The 11 best things to do in New York City through the winter

21.11.2024 - 16:21 / lonelyplanet.com / Ed Clark

Nov 20, 2024 • 8 min read

Winter is NYC’s most underrated season, blamed for being cold, dark and dreary when it’s really bursting with activities for all types of travelers.

After the Times Square Ball drops on January 1, visitor numbers fall, making it easier to score coveted seats to shows, land restaurant reservations at the city’s hottest tables and snag deals on hotel rooms (check out Hotel Week – it lasts for a month). 

Sure, you might contend with frosty temps through March, but that’s when the city’s sprawling museums and steamy spas come in handy. So don’t let the naysayers keep you away. Here’s the ultimate list of must-do activities that make New York a winter wonderland.

NYC is loaded with rinks beloved by everyone from figure-skating pros to rail-clutching novices. In Midtown, glide beneath the gold statue of Prometheus at Rockefeller Center ($38 and up, including skates), cruise below Billionaires’ Row at Central Park’s Wollman Rink ($22 and up, including skates) or zoom around Bryant Park (free, skate rental starts at $15).

For those who prefer views of Lower Manhattan, race around the Ice Rink at South Street Seaport for city panoramas (free, plus $23 for skates) or head to Roebling Rink at Brooklyn Bridge Park to zoom beneath its namesake bridge and ogle FiDi’s skyline from afar ($10, plus $17 for skates). Visit all these spots during weekday hours to avoid large crowds. 

When the weather outside is frightful, devote your time to the city’s 150-plus museums. You’ll never get bored at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest museum in the Americas. Keep your visit on theme by searching for William James Glackens’s Central Park, Winter (Gallery 772) and Emanuel Leutze’s icy Washington Crossing the Delaware (Gallery 760). 

Skip a couple blocks north to pretend you’re in snow-covered Austria at the Neue Galerie – a collection of Austrian-German paintings from 1890–1940 filling a sumptuous 1914 Carrère and Hastings mansion. Vienna-style coffee house Cafe Sabarsky, located on the first floor, serves steamy dishes like goulash soup to ward off the cold.

If you’re fighting winter blues, stop by the Whitney Museum of American Art. Painter Ed Clark’s Winter Bitch (Floor 7) shares your sorrow – and a trip to the museum’s Frenchette Bakery outpost will cheer you right up. For those craving summer weather, visit the butterfly-packed vivarium at the American Museum of Natural History. The room is kept at a balmy 80°F – exactly how the winged wonders like it. 

Fight off cabin fever by exploring NYC’s public parks and waterways. When NYC gets 6 inches or more of snow cover (a rarity in recent years), Central Park lets New Yorkers sled down Cedar Hill (around East 76th and 79th Streets) and build snow