Walking

For shorter distances, nothing beats exploring New York on foot. If you’re in Manhattan, the logical grid system with avenues and streets will make it easy for you to find your way to virtually any destination. Along the avenues, there are 20 blocks per mile and the average person can walk roughly one block per minute. You can also start of each day with a jog like a lot of New Yorkers do? In the parts of New York commonly frequented by tourists, all streets have wide and smoothly paved sidewalks and there is of course also the famous Central Park.

Bus and subway

If you want to use the iconic New York subway system you need to purchase a MetroCard. Metrocards work on the bus as well but it is possible to pay cash on the bus as well proivded you have even change. Metrocards can be boght at veding machines at the stations and is issued by the NY Transit Authority. The metrocard can also be bought in a lot of grocery stores and news stands as well as online. You can find more detailed information at the MetroCard website.

Hailing a Cab

The traditional yellow New York taxis are famous world wide and few visitors come to New York without trying them at least once. A properly licensed yellow cab will have a special license plate, a light with a taxi number on the roof, stickers on the windshield showing various licenses, a metal seal on the hood (the so called medallion), a divider in the car, and a meter for billing.

There are also black car, or car service, this are taxis that you call by phone unlike the yollow ones you flag down on the street. You should always negotiate a preice with these taxis because they are usually operated on a flat fee price model. The license plate of a livery cab will say “Livery” or “TLC” at the bottom.

Rental with a driver

An alternative to simply hailing a cab off the street is to retain the services of a transport company offering something a little bit more fanciful, such as a modern stretch hummer limo or classy Lincoln Continental. Exploring New York with your own driver on stand by for a few hours can be surprisingly inexpensive.

Rental car to drive yourself

For those who prefer to do the driving themselves, New York has a multitude of car rental agencies to choose among and many have fitted their cars with GPS devices that make it easy for you to find your way even if you’ve never been to New York before. This is a good option if you want to explore that state of new york as well as the city, ie. taking a weekend off at some nice little B&B in the countryside. If you plan on driving in the city, keep in mind that the traffic can be quite hectic and finding parking spots is difficult. Driving in New York is not recommended for people who are not used to driving on larger cities.