New York City: Manhattan Guided Tour with Met Museum Entry｜United States

Begin your day in Manhattan with a guided tour that runs from the Upper East Side down to the Hudson River waterfront.

Start at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on the edge of Central Park, with your admission ticket included. The Met is one of the largest and most-visited art museums in the world, with a collection organized into seventeen curatorial departments. Egyptian temples, medieval armor, Roman sarcophagi, Chinese sculpture and European master paintings — the collection spans more than 5,000 years of history and six continents.

Next, head to Hudson Yards, one of the largest private real estate developments in American history. A long-unused stretch of the West Side has been rebuilt into a new neighborhood of residences, offices, a hotel, shops and public plazas. It is also home to Vessel, the copper-toned spiral staircase structure that has become one of the city's most photographed landmarks.

Nearby, the High Line is an elevated park built on a disused section of the New York Central Railroad's West Side Line, running 1.45 miles (2.33 km) above the streets of Manhattan. It doubles as an outdoor gallery: sculptures and public artworks line the walkway and are rotated regularly, and community events are held here throughout the year.

Just off the waterfront, Little Island is a public park that appears to float on the Hudson River, built at a cost of around $260 million. Tulip-shaped concrete columns rise out of the water, each topped by a planter, and the planters connect at different heights to form a rolling, sculpted landscape.

The Starbucks Reserve Roastery is nothing like a standard Starbucks. Follow the coffee through the whole process — storage, the overhead transfer tubes, roasting and brewing — and choose what you would like to try. There are three bars in the store; the one upstairs serves coffee-based cocktails. The Roastery is also an Italian bakery, with pastries, breads and sandwiches.

A short walk away, Chelsea Market is one of New York's most popular food halls, set in a former factory building. The surrounding Chelsea neighborhood is known for its art galleries, brownstones and contemporary art scene.

In the late afternoon the tour continues to Fifth Avenue, where the Louis Vuitton building's oversized trunk facade has become one of the most photographed storefronts in the city, and then to the Broadway theater district and Times Square. You will see the theaters from the outside; show tickets are not included in this tour.

The day also includes a stop at a waterfront viewpoint in New Jersey, looking back across the water at the full Manhattan skyline.

Depending on the time of year, this stop takes place around sunset or after dark.

The tour then returns to Manhattan and ends at Times Square.