Travel to NYC On A Budget: 10 Tips You Need To Know

New York City is one of my favourite places in the world and one I keep being drawn back to time and time again. It’s also on my 30 before 30 list as a place I’d love to live!

Often ranked as one of the most expensive cities in the world, with the average tourist spending anywhere from $500-$2000+ on a weekend there, it’s not cheap. But travelling to NYC on a budget is 100% possible and with these easy tips you’ll be saving money left, right and centre.

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Read next: 2 Nights in NYC – New York Money Diary

As someone who has visited NYC nearly a dozen times over the past couple of years, let me share with you my 10 top tips for travelling to NYC on a budget…

1) Stay in a hostel

The average night in a hotel in NYC will set you back around $417 – crazy! Instead take a look at a hostel. If you’re visiting the city solo, a capsule hostel like KAMA Central Park may be the perfect choice. Alternatively, hostels like the HI NYC offer private rooms which if you are travelling in a group would work out very budget friendly.

Read next:

• Full Review of the Cheapest Capsule Hostel in NYC
• HI NYC Hostel Review: One of the Cheapest Places to Stay in New York

2) Get rush Broadway tickets

I love musicals and seeing one on Broadway is the ultimate bucket list tick but tickets are super expensive! Enter TodayTix, the app that sells discounted tickets to hundreds of shows all around the world.

My favourite feature of this app is there rush tickets, which are heavily discounted tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the performance. I’ve saved hundreds through rush tickets and my most recent win was a $49 ticket to &Juliet. The ultimate win was that I was in the second row!

I wrote a full breakdown of TodayTix, check it out here.

3) Take advantage of the subway 7-day limit

The subway is the best way to get NYC and it’s super budget friendly. A few years ago the subway system got an upgrade and you no longer have to buy a metro card. Instead you can tap and go with any contactless card. And unlike in tube in London, you don’t need to remember to tap out.

Each ride is charged at $3.25 and capped at $34 every 7-day period. So you can use the subway to your hearts content and know it will not cost you more than $34 per week. Budget travel win!

4) Staten Island Ferry

The best way to see the Statue of Liberty is not on an expensive boat trip, instead take the FREE Staten Island ferry. You get an unobstructed view of the statue (obviously from a distance) and if you want to see Staten Island it ticks that off too. Although I’m not sure there is much to see there.

You can board the ferry at the financial district and then turn around and get straight back on the other side to return to Manhattan. All for nothing!

If the weather is good, set yourself up on their outside deck to get awesome views and a chilled boat ride across the Hudson.

5) Rooftop Bar > Expensive Experiences

You could spent hundreds of dollars on the classic NYC experiences, like the top of the Empire State Building or the top of the rock or you could spent $20 on a yummy cocktail and take awesome photos with those incredible buildings in the background. I know which option I’d prefer!!

6) Find a Housesit

My most recent trip to New York was one of the best (and cheapest)! I spent 10 days living like a local in one of the most expensive cities in the world and spent £0 on accommodation. How? I found a housesit!

Housesitting is my secret weapon for travelling to expensive cities on a budget. This is where you stay in someone’s home whilst they away, taking care of the place and any pets.

I find all my housesits through Trusted Housesitters which works as an exchange. I get a free place to stay and they get free pet care. The only money that changes hands is the yearly fee to the site but you can get 25% off this with my link.

Read next:

• Travel Spending Diary: House Sitting in NYC for 10 Days
• Complete Guide To Housesitting
• Three Years of Housesitting and These Are My Top 6!

7) Get a cheap flight out

Don’t break your budget before you’ve even started exploring. Flights are often the most expensive part of a big international trip, but they don’t have to be. I’ve gotten pretty good at finding cheap flights out to the US over the years. And there are multiple ways to approach it.

You could go down a budget airline route and find a good cash deal. The Icelandic airline Play offer cheap fares from Europe to North America. These often feature a layover in Reykjavik which could either add a couple of hours onto your journey or a cheap way to visit two countries in one trip.

Another good budget airline is Norse who are Norwegian. I recently flew with Norse from London Gatwick to Orlando for my third summer at camp. I paid just over £180 which is great value for a flight across the ocean.

If budget airlines aren’t your thing and you’re looking for a little luxury without the price tag, using points and miles is the way to go. I’m a massive fan of British Airway’s Avios scheme and have saved over £11,000 since I started collecting them back in 2021. Virgin Atlantic also have good reward seats available which are very accessible to newbie travel hackers.

Read Next:

• Travel Hacking a £145 Flight to NYC
• I’ve Saved Over £11k On Flights Using Avios Points – Here’s How To Get Started
• I got 5000 Bonus VirginRed Points With This Hack!

8) Take advantage of free activities

One of the best things about NYC is the sheer amount of free activities there are. There is so much to get involved in and a lot of it is free. I mean it’s one of the best cities to just stroll around and find new corners.

To name a few awesome free things to do…

• Explore central park
• Walk along Brooklyn Bridge
• Take in the views on the Staten Island Ferry
• Visit the New York Public Library
• Snap photos at Grand Central Station

9) Avoid getting a cab from the airport

Jumping into a famous yellow cab straight from the airport, may be the movie fairytale but it will break the budget. Alternatively, save this iconic journey for a shorter trip in Manhattan and get public transport instead.

To travel to NYC on a budget, public transport will be your friend and there are good routes out of all three New York airports into Manhattan or one of the other five boroughs.

My go to app for helping with this sort of thing is Citymapper. It’s great for planning the journey for you, comparing all the options and giving you a price guide as well. Great for budget travellers.

10) Don’t forget your ESTA!

One of the easiest ways to break your budget, is to get to the US boarder and be refused entry. Don’t be silly and make sure to get the legal side of your trip sorted too. For a Brit travelling to the US, you can get an ESTA which is a visa waiver you apply for online. It takes minutes to apply for and costs $21.

Make sure you google the visa requirements for your passport before you travel to avoid any unnecessary extra costs for worse case scenario being refused entry.

Bonus tip: Get an eSim!

It’s 2025, you shouldn’t be paying crazy roaming charges when you go abroad now. Use that money on something more exciting and get an eSim. My go to is Airalo because they are affordable and have great coverage. Use code JESS6479 to get £2.50 off your first eSim!

So there you go, my top tips on how to travel to nyc on a budget as someone who has visited half a dozen times over the past couple of years. Have you ever been to NYC? I’d love to hear all about it and whether you stuck to budget or not!