Looking for the best fall activities in NYC? Here is an insider’s guide, including the best things to do during the fall in New York City.
NYC in the fall is both beautiful and fascinating, which is probably why it’s one of my all time favorite seasons. As a New Yorker, I feel that it is one of the best times to get lost and walk around the City. Fall is a time of change in New York City: It’s the leaves that change colors, the weather that changes to cooler temperatures, and kids are no longer feeling the summer bliss, but instead have to go back to commuting and studying, once fall arrives.
Of course, Halloween is one of the major events during the fall, and it’s celebrated big-time in the city. It’s one of my favorite holidays due to the usual city activities and, best part, you can dress up as whatever you want and no one will give you a second glance…although, you can dress up year round and most New Yorkers wouldn’t care. That’s New York for you: There’s nothing too unusual to make people look twice! We’ve pretty much seen it all on the subways!
Where To Stay In NYC
Wondering where to stay while visiting New York City? Finding a great deal on a hotel in New York City can be challenging. As a Native New Yorker, I am going to include some suggestions below that I usually recommend to friends and acquaintances who are visiting NYC for the first time or who prefer to stay in a good location close to Manhattan.
- Budget: The Row | The Jane | Pod 39 |
- Mid-Budget: The Hudson | The James Soho | The Renwick | The Redbury
- Luxury: The Bowery | The Dominick | The St. Regis | The Plaza
For more in-depth information about the best NYC neighborhoods to stay in, and the hotels in those areas, read this complete guide on Where to stay in New York City.
Booking.comPre-arranged Day Trips and Fall Activities in NYC You might be interested in:
1. Afternoon Fall Foliage Lunch Cruise – You can enjoy the views of the fall foliage and upper Manhattan on this lightly narrated 2-hour cruise up the Hudson River.
2. Hudson River Fall Foliage Yacht Tour – You can step aboard a cozy, elegant, 1920s-style yacht and relax as it cruises north to explore the grand foliage of Palisades Park on the Hudson River.
3. Sailboat Fall Cruise with Cider, Beer, & Sausage – Enjoy hard cider, craft beer, and sausage while you relax on this crisp sail along the Manhattan skyline.
Fall In New York City: Manhattan
Leaf collecting at Central Park
Strolling through any city park, especially Central Park, is a gorgeous sight, allowing you to appreciate the fall foliage. The leaves are colorful, bright, and extremely photogenic. It’s a photographer’s dream to shoot during this season.
You can bring a camera and do the same, or simply admire the leaves from afar. You can also collect some of the leaves that you’ll find on the ground and make drawings with them. This is a great activity for kids: Get the leaves, put them under a blank piece of paper at home, and color the top of the page vigorously. You’ll see a leave pattern emerge and it’s going to look stunning!
Village Halloween Parade
The annual Halloween parade in the Village is a must when you’re in NYC during the fall. Performers are volunteers, and if you have a skill that you want to show off, you can sign up online to be an entertainer at the parade.
If you just want to watch, that’s great too. And if you’d like to walk in the parade, all you need is a creative outfit! Anyone with that can walk in the parade. It’s a party for kids and adults alike.
If you’re coming just to enjoy the view, get there early to snag a good spot upfront. The sidewalks get crowded quickly.
Oktoberfest
This is a pretty universal event but, in NYC, everything is a bit larger and over the top! All the biergartens and German restaurants will host their own version of an Oktoberfest, but one of the biggest ones takes place in Central Park.
My favorite biergarten is Zum Schneider in the East Village, with communal tables and a celebratory atmosphere.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
Since 1924, this parade has given New Yorkers and out-of-towners a reason to mingle in the center of the City, and celebrate Thanksgiving together. Most watch it on television but, if you want to be there in person, even better. Note: You can go online and join a lotto for stadium seating options along the route. You never know; you might get lucky!
You’ll see one of the most elaborate parades in the United States, including many amazing live performances. Fun fact: The night before you can see the parade wagons stationed in front of and surrounding the Museum of Natural History. Go and check it out for yourself!
New York Comic Con
Every year in the fall, all the geeks and nerds of the universe (I’m a nerd myself so no offense, please!) gather at the iconic Comic Con, held at different locations each year.
Tickets can get expensive, but you’ll be rewarded with a fun experience and a chance to meet your live-version heroes and many celebrities. It’s also a great shopping opportunity for unique gifts.
Note: If you are a superhero and comics fan, check out this guided tour that takes you to iconic superhero movie sites and see where the writers and artists created your favorite characters.
Ghosts of New York – walking Tour
You can take these tours all over New York, in every borough, but the most popular ones are in the City, most notably this one in the Greenwich Village. There are apparently many ghosts around!
You can book below with our favorite companies, who provide an outstanding outline of the tour with fun facts, historical elements, and entertaining tour guides. It can get a little creepy, but that’s what those tours are for, right?!
Click here for booking your Ghost tour on Viator
Click here for booking your Ghost tour on GetYourGuide
Note: If you are looking for another cool tour, I totally recommend the following one, New York Catacombs by Candlelight since you can go behind the scenes at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, and see parts of the church that are otherwise off-limits to visitors.
Fall In New York City: Brooklyn
Trick or Treating in Park Slope
City people don’t do trick or treating the way suburbanites do it, but they try their best. You can find some crazy Halloween décor in some parts of the city. The East Village is perfectly suited for adults and offer plenty of all-nighter Halloween parties.
But Park Slope is where families congregate and where you would take your kids, from house to house, to collect some candy. You don’t have to live in the area to do so, which makes this a perfect, neutral spot to look at some scary décor on the brownstones lining the streets, while going from door to door with your family.
Fall In New York City: Queens
Queens County Farm Museum
Fall starts right here, in Queens. Who would have thought that Queens has a family-held farm? It allows you to pick your own apples, drink freshly-made apple cider, scout their pumpkin patch, and attend their sheep shearing festival.
They also have a Maize Maze, a motorcycle festival in the summer, among many other rotating events throughout the year, and fresh produce for purchasing all-year around. It’s a fun place for all age groups and makes for a nice outing during the onset of fall!
Fall In NYC: Staten Island
Kreischer House
If you’re looking for a place to get really scared in, then visit this “haunted house.” Halloween is the time to get spooked, so why not see it up close and personal for yourself? It’s not ‘officially’ a haunted house, but rumor has it that the spirit of Edward Kreischer, the previous owner of this property, roams the house.
The house has a long history of violence, even after Edward’s suicide, so it’s easy to think of all of the invisible lives roaming around in there. You can attend an event there or take a tour of your own.
Interestingly enough, the house has also been used for various tv shows over the years, so don’t be surprised if it feels familiar.
Fall in NYC: Hudson Valley
The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze
This doesn’t happen to be in the city of New York, but it needs to be mentioned when talking about fall activities in New York State in general.
It’s the largest fall festival around and includes over 7000 lit-up jack o’lanterns in a historic setting, with the Van Cortlandt Manor serving as backdrop. The pumpkins are all carved on site by skilled artists and the festival includes fun things such as a Pumpkin Planetarium, a Museum of Pumpkin Art, and even a Statue of Liberty replica made entirely out of jack o’lanterns.
There’s also just the right lighting and music to go along with it, which combined turns this into an unforgettable fall adventure. Tickets should be purchased in advance since it’s very popular. You can easily reach it by Metro-North, which is an added bonus for city dwellers without their own vehicles.
Insider Tip: Another wonderful way to enjoy the picturesque Hudson Valley covered in autumn colors is from the comfort of a helicopter. You could go on this Shared Helicopter Tour or, if you would like to really splurge, book a Private tour. It is a unique seasonal experience, off the beaten path, for those looking to discover new places and perspectives.
A day in Warwick
The Hudson Valley is a beautiful region to visit during the fall, and most places are easily accessible by bus or train. Warwick is connected by a direct bus from New York City, and makes for an ideal day-trip, if not weekend-getaway.
You can visit Heaven Hill Farm, which is actually located in Vernon, New Jersey, but the borders blur, since these towns are right next to each other. They have a hay wagon tour there, leading you to a vast pumpkin field, and a fall amusement park with games, rides, and traditional snacks like cotton candy. There’s also a country shop and plenty of food stands to go around. There’s no age maximum to enjoy that!
Directly in Warwick, you can visit the Warwick Winery for truffle fries, live music, wine tastings and, in town, there are plenty of cute little shops and restaurants to explore.
Charlotte’s Tea Room is the best, with a small menu of soups, salads, tea sandwiches, and delicious desserts, as well as differently flavored scones each day. A highlight each fall is Warwick’s annual Apple Festival that turns into a lively fair and flea market, offering anything apple-related, as well as hand-made items, ranging from clothes, accessories, household goods, and antiques.
Sleepy Hollow
Who hasn’t heard of the place where the legend of the headless horseman was invented?! It’s a rather sleepy town indeed, but so much fun to visit during the fall.
The famous tale is often retold by actors in costumes, so check the schedule for reoccurring fall events. One place that doesn’t require tickets, and is the best free thing to do in the area, is the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. It’s a large and beautiful burial place that you can explore on foot, by car, or take a guided tour.
It’s so big that you can easily spend several hours in there, as macabre as this might sound! There’s a little creek running through it, and benches to sit on. Indian Summer is usually fully underway here in October and makes for very scenic picture opportunities!
Your next stop could be the historic and impressive-looking Old Dutch Church, with its burial grounds. As you can gather, the topic of death takes front and center in Sleepy Hollow! But, oddly enough, it doesn’t have a negative connotation, and the sights are rather enjoyable.
Philipse Manor is something for the adults only: Their Haunted Trail, for which you need to purchase tickets, is extremely scary and not for the faint of heart!
Tarrytown
Tarrytown is a short walk away, and has a lot of Halloween décor and shops on and around Main Street. Their October Halloween Parade goes through both towns and is just another indicator that this is the center for Halloween-inspired activities.
Fall in Love with New York during the Fall!
Now, you can definitely understand why Fall happens to be one my favorite season of the year, and NYC gives us plenty of reasons to love it even more, and get excited about it! The scenery is pretty, and when those too hot summer days are finally coming to an end, leaving only a trail of slight warmth behind, you appreciate the seasonal change and all of the exciting activities fall brings. It’s pure perfection!
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