18 Creative NYC Staycation Ideas for Your Next Holiday: Touring the Big Apple (2024)
- Date: April 16, 2024
- Topic: Events
- Contributors: Written by Peerspace Staff
Source: Peerspace
New York City offers a wealth of possibilities for visitors and locals alike. Instead of leaving the Big Apple for your next holiday, why not plan a staycation instead? Staycations are a chance to sample the world-class dining, entertainment, historic, and iconic sights that probably brought you here in the first place!
Our favorite NYC staycation ideas include something for everyone. Peerspace also offers a wealth of event venues for staycationers, including party bars, dance studios, and screening rooms for special events! What sort of staycation have you been planning?
1. Visit the New York Botanical Gardens
The 250-acre New York Botanical Garden at Bronx Park sees over a million people visit each year! You’ll find an ever-shifting collection of ornamental and native plants on display in greenhouses, cultivated beds, and arbors. The lush grounds offer endless photo opportunities as well as a place to relax and appreciate natural beauty in the heart of NYC.
2. Enjoy parades and food in NYC’s Chinatown
New York’s Chinatown is a cultural hotspot in a city full of them. Here, you’ll find special events going on year-round. If you can plan your staycation during the Chinese New Year, expect to see parades, fireworks, and historic events happening. Otherwise, check out the tea shops, dim sum restaurants, and porcelain shops. Many of which have been operating for over a century!
3. Reserve a screening room for movie night
Movie nights are fun for everyone but what if you’d prefer some privacy? Well, you don’t have to stay at home to have the theater all to yourselves. Screening rooms provide the full movie experience with none of the crowds. Peerspace offers several intimate screening rooms like this space in Chelsea, NY. Cinema 4K-capable projectors, surround sound speakers, and two-tier elevated couch seating combine the best of home and the big screen experience for movie lovers. And the best part? You can rent by the hour, rather than being locked into an entire day rental like you would with an Airbnb.
4. Take a helicopter tour of Manhattan
Even if you’re a lifelong NYC native, there are views of the city you’ve surely missed. Helicopter tours offer unbeatable perspectives, providing photo opportunities, guided tours, and luxury seating from hundreds of feet in the air! Companies offer tour packages with a variety of routes, starting points, and durations for any staycation.
These awesome hidden gems in NYC also let you and your friends see the city from a new angle. Check them out!
5. Book an extended hotel stay
You may be staying in town for your staycation but you don’t have to stay at home. An extended hotel stay lets you explore New York City from a different part of town. Instead of having to commute to your favorite restaurants, beaches, or shopping districts why not book a hotel in the same area? NYC hotels offer luxury bedrooms, on-site restaurants, and other NYC staycation ideas to consider.
6. Rent a hall for a dance party
Staycation dance parties are a great way to celebrate with friends! You don’t have to host one at home, though. Not when Peerspace has dance venues for a party of any size! Have you seen this 3,500 sq. ft. party hall in Crown Heights? A tropical rainforest-themed bar, bathrooms with Italian marble, a DJ booth, and a VIP lounge are just a few of the party amenities available.
7. Book a wine or beer-tasting class
Feel like exploring the world of fine wine, whiskey, or beer with company? Book a tasting class with a sommelier or other expert! Venues like City Winery NYC offer over 1,000 fine wines alongside classic small plate offerings in a space with skyline and Hudson River views.
8. Plan a picnic day at Pelham Bay Park
Picnics are some of the most family-friendly NYC staycation ideas to consider. Make a picnic lunch, pack a volleyball, and head over to Pelham Bay Park, the largest park in the area. Here you can cook in barbecue pits, play at a handball court, lounge on the beach, and visit one of multiple historic sites!
9. Visit NYC’s world-class museums
Museums are one of those things tourists love but locals rarely have time to visit. A staycation is a chance to change that by visiting any of NYC’s incredible museums. There are classics like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with a collection that spans 5,000 years of history. And then there are more niche museums like The New York Transit Museum, housed in a decommissioned subway station where you can explore a rotating collection of vintage cars.
10. Enjoy lunch and afternoon tea
Tea parties aren’t just a British affair! You can enjoy high tea with sandwiches, scones, and snacks at several upscale restaurants, hotels, and specialty tea houses like Alice’s Tea Cup on W 73rd St. Alternatively, you could enjoy tea and sightseeing with Tea Around Town, a 90-minute tour that takes you by bus to many of the most iconic sights in New York City!
11. Go sightseeing (even as a local!)
NYC sees over 60 million tourists a year for good reason! Being local doesn’t mean you should skip out on sightseeing. In fact, you’re perfectly situated to view parades, cherry bloom trees, and other seasonal activities. Put your ear to the ground and find more niche sights like the New York Transit Museum, a rotating collection of historic subway cars housed in a derelict subway station!
12. Book a cottage getaway
Staycations don’t have to be held at home! You can book a cottage or farmhouse like this one in Brewster, NY, a short drive from NYC. Get away from the hustle of City That Never Sleeps and enjoy green pastures, a gourmet kitchen, and the rustic ambiance of this 1719 country home. Despite its historic character, you’ll still enjoy modern amenities like a 9-person hot tub and a media room for movies.
13. Sail along the Hudson River
The Hudson River provides ample opportunities for boating, particularly sailing. If you don’t have a boat or the expertise to sail one, you’re in luck! Multiple agencies run sailing academies, lessons, and day trips, including the non-profit Hudson River Community Sailing organization.
14. Book a rooftop terrace for a staycation party
Venues with a view provide some of the best spaces for a creative NYC staycation idea. You can transform these spaces into a venue for a dance party, movie screening, karaoke night, or birthday bash. Ensuring your staycation need not be a home or apartment-based event. Peerspace specializes in providing exciting staycation venues like this Greenpoint rooftop terrace, complete with Manhattan skyline views, a sound system, and bar tables!
Discover more amazing rooftops in NYC that you can book with ease through Peerspace!
15. Visit the Metropolitan Opera House
Since you’re already in NYC why not enjoy tickets to a concert, play, or other performance at the Metropolitan Opera House? The Met is the largest classical music organization in North America. Dancers, singers, composers, and other professionals the world over come here to perform year-round!
16. Head out to a nearby city
A true staycation is one where you don’t go more than a day trip’s distance away from home. On the Eastern seaboard, there are a lot of cities a short drive or train trip away! Boston, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Newark are all 4 hours or less from New York. Take a historic tour of downtown Philadelphia, a former national capital, or enjoy crab cakes by the bay in Baltimore!
17. Explore the Finger Lakes
Few people realize how much natural beauty New York State has to offer. The Finger Lakes are within a half-day trip’s distance of New York. Enjoy fishing, boating, and camping in one of the most beautiful regions of the Northeast. You can hike along trails leading to a quiet waterfall. Many trails are lined with seasonal fall foliage and lead to amenity-filled campgrounds for a relaxing evening.
18. Charter a fishing boat
New York City is a major fishing destination if you know where to go. The best fishing is by boat but if you don’t have one, you’re in luck! Deep sea charter boats take anglers out to Montauk Point and beyond, hunting for striped bass, tuna, and other trophy game fish. Many tours don’t even require you to buy a fishing license – the agency has that covered for the group day trip!
NYC staycation ideas: conclusion
There are few cities better suited to a staycation than NYC, the City that Never Sleeps. A long staycation is the perfect way to explore all of the amenities on offer here. You’ll likely want to check out restaurants, museums, and other establishments. Remember that Peerspace makes it possible to transform any space into a staycation wine-tasting or screening room with the right NYC event venue!
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