Experience New York on the Cheap

The Big Apple seems to be one of the most popular places for foreigners to go visit. It is the city where people go to see the Thanksgiving parade, the ball drop during New Years and the place to get some good pizza.

However, people seem to spend so much money during their New York trip that they either never go back or they go back home complaining of their expensive trip.

During my recent trip to New York, I decided that I would save money by going to free places and using cheap transportation. The end result: Successful!

It is very possible to save money during a trip to New York, even if it seems nearly impossible.

Transportation

One of the things I love about New York is the subway. Sure it may not be the cleanest, but it gets you from point A to point B for only $2.75 a ride. This may seem expensive, but if you are going from Brooklyn to Manhattan this may not seem like much.

Subway

If you are like my fiance and do not like the subway, then you can always use either Uber or Lyft. Since I had free credit for both, we ended up using both Uber and Lyft. The credit saved us a ton of money and the only payment I had to make was an additional $2.50. This was a huge saving for us, especially since it can be quite expensive to ride a taxi in New York.

Parks

I simply love the parks in New York, not only is it a great place to walk in, but it is always full of music, people and there is almost always something to see.

Washington Square Park

Near New York University is the Washington Square Park. This beautiful park is almost always full of people and fun! The last time I was there, I got to see someone filming a movie, a campaign to stop violence against women, a band playing great music and a bunch of people dressed up as pokemon characters.

The band playing some great music

Not sure what they are filming

 Another park that I really enjoyed was Central Park.

The city view from Central Park

Central Park didn’t have as many people and I didn’t see any musicians around, but there are flowers, the city and a cute little castle.

The castle

Flowers and Monument

There are many parks to check out in New York and it will definitely fit within your budget.

Museums and Street Art

What better way to learn about a culture and history than to go to a museum or look around for street art. New York has a massive area of street art and even though some may consider it as obstruction of property, some of the art make the property actually look better.

Street Art around Brooklyn

art and the city

There are also plenty of museums in New York that offer free admission, but the museum I decided to go to was the American Museum of Natural History. The general admission for the AMNH is $22, but if you are a student you only pay $17, which saved me $5.

Main entrance of the museum

Dinosaurs

Concerts

New York has free concerts all around in different parts of New York. I didn’t get to enjoy many of these concerts, except for the concert during New Years in Time Square, but if you are looking for free concerts, this is the best place to find them > Free Concerts.

Concert

There’s plenty to do in New York without spending so much money, it’s just a matter of research and planning before you go. It is possible to go to New York on a cheap budget.

What cheap places in New York have you been to?