The Best Budget-Friendly Things To Do On Your Vacation To New York, According To Travelers

New York has so many activities capable of entertaining travelers year-round, that knowing exactly where to start can be difficult. Avid fans of the theater might think about taking in a Broadway musical. Art lovers might want to check out any one of the glamorous museums in the city, such as the Met, MoMA, the Whitney, or the Guggenheim. And of course, anyone who loves sports might be interested in catching a baseball, basketball, or football game at any of the city's illustrious stadiums.

As wondrous as New York City is at any time of the year, though, it's also no secret that the Big Apple can be a costly place to visit. With hotels, meals, and transportation alone having the potential to set you back exponentially, budget-savvy travelers might want to think about more cost-friendly activities during their visit to NYC. Thankfully, certain financial experts familiar with New York have highlighted some of the many activities in the city that don't cost altogether exorbitant prices.

Here are some inexpensive things for you and your party to do as you tour the City That Never Sleeps.

The New York High Line is a relatively new attraction in New York City. In its earliest incarnation, the High Line was used as an elevated railway system owned and operated by the New York Central Railroad throughout the 20th century. Since the start of the 2000s, the High Line has been converted into a linear park that rises above New York's clogged streets, following the same route as New York's railroads a century prior.

Like Central Park, the High Line is free to visit, offering splendid opportunities for a stroll past numerous New York high-rise buildings. But what makes the High Line most worth visiting is not the lack of a price tag; it's the unparalleled views the park offers of New York's most wondrous sights. Running through the Meatpacking District up to the Jacob Javits Convention Center, the park has spectacular views of Chelsea and the nearby Hudson River, all of which are featured throughout the bridge's 1.45-mile-long walkway. You'll also find several plants and natural foliage sprinkled throughout the walkway, along with art galleries, statues, and other creative pieces from local and international artists.

Yes, you can pay for a cruise along the Hudson or East River, looking upon New York from the relative calm of the water. But it's also worth pointing out the incredible views of New York offered from the Staten Island Ferry, a free-to-use transportation service that ferries passengers back and forth from New York to Staten Island.

Offering idyllic overviews of the city, the ferry grants riders stunning views of New York as they cross the river on a half-hour boat ride to Staten Island's St. George Terminal. Shuttling through the New York Harbor on a 5.2-mile journey, passengers can glimpse scenic views of New York and nearby New Jersey, along with breathtaking looks at Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Once you've arrived at St. Georges, you can choose to stay onboard the ferry, journeying back to New York along the same route they took to Staten Island. With a voyage that lasts 25 minutes each way, the entire seafaring experience lasts roughly an hour, offering unrivaled looks at Manhattan along the way.

You don't have to be a book-lover to enjoy a visit to the historic New York Public Library (although it certainly helps). The second largest library in the U.S., and the fourth largest library in the world, the New York Public Library is a treasure trove of both New York and American history. Founded in 1895, the library is a lasting testament to the city's rich literary heritage, complete with more than a few sights you won't find anywhere else in New York.

Walking up to the library's front steps, the first thing visitors will notice is the awe-inspiring size of the library itself. Measuring up to a total of four stories high, the library keeps approximately 2.5 million objects stocked inside its walls, including rare manuscripts from John Bunyan, Voltaire, and Walt Whitman. Even if you're not interested in cracking open a book, guests can always check out the free exhibits inside the library. Alternatively, you might simply walk around and admire the library's incredible architecture (inspired by the Parisian Beux-Arts architectural style that was popular in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries).

While non-New York residents have to pay a fee to gain a library card, simply visiting the New York Public Library and reading any one of the library's books is 100% permissible so long as the book doesn't leave the premises.

Like most major cities in the U.S., New York is packed to the brim with fantastic museums everyone should visit at least once in their lifetime, from the biological wonders of the American Museum of Natural History to the artistic splendor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While each of these museums is certainly worth seeing, visitors to New York shouldn't look past the numerous other museums also featured in the city, starting with the National Museum of the American Indian.

As the name might suggest, the National Museum of the American Indian is a museum dedicated entirely to Indigenous American culture, the museum displays a catalog of artifacts dating back as far as 12,000 years into the past. A branch of the world-renowned Smithsonian Institute, the National Museum features a diverse range of exhibits that visitors can spend huge blocks of time studying, such as an in-depth look at the various Indigenous American tribes who populated New York before the Europeans' arrival in the 16th century.

Interestingly, the National Museum of the American Indian is not only worth visiting for its impressive array of exhibits alone. Given the fact that the museum has been established in the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House, visitors can spend just as much time marveling at the building's opulent Beaux-Arts architecture as they do perusing the museum's catalog.

On September 11, 2001, the United States was suddenly rocked by an egregious terrorist attack that destroyed New York's famous Twin Towers. Claiming the lives of thousands of people, 9/11 forever changed American history, launching the country into a lengthy war and serving as a national tragedy for decades afterward.

Today, the former site of the World Trade Center houses the commemorative National September 11 Memorial & Museum. A sobering homage to the victims of 9/11, the September 11 Memorial is split into two lasting monuments: the actual memorial pool and the museum that accompanies it. Divided into two reflecting pools positioned in the same spot the Twin Towers once stood, the memorial features the names of every 9/11 victim inscribed on its walls, along with the victims of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. Both the memorial and the museum are completely free to visit year-round and offer guests a key insight into a traumatic episode from New York's past.

While a trip to Broadway is among the most notable theater-going experiences one can have in New York, visitors shouldn't look past the appeal of seeing a live taping of a TV show. In most cases, TV programs based in New York — "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" — offer free tickets in the hopes of filling out their audience for the episode, making it the ideal cost-friendly activity for pop culture enthusiasts in the city. 

Of course, some shows are far harder to get than others, with each series maintaining its way of securing tickets for a live showing. For example, tickets for "Saturday Night Live" are notoriously hard to reserve, with guests able to enter their name into a once-a-year lottery for a chance to see the famous NBC sketch comedy series in person. In contrast, other shows like "The Today Show" are far more readily accessible, requiring potential visitors to merely fill out a form to attend the show's taping (although they'll also accept passersby off the street so long as there's enough room in the crowd for additional onlookers).