South African Airways

This world famous square has numerous shops and restaurants, and those mighty flashing advertising billboards that can make nighttime seem like broad daylight. It also has the Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum, a Hard Rock Cafe, and an enormous Toys R Us, featuring an indoor Ferris wheel. Times Square is a pedestrian-friendly zone, but the best place to avoid on New Year’s Eve, unless you’re into really, really massive crowds.

The instantly recognisable Statue of Liberty was the symbol of freedom for countless migrants who reached the States by boat, as they sailed towards the immigration centre at Ellis Island. You can visit the monument via a short ferry ride to Liberty Island. You can also visit Ellis Island Immigration Museum, which processed about 12 million immigrants before the centre closed in 1954.

This is another iconic piece of architecture with its Art Deco design and statuesque 102-storey height, making it the second-tallest building in the city. From the observation deck on the 86th floor you can see right across the city.

So you want to see a show? Well, there are 39 theatres on Broadway offering world-class plays and musicals, often featuring the world’s most famous actors. There’s a plethora of off-Broadway shows too. If your wallet’s feeling faint at the very idea, see what kind of deal the cut-price ticket booth called TKTS Discount Booth can do for you in Times Square.

Far less well known than Broadway, the Lincoln Center is actually the world’s largest performing arts centre, home to 12 companies including New York City Ballet and New York City Opera. You can tour the centre or book for a show. The Lincoln Center Plaza outside is a lively hub of shops and restaurants.

If you’re there in winter, wrap up warmly, because the city gets truly chilly. Then head for the Rockefeller Center to try ice skating. A rink is set up every year, as well as a massive Christmas tree and some really over-the-top Christmas lights and decorations.

This beautiful Beaux Arts architecture was built between 1903 and 1931. It’s unusual for a train station in that you can take a guided tour of the place! Take a stroll there even if you’re not planning to travel.

The Top Of the Rock are three observation floors in the Rockefeller Plaza, the home of NBC Studios. The viewpoint opens at 8am, and you’ll beat the biggest crowds if you get there then. The deck provides stunning views of the legendary skyline, which features more than 100 skyscrapers. The lifts go up until 11pm, so go up again at night to see the city shimmering after dark. Other great views come from the One World Observatory on top of the One World Trade Centre, which is the tallest building in the country. That also stays open late.

This massive park in the heart of Manhattan is a fabulous urban oasis, with wide-open fields, walking trails, lakes and 36 bridges. It was designed in the mid-19th century by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. There’s a zoo and a carousel, and in winter an ice-skating pool. In the summer you can catch a performance of Shakespeare in the Park, or a live performance of opera or dance by the Rumsey Company.

One of the city’s best-known museums is MoMA, the Museum of Modern Art. It houses some of the world’s most important contemporary art, ranging from painting and sculpture to film and even live performance. Museum Mile must be the most cultural street on the planet. There are eight museums on this stretch of Fifth Avenue, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, with rotating exhibitions and a permanent collection. Nearby is the Guggenheim, stocked with modern and contemporary masterpieces that include the building itself, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The main problem with going out at night is knowing where to go amid so many choices. If you want live music try Harlem, where the Apollo Theatre stages its famous Amateur Night on Wednesdays, which once saw Ella Fitzgerald, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and comedian Chris Rock try their luck. The Lower East Side and Williamsburg are two neighbourhoods full of bars, from classy clubs to sleazy dives. Comedy clubs are a big thing across the city, hosting headliners and wannabes every night.

Amid all of New York’s soaring towers is the 9/11 Memorial, with twin pools of water now standing where the twin towers of the World Trade Center stood until the infamous terrorist attacks. A visit here is profoundly moving, with a museum telling the story of the attacks through first-person accounts and multimedia displays.

Technically, the Staten Island Ferry is a commuter boat, but it’s become a tourist attraction too. The 25-minute journey from Lower Manhattan to Staten Island gives glorious views of the Statue of Liberty, the harbour and the Manhattan skyline. It runs 24 hours a day and serves drinks until midnight. You get off at St George Ferry Terminal, near the Staten Island Museum.

This pedestrian walkway offers spectacular views of Manhattan, the East River and Brooklyn Bridge. It’s a favourite place for joggers, walkers and rollerbladers, and has a lovely quiet atmosphere if you just want to sit and enjoy the view. The Promenade is lined with grand town houses and mansions, and is part of Brooklyn’s first Historic Preservation District. The Heights Café in nearby Montague Street is a friendly diner where people queue for a table outside to sit and people-watch.