Vacation in New York is expensive: where tourists can save

For average earners, a trip to the Big Apple is hardly affordable anymore. But if you leave Manhattan, you not only save dollars, you also discover a New York that some people think has already been lost.

Dhe bad news first: holidays in New York aren't really cheap – unless you want to sleep in a bunk bed and eat the “dollar slices”, the pizza corners that now cost around two dollars or more in Manhattan. New York is more expensive than ever, “too expensive to even visit,” The Atlantic magazine recently complained. It was feared: When tourists finally came back after the pandemic, restaurant and hotel owners increased their prices significantly. The average price for a hotel room is now more than $350. Can average earners still go on vacation in New York?

If you can't compromise on comfort, you can try a hostel – for example in the West Side YMCA, where a double room costs $120, with a shared bathroom, but at least it's next to Central Park. Airbnb has long been an alternative for many tourists – especially if they weren't just looking in expensive neighborhoods. Since the city took action against private landlords to combat illegal hotels, there has been much less choice: the platform used to have more than 22,000 offers, but now there are only a few thousand. The media is already reporting on a “black market” for rooms: You can still find a roof over your head for $60 on websites like Craigslist, in Brooklyn's Flatbush or in Sunset Park – but the quality control is no longer there.