As a first-time visitor, proximity to tourist destinations is ideal, especially if your trip is a brief one. If you’re able to embrace the urban chaos (noise, crowds), Midtown conveniently places you in the heart of the action. In Midtown, must-sees for first-timers include Broadway shows, Times Square, the Museum of Modern Art, Central Park, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, and more.
If museums are your priority, you can’t go wrong with the Upper East Side, which has them in spades. It’s home to Museum Mile—a stretch of Fifth Avenue from 82nd to 105th Streets that commences with one of the city’s crown jewels, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and culminates with El Museo del Barrio. In between, you’ll find Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecturally striking Guggenheim, the Cooper Hewitt, the Jewish Museum, and others.
