It’s true: New York City ain’t cheap! Accommodation is notoriously expensive, and food can add up if you don’t know where to find cheap eats! But there’s good news: We’ve rounded up our top tips for traveling to NYC on a budget so you don’t come home from the Big Apple completely broke! Read up on money-saving advice, cheap places to eat and free things to do in New York City.
New York City is notoriously expensive, but that doesn’t mean you can’t stick to a budget. There are plenty of free things to do in NYC and other ways you can save money during your trip.
We’ve put together our best money-saving tips for traveling in NYC so you don’t come home from vacation completely broke!
Whether this is yourfirst time visiting New York Cityor The Big Apple feels like your second home, these tips will help you travel NYC for cheap!
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1. Visit NYC at the Right Time
New York City is busy year round, but during peak tourist times, like the summer months and during the holidays, hotel prices will be ultra high. If you visit during a less busy season for out of town travelers, you’ll find much better rates.
Cheapest times to visit NYC:
- January – earlyApril
- September – November (excluding holidays)
FIND THE CHEAPEST HOTELS ON BOOKING.COM
2. Find a cheap flight to NYC
Getting there doesn’t have to be expensive. In fact, there are often times great flight deals to NYC because it is a major hub. Be sure to include both JFK and La Guardia, or even Newark, in your search.
Try seaching with Google Flights to come up with the best deal that suits your needs.
Here is an entire article dedicated tofinding cheap flights around the world!
3. Take the train to and from the airport
Whether you fly into JFK or La Guardia, you will be pretty far from the city when you land. Instead of hailing a taxi or Uber, which will cost you at least $40 – $50 (maybe even $65), take the shuttle to the metro. It is super easy to do and will save you a lot of money.
Here’s how to do it:
For us, it was easiest to buy the 7-day metro pass (see tip #6), which allowed us to use the bus and metro unlimited times for our entire time in NYC. You can purchase the pass from the Metro Card vending machines which have very simple instructions to follow.
Once you have your card, simply use Google Maps and direct yourself to your hotel via public transportation.
Getting from La Guardia (LGA) to Manhattan:
From La Guardia Terminal B, take the Q70-SBS bus to Roosevelt Av/74 Street stop. Get off the bus and enter the metro at Roosevelt Av – Jackson Heights Subway Station. If you’re a little disoriented (I sure was), just ask the bus driver where the metro entrance is located. Once in the metro station, take the E line to 50 Street Subway Station toward World Trade Center, or connect a line leading you to your hotel. Total time is about 1 hour.
Getting from JFK to Manhattan:
Leaving from JFK Terminal 4, you have to purchase the $5 JFK AirTrain ticket which will take to Jamaica Station. From there you can connect to the NYC Metro and buy the 7-day Metro pass (tip #6) or a single ticket for $2.75 (plus $1 for the card). Then take the Long Beach line, Babylon line, or the E line into Manhattan and to your hotel. Total time is about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
4. Find Cheap Accommodation
Hotels in New York Cityare notoriously expensive, even for low quality digs. So when we say “cheap accommodation”, we meanrelatively cheap.
Basically you have 2-ish options when it comes to finding cheap accommodation:
1) Go super cheap-o
Find the absolutely cheapest room you can find and be prepared for the worst. We paid $100 a night for the sh*ttiest hostel we’ve ever stayed at (pardon my language, but it has to be said). It was basically a closet with a window looking out to a wall and a dirty shared bathroom.
2) Pay a little more than you’d like
Alternatively, we stayed at ahotel for the last 2 nightsof our trip that was a little more than double the price of aforementioned hostel (so it ain’t cheap!), but it was 1,000 times better. It was more than we’d typically spend anywhere else, but hey, it’s NYC.
5. Find Free & Cheap Things To Do
There are tons of things to do in NYC that will cost you absolutely nothing. Fill your days with free and cheap activities to save yourself some dough!
We’ve put together a pretty long list offree and cheap things to do in New York City, but here are some of our favorites:
- Walk along theNYC High Line
- Picnic in Central Park
- Explore the street art in the Bushwick neighborhood
- Watch the Today Show being filmed
- Take a Free Walking Tour
- Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and explore the Dumbo neighborhood
- Psst! If you’re spending some time in the neighborhood, make sure you check out thisextensive list of things to do in Brooklyn. Lots of them are free or cheap so you can stick to your budget!
- Get a great view of the city for free atnorth 5th street pier and park
6. Get the Metro Pass
Getting an unlimited Metro pass saved us a ton of money during our trip to NYC. You can either get a 7-day unlimited pass or a 30-day unlimited pass.We were only in the city for 4 full days, but even so, the week-long pass was a great deal.
It costs $32 (plus $1 for the reusable card itself), but if you use the metro 11 times (which we definitely did in 4 days), it will pay for itself.
Taking an Uber is another option in NYC (cheaper than taxis!) depending on where you want to go.
Insider Tip:If you do want to take an Uber, the Uber Pool option is cheapest. This means the driver might pick up another passenger going on a similar route, but your total cost will be less expensive.
We would NOT recommend renting a car in NYC, as traffic is ugly and the cost of parking garages is insane!
7. Get the NYC CityPASS (maybe)
If it’s yourfirst time visiting New York Cityand you want to see many of the major attractions, theNew York CityPASScan be a good option. Starting at $132 per adult ($108 per youth), it’s not cheap up front, but it will truly save you money in the end if you want to hit all the major attractions (a 41% savings for an adult). Prices are from March 2019.
It gives you entrance to 6 activities throughout the city. Plus, at most attractions you will stand in a separate line, which in every single attraction we visited was much shorter than the line for purchasing tickets.
Go through the list of attractions included and mark the ones you definitely want to see to calculate if it makes sense for you to purchase.
CityPASSincludes admission to (prices are for adults):
- The Empire State Building (value $53.25)
- American Museum of Natural History (value $28)
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art (value $25)
- Top of the Rock Observation Deck (value $39.20)ORGuggenheim Museum (value $25)
- Ferry Access to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island(value $18.50)ORCircle Line Sightseeing Cruises (value $37)
- 9/11 Memorial & Museum (value $24)ORIntrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (value $33)
Only interested in a few… There is another option:You could purchase theNew York C3 pass, where for $83 per adult ($63 per child) and you get to choose any 3 attractions above to visit. It’s up to a 25% savings off the original price. If you’retraveling in NYC with kids, this is a great option.
8. See the Statue of Liberty for Free!
If your budget is tight, skip the Statue of Liberty tour altogether. Instead, take the Staten Island Ferry (which is free!) and brings you right past the statue. Just check out the picture above to see the sweet view you’ll get — right next to the sightseeing cruises!
Insider Tip:Be sure to grab a spot on the upper deck on the right side (west side) of the vessel as you leave Manhattan.
You can either get right back on the return ferry once you arrive in Staten Island, or wander around a bit and grab lunch at one of the affordable Sri Lankan restaurants in the area. The ferries depart every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour and are 100% free.
And even if your budget isn’t super tight, this is a good, less-touristy option.
9. Pay as you wish Museum Entry
Did you know that some of NYC’s most famous museums have pay-as-you-wish entry all the time?Yes, even the American Museum of Natural History!This makes these national treasures accessible to all.
And if a museum isn’t pay as you wish, there’s a good chance they have specific days or times that entry is free. Here are some examples:
- 9/11 Memorial:FREE on Tuesdays from 5 – 8 p.m.
- Museum of Modern Art (MOMA):FREE on Fridays from 4 – 8 p.m.
- New York Botanical Garden:FREE all day Wednesdays, and from 9 – 10 a.m. on Saturdays
Take a look atthis list of free museum daysso you know when to plan your visit. Just know that on free entrance days, there is typically a longer queue.
10. Get Discount Broadway Tickets
Seeing a Broadway show is on most people’s Bucket List when visiting NYC. If you don’t do much research, you can expect to pay a hefty price for those tickets.
But luckily there are ways to score seats at a Broadway show for cheap! The most common way to get your tickets for cheap is to head to a TKTS booth where you can score same-day tickets that can be up to half-off! Or you can checkonline at TodayTixto find hot deals today.
Here’s everything you need to know aboutgetting discounted tickets to Broadway shows.
And if you can’t get a cheap ticket, but still want to be entertained, head toEllen’s Stardust Diner, order a milkshake and fries, and prepare to be wowed by the talented performers that are sometimes up-and-coming Broadway stars!
11. Know Where to Eat for Cheap
You can easily spend your entire budget on food in NYC. And while we definitely had some worthy splurges, like a $24 lobster roll at The Frying Pan, we tried our best to find some cheap eats.
You’ll have no problem finding cheap eats if you know where to look:
- You’ll findFood Trucksall around the city. Some are cheaper than others, but there are tons of intriguing options, from Korean BBQ to gyros.
- Dollar slices of pizzaare an NYC staple, and can be found all around town. Try Joes’ Pizza for the most famous $1 slice, or scout out one of the other 70 shops in the city that boast dollar slices (there’s evenan app for that!).Good to know:If you’re looking for thebest pizza in NYC, you might need to shell over a bit more than a measly dollar, but it’s still a pretty affordable option most of the time!
Insider Tip:When looking for a meal, stay away from Midtown and other super touristy areas. The quality will be poor and the prices are high. Instead, head to nearby Chinatown, Greenwich Village or the Lower East Side for more affordable (and higher quality) bites.
- Head to Chinatownfor ultra cheap eats!
- Don’t missLos Tacos No. 1.Their famous tacos are like little bites from heaven and start at $3.25.
- Bagelsfilled with lots of toppings are usually a good budget option.
- Famous NYC hot dogsat Papaya King or Gray’s Papaya.
- Mamoun’sfor quite possibly the cheapest (and best!) falafel you’ll find in the city!
Check out thislocal’s roundup of cheap eats in NYC!
12. Cook & Picnic
If you really want to cut costs on food, choose an hotel or hostel with a kitchen so you can eat in for at least a couple meals, saving money (and calories!). You can easily make a cheap breakfast of fruit, yogurt, toast and eggs, and save the splurges for later in the day.
And if you’re really trying to pinch pennies, try packing a lunch for the day. There are plenty of perfect spots for picnicking around the city. Umm, Central Park anyone?! Just be sure to pack yourTo-Go Ware utensils! Pair your Central Park picnic with a stroll by the Belvedere Castle and you’ve got a prettyromantic day in New York, and the best part is it’s free!
13. Hit up Happy Hour
Drinks in NYC can be pretty expensive, so if you want to indulge without cleaning your wallet, plan on hitting happy hour.
Here’s a round up of a ton ofhappy hour options in NYC.
And order a couple appetizers to split for a light dinner that’ll have a smaller price tag than a regular entree.
Or buy your drinks at a liquor shop and enjoy them at your hotel before going out for the night.
14. Drink from the tap… err, fountain
It is totally safe to drink the tap water in New York City, so go ahead and drink up! You’ll find plenty of drinking fountains all around the city (check out this map!), especially in public parks. Fill up your reusable bottle tosave plastic wasteand cash.
15. Plan out your splurges
When you’re visiting NYC, you won’t want to miss out on those bucket list items you’ve been dreaming about. Make the most of your time here, plan ahead and budget accordingly.
City Views
If you want to get an iconic view of the city, there are many options. But do your research and choose only one.
Insider Advice:Our pick is the Top of the Rockinstead of the Empire State Building, since you won’t be surrounded by glass and you get the iconic Empire State Building INSIDE your shots!
Eating Out
There are plenty of cheap eats in NYC (see tip #11), but there are also some of the best restaurants in the world here as well. Plan on one meal that you’ll splurge on instead of 10.
Or get the biggest bang for your buck and try a little of everything on aNew York City food tour.
Just be sure to research it ahead of time and plan it out so you don’t accidentally splurge on something unworthy.
For example, we split a $24 lobster roll at the Frying Pan, which was amazing. But we couldn’t justify ordering two, so we filled up on cheap slices of pizza as well.
16. Find Free Events
There is always something going on in New York City. Find out what free events and festivals are taking place during your visit onTime Out NYC.
Examples of free events in NYC:
- Target First Saturdays:First Saturday of the month, free admission to Brooklyn Museum with live DJ and art!
- free yoga classes
- freeShakespeare in the Park(summer only)
- food markets and festivals
- free concerts
No matter the time of year, there are always events going on in this city, so there’s a good chance your visit will overlap with at least one free event that interests you!
17. Set a budget and track your spending
All these tips are great, but they’re going to do you no good if you don’t track your expenses. New York City is a place where it is easy to overspend. A bagel here and an entry ticket there will add up fast. And if you aren’t writing them down, you’ll have no clue how over-budget you’ve gone.
Here’s what I want you to do: Figure out what your total budget for your trip to NYC is, and hold yourself accountable.
There are plenty of apps out there that let you set daily budget goals and show you how much you have left to spend.
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We want to hear from you!
What tip is most useful to you? Have you traveled to New York City on a budget? How did you save money? Share with us in the comments below!
