I love New York City! But New York City is an expensive city to visit. No doubt about that. However, it doesn’t have to be too expensive! There are a lot of ways to save money when you’re visiting New York City. One of them is doing free things instead of the overpriced sights. There are plenty of things to do in this city without spending a dime.
Here are 22 completely free things to do in New York City.
♡ Explore the wonders of Central Park
♡ Go for a walk down the High Line Park
♡ Sit on the stairs at Times Square and observe the busy lives of New Yorkers
♡ Visit the places where Gossip Girl or Sex & The City were filmed – Create your own little guide on the filming locations
♡ Walk across Brooklyn Bridge
♡ Instead of doing an expensive tour to see the Statue of Liberty, go on the ferry between Manhattan and Staten Island to see her for free!
♡ Visit Chinatown
♡ Walk down the Brooklyn Heights Promenade to get the best view of the Manhattan skyline
♡ Remember at Ground Zero – The 9/11 Memorial – I can’t believe it has almost been 16 years!
♡ Walk by the Flatiron Building
♡ Explore Greenwich Village
♡ Watch The Today Show being taped
♡ Explore the New York Public Library
♡ Talk through the walls at Grand Central Terminal – It’s kind of creepy!
♡ Explore the galleries in Chelsea
♡ Get lost in the M&M store (without buying any of course!)
♡ Take a stroll through West Village
♡ Take pictures with the beautiful sculptures around Central Park such as the danish writer H. C. Andersen or Alice in Wonderland
♡ Explore the art at the Museum of Modern Art – It’s free on Fridays from 4PM to 8PM
♡ Be a part of the audience at one of the late night shows such as The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon – It’s completely free, however you have to be really lucky to get tickets!
♡ Admire St. Patrick’s Cathedral from the inside
♡ Go to the Chelsea Market
Have you ever been to New York City? Did you do something for free that is not on this list? Be sure to leave comment, I would love to hear about it!
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Mille Mirah Seiersen 
There is always so much to see and do in cities that are free. You just have to be careful not to get sucked into buying everything. A photography tour of the city would be cool too.
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That is a great idea!
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I love your post. Why do we always have to pay? I have never been to New York yet but would love to see the galleries in Chelsey.
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Thank you! Things are so much more fun when they don’t cost a thing!
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I also love NYC! Thanks for reminding me that I want to visit the NYC public library. I heard that it is so cool.
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I heard so too! I haven’t actually been to the public library but it’s on my to do list for my next trip!
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Love this! It definitely is an expensive city, but these are wonderful ideas and really cool places!
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Thank you!
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I’ve been to NYC many times and never spent a dime on tourist attractions…but I still haven’t done most things on this list! I had no idea there were times you could get into MOMA for free. Saving this for a future trip.
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That’s the beauty of New York. No matter how many times you go there are still new things to do.
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Great list and I love these things. My favorite spot is Central Park. Just goes to show you don’t have to pay to have a good time.
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I love Central Park too!
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Ah! New York! One of my favorite cities. I’ve gone several times and really there are so many free things to do that it’s not as expensive as people think. Unless they’re really shopping and going everywhere. Especially with a New York Pass, people can save a lot! Still need to do some of the things on your list, like they high line!
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I still haven’t done all of these myself, but the High Line is great!
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Great info 😁👍
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I had no idea the late night tickets for shows were free! Well, to be honest I had no idea quite few of the things in this list were free 😀 Need to keep these in mind when I’m heading to NYC.
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This is great! New York is so expensive and it’s nice to know what to do if you travel on a bugget.
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There’s just so much to do in NY!! Can’t wait to finally visit soon – will defiantly be returning to your list when I do… Who doesn’t love free things 😉 especially exploring Central Park!!!
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Everyone says that New York is very expensive but with so many things to do it seems like a backpackers dream. I haven’t been there yet but I hope I get the chance to soon!
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Great list!! I’m from NYC and I learned about a few new things. The city is expensive, but they are abundance of free things to do. The High line is my favorite!
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Great list! I’ll be doing a few of these on my next trip to New York. I love Greenwich Village and could spend hours just walking around. I’m hoping to try and get some free tickets to a TV taping too! xo
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I love the high line!! great spots — NYC has so many amazing, free things to do.
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Just walking around exploring a new city is free – I’d happily spend a day doing that 🙂
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I have been planning a trip to New York since forever! And the major hurdle was the expense ofcourse. But now that I have a list of things to do where I won’t be spending a cent, I think I might just be able to do it. Really good post. Love it.
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