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1/ Book skip-the-line tickets
- The best way to avoid the queues when visiting New York is to have a skip-the-line ticket in your pocket! These tickets, which are a little more expensive than the normal priced admissions, allow you to pass the line in one go.
- The skip-the-line that will save you the most time is undoubtedly the Empire State Building. As this observatory is the oldest and most iconic in New York, you can waste a lot of time circling along the serpentines that lead to the elevators. Unless you present a skip-the-line ticket to book on the dedicated Empire State building tickets page. Choose the “Express VIP Experience” ticket.
- Same thing for the observatory of the One World Trade Center tower. You can pre-book your skip-the-line One World Observatory tickets. Select so-called “priority” tickets, for access without waiting.
- You can also pre-book your skip-the-line tickets to the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
2/ Use a pass
New York passes are packages that allow you to visit several monuments, museums and activities for a flat price cheaper than the total price of all activities. But that’s not all: the passes also allow you to enjoy skip-the-line entrances. Everyone has their privileges:
- The New York Pass grants skip-the-line access to 15 New York attractions including the Top of the Rock Observatory, the American Museum of Natural History, the Guggenheim Museum, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Madame Tussauds New York or the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- The New York Sightseeing Flex Pass and New York Sightseeing Day Pass includes 4 skip-the-line visits: Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, Madame Tussauds, Ripley’s Believe it or Not! and Gulliver’s Gate Museum.
- The New York City Pass allows you to take advantage of a privileged line to board the Statue of Liberty as well as for admission to the September 11, 2001 museum. two must-visits in New York.
- Finally, the New York Explorer Pass offers skip-the-line access valid for the American Museum of Natural History, the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
One thing to know, however: the skip-the-line pass is not a skip-the-line ticket in the same category as the skip-the-line tickets I was telling you about first. With passes, this allows you to access a queue reserved for pass holders. It is therefore slower than the “VIP” line dedicated to those who have a skip-the-line ticket. But it already saves a lot of time compared to those who have no ticket.
3/ Do not visit museums on weekends
- We often forget it, but New Yorkers also like to visit the current exhibitions in New York museums! So, if you want to visit a museum quietly, avoiding queuing for one to two hours at the entrance, absolutely avoid scheduling these visits on weekends!
- Example with the American Museum of Natural History which is overloaded on weekends, with a lot of families. On weekends, plan to visit Central Park, Harlem, Coney Island or other outdoor locations instead.
4/ Show up at the opening…
- Another good way to avoid queues is to arrive shortly before the opening of the places or museums you want to visit. Example with the Statue of Liberty: arriving at the opening of the ticket offices in Clinton Castle, at 8 am, you will easily board the first boat at 8:30 am. On the other hand, at 10 or 11 a.m., you will already have to be patient to finally board a ferry.
- Same thing for the Top of the Rock observatory or the Empire State building. In the case of the Top of the Rock, it is also very interesting to arrive at the opening because, in addition to the fact that there will be no queue at the entrance, you will be able to take much better photos. with the morning sun illuminating the Empire State building and lower Manhattan. On the other hand, the trick is less practical for the Empire State building, because it is better to go up there in the afternoon to have the sun on Midtown and the Chrysler building. In this case, the option of a skip-the-line ticket for the Empire State building remains the best.
5/ …or close
- Another much quieter time of day if you want to avoid the crowds is the hour before museums and observatories close. Whether it’s the One World Observatory, the Empire State building, the Top of the Rock or all the museums in New York, there are more people at the checkout in the hour before closing time.
- The only downside to this trick: of course, you won’t have to wait at the entrance, but you won’t have much time to take advantage of it. It all depends on how much time you want to devote to the place visited. Practical: you will find all the opening hours of New York’s monuments and museums in my Destination New York paper guide.
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