Changing seasons give travellers time to see the sights
Autumn in the Northeast of the United States is a truly magical time. As the days get shorter, the nights get cooler and trees lose their vibrant green for autumn’s browns, oranges and yellows. Harvest time has always held a special place in our society’s heart.
Backpacking in New York City, USA in 2007.
Whether through some cultural acknowledgement of our agricultural roots or because of an atavistic desire to push winter off a few more weeks, autumn is as much a change of attitudes as a change of seasons. The slow and lazy summer days are past and the winter’s dreariness is approaching.
New York City, the most populous city in the United States, is not immune to the change of seasons. Although very few of its 8.5 million inhabitants work in the agricultural field, everyone is affected by the change from summer to fall. As the air becomes crisper, the tenor of events change. The mad rush to the beach that took place every weekend during the summer slows to a stop and tourism slows down.
With a new season, the perennial tourist attractions of the city become less crowded and noisy. A trip to the Met isn’t a mad rush to avoid the crowds while still looking over the art, it becomes a time to reflect and study the sculptures and paintings on display for as long as you’d like. The mad rush of the summer is replaced with a more sedate pace of autumn.
Backpacking in New York City, USA in 2007.
Taking the time to see the city right
With this change of pace, tourists to New York can take a much less frenetic pace while still seeing many of the attractions. In addition to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, many of the tourist sites near or in Central Park lose their crowded status.
The Guggenheim, the Zoo and Central Park itself have less people and those that are visiting seem to be in less of a rush. For those travelers wanting to spend time exploring Manhattan, there are few better times of the year.
Many tour companies and attractions lower their prices once tourist season ends and schools start back up across the country. For those that can get away, visiting New York in the fall is the best time of the year.
How to see the city in the fall
This is not to say, of course, that Manhattan becomes a ghost town during the autumn months. The ‘City That Never Sleeps’ is still the largest in the United States and a change in seasons won’t drive everyone off the streets. Winter blizzards and summer hurricanes haven’t managed to do that. The crispness in the air just makes the city slow down a bit.
Touring the city during the fall means that you can see more attractions for less money and spend less of your time standing in lines to view them. During the day, kids are in school and the museums and the exhibitions are more accessible.
Bus tours are one of the least expensive and most convenient ways to tour Manhattan. With standardized routes that visit all the major attractions, low costs and tour packages for keeping the costs down at museums and historical sites catching the bus is the convenient way to see the sights.
Whether you are looking for a hop-on hop-off tour of the city or a guided tour of many of the outlying boroughs, take a bus tour of New York City as it is a terrific way to see the city for less money and aggravation than taking a cab or riding the subway.