Traveling to New York for the Spring Festival: 3 Must-Visit Attractions!
Spring Festival travel has become an increasingly popular new way to celebrate the new year, allowing you to avoid the dreaded 'holiday weight gain' while exploring beautiful scenery and experiencing diverse cultures. If your destination is New York, The New York Pass recommends three must-visit attractions to help you create unforgettable Spring Festival memories.
People often say that a trip to New York is incomplete without visiting the Empire State Building. Indeed, it has appeared in so many films and TV shows that missing this iconic cultural landmark would be a regret.
Located in Midtown Manhattan and completed in 1931, the Empire State Building, standing 443.7 meters tall, held the title of New York's tallest building for nearly 40 years after its completion. From the 86th-floor open-air observation deck and the 102nd-floor indoor observation deck, you can take in panoramic views of New York, fully immersing yourself in the magnificent atmosphere of this bustling metropolis. Moreover, ascending to high places during the Spring Festival symbolizes rising step by step, health, and longevity!
The building's 2nd and 80th floors feature multiple exhibitions that showcase the history, design, and construction process behind the building through black-and-white photos, moving images, sculptures, movie posters, and clips, allowing visitors to gain a more intuitive understanding of the cultural charm of the Empire State Building. Don't forget to take a photo with King Kong's giant fingers piercing through the wall during your visit!
Empire State Building Address: 20 West 34th Street (between 5th & 6th Avenue), New York, NY 10118
Visiting Hours: Open year-round, until 2:00 AM at the latest
Ticket Price: $42, free with The New York Pass
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Immigration Museum
Representing centuries of rich American history, the Statue of Liberty, standing on Ellis Island, is a symbol of the United States and New York's most famous cultural landmark. It was gifted by France to commemorate the alliance's victory in the American Revolutionary War and the abolition of slavery.
The statue is 93 meters tall, wearing a radiant crown with seven spikes representing the seven continents of the world; her right hand holds a torch aloft, while her left hand carries a tablet inscribed with 'July 4, 1776' (the date of the Declaration of Independence). Beneath her feet are broken shackles and chains, symbolizing freedom from tyranny.
Setting off on the round-trip ferry to Ellis Island, you can see her magnificent figure from afar. Inside the statue, there is a spiral staircase that visitors can climb to the top to enjoy stunning views of New York.
The attractions on Ellis Island are not limited to the Statue of Liberty alone; the Immigration Museum is also well worth a visit. Here you can enjoy a ten-minute multimedia experience in an immersive theater, learning about the history of the Statue of Liberty and the ideals it represents; visit galleries to see the work of the craftsmen who built the statue; and tour the rooftop deck at the top of the museum to enjoy beautiful views of New York Harbor.
Address: Statue Cruises Kiosk, Battery Park, New York, NY 10004
Ticket Price: $20, free with The New York Pass
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Immerse yourself in the ocean of art and add more cultural charm to your Spring Festival trip to New York!
As the largest and most magnificent museum in the United States, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located next to Central Park, is hailed as the art center of New York City. It houses over two million works of art and hosts more than 30 exhibitions each year, showcasing human art spanning 5,000 years of history.
Since opening in 1872, the museum has grown into an art palace covering 130,000 square meters. Its first floor and mezzanine house galleries for American, African, Americas, European, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman art, while the second and third floors feature ancient Far Eastern, Chinese, Islamic, Japanese, and Southeast Asian galleries. The museum has 248 exhibition galleries, with tens of thousands of items on permanent display.
The museum's permanent collection is divided into 19 departments, with representative works including ancient Egyptian artifacts, oil paintings and sculptures by European masters, and a large number of American and modern artworks. Additionally, the collection includes architecture, sculptures, paintings, photographs, glassware, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, furniture, weapons, armor, musical instruments, and objects from various periods, both ancient and modern.
From Leonardo da Vinci and Georgia O'Keeffe to Picasso, Monet, Van Gogh, and other world-renowned artists, you can admire their masterpieces at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Museum Address: Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, New York, NY 10028
Visiting Hours: Sunday to Tuesday, Thursday 10 am–5 pm; Friday Saturday 10 am–9 pm; closed on Wednesday
Ticket Price: $25, free with The New York Pass
