What To Book In Advance For A New York City Trip

If you’re planning a trip to New York City, probably one of the first questions on your mind is what to book in advance.

Generally speaking, the Statue of Liberty is a must (since it’s the most popular attraction in NYC), while other things like museums, observatories, and restaurants will depend a bit on the situation.

This travel guide will give some tips for how far in advance you should reserve your NYC activities. It’s based on my own experience!

Here’s a quick summary of when you may want to book ahead for things in NYC:

• Statue Of Liberty & Ellis Island — Reserve 1-2 weeks in advance
• Statue Of Liberty Pedestal / Crown — Reserve 1-3 months in advance
• Observatories — Reserve 1 week in advance
• Broadway Shows — Reserve 1-3 months in advance
• Restaurants (Fine Dining) — Reservation needed
• The FRIENDS Experience — Reservation needed
• Tenement Museum — Reservation needed
• Special Tours — Reservation needed
• 9/11 Museum — Optional
• American Museum of Natural History — Optional
• Arte Museum — Optional
• Guggenheim Museum — Optional
• Metropolitan Museum of Art — Optional
• Museum of Modern Art — Optional
• Brooklyn Bridge — No reservation needed (free)
• Intrepid Museum — No reservation needed
• Madame Tussauds — No reservation needed
• St. Patrick’s Cathedral — No reservation needed (free)
• Vessel — No reservation needed

Note: This is just general guidance, and things can change a bit depending on the hour, day, week, and month when you travel.

New York City is busiest in the summer (June to August) and the winter holidays (November to December), so you may want to book earlier if you’re traveling at those times, especially for weekends or peak hours.

• NYC Observatories

The rooftop observatories in New York City are very popular, so if you plan to visit one and you have a specific entry time in mind, you should make a booking around one week in advance.

Some observatories have weather policies, so you can rebook if the visibility is bad. However, if you’d rather wait and choose a day with good weather, it’s okay to book a few days in advance; you just won’t be able to be as picky about the entry time.

For example, we booked Summit One Vanderbilt the day before we went, but we had to enter at 3 PM because the later times were already sold out for people wanting to see the sunset.

Sunset is especially popular at the NYC observatories, and the hours leading up to it usually sell out easily, so if you’re wanting one of those premium entry times, I’d make a booking well in advance.