48 hours in...New York

Why go now?

Why go now?

Have you seen the exchange rate? At the best of times New York offers great bang for your buck, from diners to departments stores, cocktails to boutique hotels but with the exchange rate reaching record highs, airfares at a low and the winter sales in full swing, there has never been a better time to be a part of it.

Get your bearings

From JFK airport, 15 miles from Midtown Manhattan, the AirTrain ($5/£2.75) takes you to Howard Beach Subway station with links to the A-train into Manhattan ($2/£1.10); buses run to Grand Central Station or Penn Station ($15/£8.30). From Newark, 16 miles from Midtown, a bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal costs $12/£6.70. Supershuttle (001 212 258 3826; www.supershuttle.com) operates a share-taxi service from the airports into Manhattan ($19/£10.50); a taxi making the same journeys would cost $45 (£25) from JFK and around $55 (£30) from Newark, plus tolls.

Most tourists stay in Manhattan, an easy place to navigate due to its grid system. Avenues run north to south and are numbered from east to west; streets run east to west, with the low numbers furthest south; and Broadway is a diagonal artery. Manhattan is linked to New York's other four boroughs by bridges, buses and the Subway.

The main tourist office is at 810 7th Avenue (001 212 484 1222; www.nycvisit.com), and is open 8.30am-6pm Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm at weekends. A one-day New York Pass, which costs $49 (£27) allows access to 40 of the main sights, as well as discounts in some shops and restaurants; passes are also available for two, three and seven days. These can be bought at some attractions, or by calling 001 877 714 1999, or at www.newyorkpass.com.

Check in

Hotel Gansevoort at 18 9th Avenue (001 212 206 6700; www.hotelgansevoort.com) is the new hotel hotspot in the ever-humming Meatpacking District, not least since its rooftop pool and bar looks down rather smugly on the pool at SoHo House. Double rooms from $370 (£205) without breakfast.

Set to bring a sense of fun to the Midtown hotel scene, the new 228-room Dream Hotel at 210 West 55th Street (001 212 247 2000; www.dreamny.com) was unveiled in the old Majestic Hotel building this winter. Hotelier Vikram Chatwal, fashion photographer David LaChapelle and spiritualist writer Deepak Chopra are behind the design, with minimalist double rooms from $275 (£153) without breakfast.

The hotly awaited Hotel on Rivington at 107 Rivington Street (001 212 475 2600; www.hotelonrivington.com) opened in the Lower East Side this month, its 20-storey tinted glass windows offering unparalleled views over this happening neighbourhood. The penthouse was designed by architect Zaha Hadid and some rooms have beautiful grey granite Japane bathtubs. Doubles from $195 (£108) without breakfast.

Take a view

In winter months when Central Park's vegetation thins out, the crenellated rooftop of Belvedere Castle, located mid-park at 79th Street, offers great city views and a real sense of the park as an island refuge in a vast sea of concrete. Open: Wednesday-Monday, 11am-4pm; closed Tuesdays. Entry free.

Take a ride

The New York Subway, which celebrated its 100th birthday last year, started life as the fastest urban transport system in the world. Passengers paid a nickel a ride, a fare that was maintained for the next 42 years. Today one ride costs $2 (£1.10). A $10 (£5.50) Metrocard covers six rides, and there is a one-day Fun Pass that allows unlimited travel for $7 (£4) a day. Part of the Subway is overground, and the most thrilling line is the J/M/Z from Broadway Junction in Brooklyn into Manhattan, with a stunning rooftop ride.

Lunch on the run

You can hardly move for eating places around the ever-regenerating World Trade Center site, mainly catering for the lunchtime financial business crowd. Mangia, at 40 Wall Street (001 212 425 4040), is a good, cheap bet for salads and sandwiches. Look out for one of the soup chains such as Hale and Hearty, which already has 10 branches in the city and is still expanding. The specials change every day, with some unusual combinations such as chicken and andouille jambalaya, or traditional offerings such as New England clam chowder. Prices are from $2.95 (£1.65) for a small serving.

Cultural afternoon

The shiny new Brooklyn Museum of Art at 200 Eastern Parkway (001 718 638 5000; www.brooklynart.org) is known particularly for its Egyptian works. It also has an extensive collection of European paintings, and about 50 of Rodin's sculptures. The museum is open 10am-5pm Wednesday to Friday, and 11am- 6pm at weekends (until 11pm on the first Saturday of each month); suggested admission $6 (£3.30). Get there on Subway line 2 and 3 to the museum's own station.

Window shopping

The newly opened Time Warner Centre at Columbus Circle offers designer shopping under one well-insulated roof. Other newcomers to New York's shopping scene include the Asprey store in Trump Tower on 5th Avenue. For budget prices on designer clothing, don't miss Century 21 at 22 Cortlandt Street (001 212 227 9092; www.c21stores.com).

An aperitif

The Lower East Side remains, for the time being at least, the city's cocktail spot du jour. Schiller's Liquor Bar at 131 Rivington Street, (001 212 260 4555) is the latest offering from Keith McNally, the restaurateur who bought fashionable New York Odeon, Balthazar and Pastis.

Dining with the locals

From the city that never sleeps but always eats has sprung the recent fashion for horizontal dining. B.E.D at 530 West 27th Street (001 212 594 4109), a Miami restaurant transplanted to a Chelsea penthouse, has a rooftop garden, a 360-degree view of Midtown and beds in place of dining tables. Swap your Manolos for slippers and dine on signature tropical dishes such as lobster with coconut-cashew-ginger sauce. Duvet at 45 West 21st Street (001 212 989 2121) has a degree of intimacy not found in many restaurants. Its communal tables come in the shape of 23 giant beds, each "sleeping" about 10 people.

Sunday morning: go to church

St John the Divine at 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue (001 212 316 7540; www.stjohndivine.org) is the world's largest Gothic cathedral - and it isn't yet finished: building work has been proceeding slowly since 1892. It is a tranquil and tourist-free spot - especially compared with Midtown's St Patrick's, hub for St Patrick's Day celebrations on 17 March. Sunday services at St John the Divine take place at 8am, 9am, 11am and 6pm.

Out to brunch

The week surrounding Chinese New Year (9 February) is an atmospheric time to enjoy dim sum in Chinatown. Try New Green Bo at 40 Bowery (001 212 625 2359) or Tai Hong Lau at 70 Mott Street (001 212 219 1431) for Chinese dumplings.

The city's numerous Jewish delis are another weekend brunch institution. Barney Greengrass, The Sturgeon King at 541 Amsterdam Avenue (001 212 7244707) is a fabulously tatty old deli-diner where you can sample lots of "lox" (salty smoked salmon) and the eponymous sturgeon, served with scrambled eggs, bagels, bialys (a type of Polish bagel, minus the hole) and excellent omelettes.

A walk in the park

The Hudson River Park (001 212627 2020; www.hudsonriverpark.org) stretches for five miles along the bank of the Hudson River, from Battery Park to West 59th Street. When completed at the end of the year, this will be the largest green-space development in Manhattan since Central Park.

Much of the park is already open including the boardwalk and cycle paths and recreation areas for volleyball, tennis, kayaking and even a trapeze school.

The icing on the cake

Catch a show - and what a show. Never has semi-clad dancing been more condoned as a form of arty entertainment as in New York's ever-growing fad for burlesque, a cheeky form of Victorian music hall-style cabaret. Sequin-clad stars of the New York scene are the Pontani Sisters who spearhead the newly annual New York Burlesque Festival in May (www.thenewyorkburlesquefestival.com). This glamourous triplet act makes regular appearances at Marion's Continental at 354 Bowery (001 212 475 7621). Other vaudeville hotspots include The Slipper Room at 167 Orchard Street (001 212 253 7246).

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