Mistakes 1st Time Tourists to New York City Make

Heading to New York City for the first time or the fifth? Well here are some typical mistakes tourists make when they visit the Big Apple. From not using the subway to thinking New York is only midtown or not visiting Times Square, there are a number of mistakes tourists make when they visit New York, and we want to help tourists have the best time possible in New York. Tourist mistakes in New York City.
Filmed in New York City
Join this channel to get access to perks:

#mistakes #newyorkcity #visitnyc
Copyright Mark Wolters 2023

Some of Our Favorite Travel Videos We Think Other Travelers Would Love

Hey There Fellow Travelers! Thank you for watching our honest travel vlogs from all over this wonderful world. If you would like to get in contact with us please follow us & send us a message via our social media channels below. Also, if you like our travel videos please feel free to share them with other fellow travelers.

Follow Us At

[tylerhall]

I am blown away by Mark's consistency with his uploads over the years! You have provided so much value for the world!

[JEndless]

Pro-Tip from a New Yorker: plan your day based on commuting time, not just by borough. Just because two locations are in Brooklyn doesn't mean they are that close to each other. You might have to go from Brooklyn to Manhattan back to Brooklyn. Also, make sure to double check your routes during weekends and late nights. Subway lines get shut down for repairs often. So you may need to change how you get around. You don't want to take the shuttle busses that replace the subways.

[woodsroadfurniture]

One tip for using Uber in NYC is- sometimes if you search for a ride it might come up as say $40 but if you walk a block or two in the direction you want to go and try to get to a more central spot away from a crowd “like when the broadway plays let out” the fair might be $10 less. We did this several times and it seemed to work pretty good.

[DK-vnlr]

I agree with you 100% about Times Square, you should see it, especially at night. Don't eat there, don't shop there, but definitely check it out

[markmoser]

Don't forget about the Staten Island Ferry. Excellent views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and South Manhattan. No ticket necessary, one of the best free things to do in New York City!

[mattjames]

I was in New York a few years back and the mistake we made was not staying in Manhattan. Sure it's half the price and only a 20 minute bus ride into midtown from New Jersey, but if you buy something you have to carry it around with you all day. Also, sometimes you want to go rest for a few hours before you go somewhere else.

Still had a great time! We only made most of the mistakes you listed.

[CalvinK]

1:38 taking the subway (& public bus) is an experience by itself. I live in a big city and have experienced subways in many major cities but NYC is surely the most complex. I also saw some of the most interesting people or events during my subway ride.
7:03 locals everywhere tend to be helpful not just in NYC. The key is to be polite and smile.
9:20 trying to do too much. I fully agree because you will be spending a lot of time at the queue. Moreover many of the attractions are huge. For example, Natural History Museum & The Met need a full day or two.

[lynnenewell]

Subway was such fun .. got off on wrong stops so often but saw so much we didn’t anticipate plus it was like a movie seeing all the weird people and things they do .. we’re from New Zealand small town and it was an eye opener.. loved every minute of our subway ride day. P.S we were very conscious of not staring or standing out in any way and yes we were used to walking and you really need to have good shoes! We loved the New York people who were so friendly and wanted to chat to us when they found out we were from New Zealand. Favourite city in the US so far!

[Lillithowl]

Another bit of subway ettiquite I see tourists break all the time. Going up stairs and escaltors, it's like driving right lane is the slow lane (standing still) and the left is the passing lane. I see families bunch up and cause a bottleneck behind them. Enjoy and I hope you have an amazing time!

[SammiiBaybee]

happy to say we learned about all this before our first visit and it made the whole trip so much more relaxing

[oltlghfan]

These are awesome tips!! If you are planning a visit to New York and you’re going to be visiting for awhile, there’s quite a few things you can do in upper Manhattan as well and you won’t have the crowds. I visited High Bridge park in Washington Heights for the first time this year because I wanted to see and go inside their High Bridge Tower and walk The High Bridge which is the oldest bridge in Manhattan. I really enjoyed that and if you like greenery, you can visit in the summer when all the trees are bloomed. The park is also an 18 minute walk to the Morris-Jummel mansion which is the oldest house in Manhattan. To put icing on the cake, you are also not far from the George Washington Bridge which just redid their North Walk walkway (they also have The Little Red Lighthouse which is directly under the bridge that you can visit). There is also Fort Tyron Park which has The Met Cloisters. All of this is accessible if you take the A train uptown. Enjoy your trip to New York. 😁

[TreeHairedGingerAle]

Visited a friend there, once.

New Yorkers are *nice*. They'll help.
They're just not *polite*.

It's a bigger difference than you'd think on the face of it! More authenticity there, than in other places.

[TheColleendoll]

Yes use the bathroom when you are in the restaurant or tourist site. You cannot get a free pass to the bathroom by just stopping in… buy food or drink then they give you the code to enter the bathroom. Department stores you can stop by and not buy.

[Nderak]

6:50 if you arent comfortable doing risky crossings, i suggest going down the street to the middle and crossing behind all the stopped traffic. doesnt work ont he big avenues but its pretty good for filtering, esp when walking at a diagonal

[Notimprtant]

Thanks for another great video, Mark. Super thankful to have your guidance on my trips

[ralphstark]

Good restroom advice. The unofficial city motto is "Restroom for paying customers ONLY". I would also add that you should know the difference stops between local and express trains.

[BS-quwy]

Wolter you rock man. I love your video. Relatively short and packed with important information. Kudos to you

[goingawayguide]

I'm originally from NY and always tell people who want to visit NY to pick their top items to do, then plan how to do those - the city is too big to do it all, especially in one trip! I also suggest staying where you're going to explore - if that's mostly downtown, stay there; if most of what you want to do and see is in midtown, stay there. The city isn't going anywhere, so don't exhaust yourself trying to do it all - plan to go back and enjoy your time by doing things at a pace you can appreciate things!

[crazycatlady]

You actually don't need a metro card! You can pay with your debit/credit card if it has the tap feature.

[karalynne]

As a first time viewer, and under the assumption you don't live here in the city, bravo! This is an impressive list. All good advice!