USA Walking Holidays in New York

Administrator — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:58:50 +0000

Here is a brief guide to some of the attractions you can visit while walking in the USA's famous cities of Chicago and New York.

A USA Walking Holiday in Chicago

"The Windy City" on the shores of Lake Michigan has a rich mix of cultures and a history of music, being famous for its Blues. Chicago has a dramatic skyline which includes the neck-achingly high Sears Tower, now known as the Willis Tower. This was once the tallest building in the world, and remains the tallest in the USA. Walking in Chicago's streets, you will be struck by the number and scale of the skyscrapers here, in a city which invented the skyscraper.

The city's good public transport will help with your sightseeing, which should include a visit to some of the many museums here. One of the finest is the Art Institute of Chicago, which has an amazing collection of paintings. Some of its notable acquisitions include Edward Hopper's hazy, night time image of "Nighthawks" in a lonely bar, and Vincent Van Gogh's colourful "Bedroom in Arles."

A Walk in New York

The Statue of Liberty is a popular attraction and an unmistakable icon of the USA. Walking around its base on Liberty Island, you will appreciate the lady's sheer size. From the ground to the tip of her torch is 93 metres, and her standing height from her sandals to her crown (not including her plinth) is 34 metres. Visitors can walk up inside Liberty's structure and look out from her crown, but you should expect to queue for a few hours because of the attraction's popularity.

The statue was a symbol of hope and welcome to immigrants arriving by boat and preparing to walk on American soil for the first time. Their first port of call though was Ellis Island. For sixty years, Ellis Island was the gateway for all immigrants arriving in America. Walking around the museum you will get a sense of the variety of the immigrants' origins, and the desperation and aspirations that brought them to the New World.

You can get a wonderful view of New York City walking over the Brooklyn Bridge. When the bridge was built in 1883, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and there was nothing taller in the USA. Walking across the East River, you can get a good vantage point of Manhattan, seeing as far as Wall Street and the museums of Upper East Side.

You won't believe the bright lights of Times Square. The huge neon advertisements are a spectacle to see, especially at night. This is a vibrant part of the city with the sidewalks and pedestrian area thronging with tourists and street vendors. New York City is so rich with culture that you may struggle to fit in everything you want to see. As well as other sightseeing favourites such as the Staten Island Ferry, Central Park and the Rockefeller Center, there are many world-famous museums, Broadway's shows, and miles of shops to explore while walking in America.

For a very different atmosphere, a train ride out of the city to the New York State countryside will introduce you to rural USA, walking in the historic colonial villages that were settled by Europeans when America was young. You can see some of the oldest buildings in the country and the picturesque villages of the Hudson River Valley.

New York City

Administrator — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:58:51 +0000

New York City is located on the eastern coast of the United States about 1000 miles north of Florida and 200 miles South of Boston. It is situated at the mouth of the Hudson River, and is divided into five districts called boroughs. Long Island stretches almost 100 miles to the east of New York City and the state of New Jersey lies just across the Hudson River to the west. The "Big Apple", as the city is often called, is the largest city in the US with over 7 million residents. It is filled with a diverse mixture of inhabitants including immigrants from many countries. Some of its many neighborhoods, such as Chinatown, Little Italy, and Spanish Harlem reflect the rich ethnic heritages of the resident's original homelands.

Manhattan borough, the business and commercial center of New York City, is situated on a large island in the middle of the Hudson River. Just south of it, across the main harbor, lies the borough of Staten Island, a large residential community. Across the East River branch of the Hudson, the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens are situated on the western tip of Long Island. The borough of Bronx is on the mainland to the north. New Jersey lies across the Hudson to the west.

Manhattan Island is the heart of New York City

Manhattan Island is about two miles wide and over 12 miles long. It contains most of the business, economic, entertainment and cultural sights of the city. A four-miles long by half-mile wide Central Park, located at the very center of the island, neatly divides the city into sectors. The southern part of the island is called "Downtown" and the section directly south of Central Park is called "mid-town". Everything from the middle of the park to the northern tip of the island is usually called "Uptown". The part of the island closest to Long Island is called the "East Side" and the part closer to the Hudson River is the "West Side". The two neighborhoods lying on either side of Central Park are called "Upper East Side" and "Upper West Side".

Tour Travel Agency » New York City

USA Walking Holidays in New York

New York City