Must-SeeNew York
19 places and 63 sights on our lists.
Places in New York
Must-See
Must-See
Must-SeeNiagara Falls
New York
Three waterfalls on the Canadian border; the boat into the spray of Horseshoe Falls is the one thing not to skip.
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Worth a Detour
Worth a DetourCooperstown
New York
The Baseball Hall of Fame, in a lovely lake village. A pilgrimage for any fan, and pleasant even if you're not one.
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Worth a DetourMacy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
New York
Thanksgiving morning, the fourth Thursday of November
Giant balloons float through Manhattan from Central Park West to Herald Square. Stake out a spot early, or watch the balloons inflate the night before.
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Worth a DetourNew Year's Eve in Times Square
New York
December 31
The ball drop at midnight. Crowds wait in pens for hours with no bathrooms, so many people watch from a party nearby.
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Worth a DetourThe Finger Lakes
New York
Long glacial lakes, gorges and waterfalls in upstate New York, with America's best Rieslings.
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Worth a DetourThe Hudson Valley
New York
America's first great landscape: FDR's home, Gilded Age mansions, Sleepy Hollow and Dia Beacon, an hour from New York.
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If You're Nearby
If You're NearbyBethel Woods (Woodstock)
New York
The field in the Catskills where the 1969 Woodstock festival took place, with a museum of the festival and the 1960s, about two hours from New York City.
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If You're NearbyBuffalo
New York
Half an hour from Niagara Falls, with Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin Martin House and the original Buffalo wings.
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If You're NearbyFort Ticonderoga
New York
A star-shaped stone fort on Lake Champlain, taken by Ethan Allen in 1775, whose cannons freed Boston.
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If You're NearbyLake Placid
New York
The village that twice hosted the Winter Olympics, and the 'Miracle on Ice', in New York's vast Adirondack Mountains.
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If You're NearbyNew York City Marathon
New York
First Sunday in November
The world's largest marathon, running through all five boroughs on the first Sunday in November.
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If You're NearbySaratoga National Historical Park
New York
The 1777 American victory that brought France into the war, often called the Revolution's turning point.
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If You're NearbyThe Catskills
New York
New York City's old mountain escape, where Rip Van Winkle slept, with Kaaterskill Falls and the Woodstock festival site.
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If You're NearbyThe Hamptons and Montauk
New York
Long Island's wealthy beach towns, with white sand and mansions, ending at Montauk's old lighthouse.
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If You're NearbyThe Thousand Islands
New York
Nearly 2,000 islands in the St. Lawrence River, with a heartbreaking castle and the namesake salad dressing.
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If You're NearbyWest Point
New York
The US Military Academy on a Hudson River bluff, America's oldest service academy, whose graduates include Grant, Lee, Eisenhower and Patton.
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Sights in New York
Also in New York
Not on the short list, but here if your work or family brings you.