes under an hour.

Additional reporting by Lucy Thackray

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