Things to do in New York City for the Elderly

Perhaps the world’s most famous monument, the Green Goddess is a bona fide Big Apple bucket-lister. There are a number of ways to experience this icon of the New York skyline – including from viewing platforms at the One World Observatory, Empire State Building and Top of the Rock. Heck, you can even just hop on the (free!) Staten Island Ferry and snag a spot by the rail on the right-hand side for some of the best photo ops in town.

But nothing beats getting up close – and we mean really close – on a roundtrip to Liberty Island itself.

Pro-tip #1: you can save on entry to multiple New York attractions – including Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, plus several NYC observation platforms – with the New York Pass®. Click for more info and to get yours.

Pro-tip #2: sprightly seniors may wish to consider the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ascend Lady Liberty’s 162-step spiral staircase all the way up inside the famous crown.This experience costs extra and must be booked direct and in advance.

Manhattan’s great green oasis ain’t just for joggers and skaters. Indeed, Central Park is much better enjoyed at a leisurely pace. Think gentle rambles through The Ramble, a woodland wilderness that’s also great for forest bathing and birdwatching – species including flycatchers, swallows and red-tailed hawks are known to hang out here during their long migrations. Or people-watching from a bench by Belvedere Castle, the park’s enchanting fairytale folly. You can even relive your childhood on the charming vintage carousel, should the mood take you (and your hips permit). Or stick to the real thing on a horse-and-carriage tour of the park, taking in iconic sights including Strawberry Fields and classic movie locations from Ghostbusters, When Harry Met Sally and more.

Discover more things to do in Central Park here.

NYC has more world-class art museums than you can shake a very big walking stick at, with many offering discount entry for seniors. Several are also included with the New York Pass®. Check out masterpieces of 20th-century art by the likes of Picasso, Paul Klee, Miró and Modigliani at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim (pictured), and mosey over to the Whitney Museum in the Meatpacking District for stellar selections by Hopper, O’Keeffe, de Kooning, sculptor Alexander Calder and many more.

But if you only have time (or inclination) to visit one Big Apple art museum, make it MoMA, widely considered one of the best on the planet thanks to an extensive collection that counts Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans, Dalí’s Persistence of Memory and van Gogh’s Starry Night among its eye-popping treasures.

There are more than 300 acres to explore across New York’s two biggest botanical gardens. You could easily spend a whole day at the sprawling New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx, where spring orchid displays and scent-sational summer blooms in the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden are among the many highlights.

A lot more compact, but still packing a punch at 52 acres, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden can be found at the northern end of Prospect Park. There’s a sweet and serene Japanese garden here, complete with tinkling waterfalls, a traditional torii gate, and pretty-in-pink cherry blossoms in spring. Don’t miss the Shakespeare Garden – home of 80+ plants and flowers mentioned in the Bard’s writings – where the temptation to unleash your most dramatic “rose by any other name” speech may prove irresistible.

Find more things to do in and around Brooklyn here.

The Big Apple’s musical heritage cannot be understated, and there are plenty of music-related NYC attractions for oldies (and indeed youngies) to explore. Catch a show at world-famous venues including Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall and the Lincoln Center which, between them, have played host to bona fide musical giants including Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Liberace, Elgar and The Beatles.

Step inside Satchmo’s former home at the Louis Armstrong House Museum to experience the wonderful interior world of a Queens icon. Exhibits at the museum include beautiful trumpets, personal photographs and even a mouthpiece gifted to the jazz legend by King George V of England.

There are thousands of musical instruments on display at the marvellous Metropolitan Museum of Art, where you can ogle (and occasionally listen to) tribal drums, hurdy-gurdys, pipe organs and many more weird and wonderful instruments from around the world.

Read our full guide to New York for music lovers here.

Cutting an incongruous dash among the glass-and-steel skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan, St Patrick’s Cathedral is a 19th-century neo-gothic confection par excellence. There’s a fine aerial view of its great spires, towers and transepts from the observation platform at the Top of the Rock, just across the street. But you’ll want to step inside for the full religious experience, all kaleidoscopic stained-glass windows, extraordinary sculptures (check out William Ordway’s 1906 Pietà statue, which dwarfs Michelangelo’s Vatican version), and a frankly massive 9,000-pipe organ. Ornate pews and secluded side chapels provide ample opportunities to rest sightseeing-weary feet.

Discover more fine NYC churches and cathedrals here.

They say the neon lights are bright on Broadway. And they’re right. But if the neon glare of New York’s celebrated theater district doesn’t dazzle you, the shows in the 40-or-so venues here surely will. We’re talking the Gershwin, the Minskoff, the Richard Rogers and other household-name theaters. Combine these iconic venues with some of the planet’s biggest musicals and you’re in for one heck of a night out. Tap your toes to ‘All That Jazz’ at Chicago, go wild for The Lion King, and unleash your inner dancing queen at Mamma Mia!

Or, if you’re looking for something a little more intimate, make for the 60+ Off Broadway theaters where, if you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of some of the Hollywood stars of tomorrow.

Pro-tip: you can get heavily discounted last-minute tickets from outlets like TKTS on Times Square, and matinee performances are often available for those who like to be safely tucked up in bed before 9pm. 

Looking for more things to do in New York City? Click the buttons below to find out how you could save with the New York Pass® and to choose the right one for you…