Overview
The Upper West Side (including Morningside Heights) covers a large area in upper Manhattan bounded by 59th Street on the south, 125th Street on the north, the Hudson River on the west, and Central Park and Morningside Park on the east. The area encompasses four distinct Manhattan neighborhoods – the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights, Bloomingdale, and Manhattan Valley – and includes one of its finest parks, Riverside Park, which including Riverside South runs along the river all the way from 59th Street to 158th Street.
Often called the city's quintessential neighborhood, the area includes delightful residential streets, the twin-towered facades of the old apartment hotels on Central Park West and Riverside Drive, two of the city's best-known markets (Zabar's and Fairway), one of its major museums (the American Museum of Natural History) and several smaller ones. Morningside Heights has an Ivy League university (Columbia University), and the Neo-Gothic Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Riverside Church. The area is an architectural historian's delight with many of its buildings (especially in Morningside Heights) built before the Second World War and quite a few built before the First World War, though many new and large condominium buildings have been built south of 110th Street.
The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, running from 62nd Street to 66th Street, contains the Metropolitan Opera; the David H. Koch Theater, home of the New York City Ballet; Geffen Hall, the home of the New York Philharmonic; the Juilliard School; and the New York Public Library's Library for the Performing Arts, among other institutions.
22 sights · 14 things to do · 29 places to eat · 12 bars & cafés · 12 places to stay
Updated from Wikivoyage on 1 October 2026 · Something wrong or missing? Improve it on Wikivoyage
Best things about Upper West Side
Ansonia
This pretty 17-story Beaux Arts building was completed in 1904 and designed to be New York City's first air conditioned hotel. It was a residential hotel, and housed a number of very famous people, including the Hall of …
Apthorp
A beautiful early 20th-century high-rise luxury apartment building, taking up the entire square block between 78th and 79th Sts. between Broadway and West End Avenue. Its companion, the Belnord, takes up the square block…
Central Savings Bank building
This building, which is occupied by Apple Bank for Savings, is a notable Italianate palazzo whose stone facades and metal-barred windows are meant to ooze a sense of security.
Dakota Building
This massive apartment building has been (and is!) home to many celebrities. Probably best known was the former Beatle John Lennon, who was gunned down outside the building on December 8, 1980, by a crazed fan. Lennon ha…
American Folk Art Museum
A museum dedicated to folk & self-taught artists.
American Museum of Natural History
Holding a remarkably large collection, each of the 5 floors of this massive building has expansive and well-designed exhibits devoted to astronomy, biology, geology, anthropology, climatology, and paleontology. You will …
Plan your trip
Best time to visit & weather
Most comfortable: May–Oct. Summer highs reach about 86°F; winter lows dip to about 29°F. Cold months (Jan) can bring snow and ice; check road conditions. Wettest: Aug and Jul. (climate data from nearby New York City)
Blue bars: average daily high and low (°F). Purple columns: average monthly rain and melted snow (inches).
Getting there
- From you: to see whether to drive or fly, and how long it takes.
- LGA LaGuardia Airport, New York — 5 mi away (major hub). Directions
- TEB Teterboro Airport, Teterboro — 6 mi away. Directions
Budget & where to stay
- Places to stay listed here: about $45–$102 a night (typical $102), from 3 listed prices.
- Typical meal: about $12 per person at listed restaurants.
- Estimated daily budget per person (room, two meals, local transport and an activity): budget ~$80, mid-range ~$160, comfortable ~$230.
Options are grouped as Budget, Mid-range, Splurge in the Sleep guide ↓.
Sample 3-day itinerary
Day 1
- Morning Ansonia, Central Savings Bank building, Beacon Theatre
- Lunch Citarella
- Afternoon Apthorp, Children's Museum of Manhattan
- Dinner Chirping Chicken
- Evening Amsterdam Ale House
Day 2
- Morning Nicholas Roerich Museum, Shinran Shonin, Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
- Lunch Tom's Restaurant
- Afternoon Columbia University, Barnard College
- Dinner Fruit Stands
- Evening Oren's
Day 3
- Morning Deutsche Bank Center (formerly the Time Warner Center), Fordham College at Lincoln Center, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
- Lunch Masa
- Afternoon Juilliard School of Dance, Drama, and Music, American Folk Art Museum
- Dinner Per Se
- Evening Magnolia
Stops are grouped by area so each day needs little backtracking. Check opening hours before you go.
Food for you
Cuisine (tap to filter)
What to ask about, for your diet
Diet labels come from each listing's description and cuisine; “likely” means the cuisine usually has good choices, not a promise. Check with the restaurant. Open the food finder
Photos
Map
Every listing with a location. Tap a pin for its Google Maps link.
Understand
From west to east, the Upper West Side is oriented along Riverside Drive, West End Avenue (which is called 11th Avenue south of 59th St.), Amsterdam Avenue (called 10th Avenue south of 59th St.), Columbus Avenue (9th Avenue), and Central Park West (8th Avenue). All these avenues change from numbers to names north of 59th Street. The 66-block stretch of Broadway forms the backbone of the Upper West Side and lies diagonally across the avenues; it begins at its juncture with Central Park West at Columbus Circle (59th Street), crosses Columbus Avenue at Lincoln Square (65th Street), crosses Amsterdam Ave. at Verdi Square (72nd Street), and then merges with West End at Straus Square (aka Bloomingdale Square, at 107th Street).
See
Landmarks
See Ansonia (formerly the Ansonia Hotel)
This pretty 17-story Beaux Arts building was completed in 1904 and designed to be New York City's first air conditioned hotel. It was a residential hotel, and housed a number of very famous people, including the Hall of Fame baseball player, Babe Ruth; the Italian tenor, Enrico Caruso; the modernist composer, Igor Stravinsky; the Italian conductor of the NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini; and writers Theodore Dreiser and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The building is now a condominium.
See Apthorp
A beautiful early 20th-century high-rise luxury apartment building, taking up the entire square block between 78th and 79th Sts. between Broadway and West End Avenue. Its companion, the Belnord, takes up the square block between 86th and 87th Sts. between Broadway and Amsterdam. Both buildings were completed in 1908, at a time when the Upper West Side was still full of wide open spaces.
See Central Savings Bank building
This building, which is occupied by Apple Bank for Savings, is a notable Italianate palazzo whose stone facades and metal-barred windows are meant to ooze a sense of security.
See Dakota Building
This massive apartment building has been (and is!) home to many celebrities. Probably best known was the former Beatle John Lennon, who was gunned down outside the building on December 8, 1980, by a crazed fan. Lennon had been living at the Dakota with his second wife, Yoko Ono, who still resides in the building. A memorial to the former Beatle exists nearby in Central Park. The building has become a popular place of pilgrimage for many who admire Lennon.
See Deutsche Bank Center (formerly the Time Warner Center)
Has the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for dining, drinks, and Chihuly chandeliers. It also has a small, ultra-high-end mall with luxury shops and Botero sculptures. In the basement is a large Whole Foods Market, and there is seating for eating their prepared food and salad bar items (cheaper than eating in a restaurant). Or better yet, on nicer days, pick up a prepared meal to go and venture across the street to Columbus Circle or Sheep's Meadow in Central Park for a nice outdoor meal.
See The San Remo
The historic building with the distinctive, iconic twin towers and a star-studded housing cooperative board. Built in 1930 in a vaguely Art Deco style to the design of Emery Roth, the San Remo actually has two separate addresses, lobbies and sets of shafts, each for a half of the building topped with a tower.
Museums
See American Museum of Natural History
Holding a remarkably large collection, each of the 5 floors of this massive building has expansive and well-designed exhibits devoted to astronomy, biology, geology, anthropology, climatology, and paleontology. You will want to allow a full day if you hope to see the entirety of the museum. Some of the highlights are the Rose Center for Earth and Space on the northeast corner of the building, which contains a seven-story glass cube holding the Hayden Planetarium, a huge sphere suspended above the exhibit halls below and holding a "cosmic pathway" exhibit; the numerous habitat diorama halls on the first, second and third floors, with recreations of African, Asian, North American, and ocean plants and animals, including a full-size model of a Blue Whale suspended above the Ocean Life Hall; a Hall of Minerals and Gems, which contains many rare and beautiful specimens, including the largest star sapphire in the world and a chunk of a massive meteorite; extensive anthropology halls on the first, second, and third floors, with exhibits devoted to people of Asia, Africa, Central America, the Pacific, and Native Americans; and the natural history halls on the fourth floor, with one of the largest collections of dinosaur skeletons in the world.
Churches and cathedrals
Institutions of learning
Monuments
See General Grant National Memorial (Grant's Tomb)
General Ulysses S. Grant and his wife are buried in this imposing mausoleum, the largest tomb in North America. If you come when it is closed, you can still see the impressive facade, but coming during open hours gives you the opportunity to view the murals, the tomb and various documentation inside. Across Riverside Drive, there is a viewpoint to look across the Hudson River, a museum, gift shop and restrooms.
See Shinran Shonin
Staring pensively across Riverside Drive at the children playing in the park is the statue of Shinran Shonin, a 13th-century Buddhist reformer. In another life, the statue stood in Hiroshima and witnessed the devastation caused by the bomb. His New York home is between two Riverside Drive buildings right next to the New York Buddhist Center.
See Soldiers and Sailors Monument
A memorial to the Civil War dead (though, in typical New York fashion, it wasn't constructed till 1902, almost 40 years after the Civil War ended). The Hudson Warehouse stages plays (mostly Shakespeare) on the steps of the monument every summer.
Do
Performances
Do Beacon Theatre
This is a major music performance venue for big-time solo acts and groups, and many, many famous artists have performed there, including The Rolling Stones, Jerry Garcia, Aerosmith, Michael Jackson, James Taylor, Radiohead, Queen and the Allman Brothers. Prices are not cheap, and tickets sometimes sell out well in advance.
Do Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
The world's largest cultural complex, where you can see theater, symphonies, ballet, opera, movies, art exhibits or just wander the architecturally beautiful buildings. The buildings are modern, and even have modern chandeliers. There are two opera companies, and the famous Juilliard School of Music is also here. Also part of the complex is the New York Public Library's Library for the Performing Arts, containing circulating and non-circulating collections in music, drama, and dance, as well as special collections of priceless documents that scholars from around the world come to look at.
Do Metropolitan Opera
Confusingly referred to simply as "the Met" (together with the Metropolitan Museum of Art), the premier opera company in New York has been housed at Lincoln Center since 1966, behind five soaring glass arches in the east facade, and within a vast white travertine-clad building. Two Marc Chagall murals grace the foyer. The hall has wonderful acoustics, and its ceiling is lined with gold leaf and chandeliers.
Do Walter Reade Theater
The home of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the premier film society in the United States. The theater is a good place to catch the latest trends in cinema from all over the world with annual showcases from Africa, Spain, France, Italy, Israel, and Asia. The film society organizes the annual New York Film Festival in early October, one of the country's best film festivals, with great films from around the world accompanied by interesting discussions, lectures, and panels. Tickets go on sale the Friday after Labor Day and sell out quickly.
Do David H. Koch Theater
The home of the New York City Ballet. The Nutcracker staged by the Ballet every December is a holiday classic, popular with New Yorkers and tourists alike.
Do Merkin Concert Hall
Important and fairly prestigious venue for classical music, much of it contemporary, and various other kinds of performances. The hall seats about 250 people and has good acoustics for chamber music. This hall is near Lincoln Center but is not part of it; instead, it is part of the Kaufman Music Center, which also runs music schools for children.
Do Symphony Space
Symphony Space used to be the Symphony movie theater back in the 1970s, and it still occasionally screens films, but it is more often used, nowadays, as a performance venue. The offerings are eclectic, and though ticket prices have crept up, there are quite a few inexpensive shows, especially at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia, another former movie theater around the corner on 95 St. between Broadway and West End Ave.
Music clubs
Do Cotton Club
A dance club/dinner club near Columbia University. Swing dancing is on Monday nights (8:30PM-midnight, $25), with a 13-piece swing band. Friday nights at 8:30PM are taken over by Latin Dance ($20) with a live 14-piece band playing merengue and bachata, appropriately for Dominican-heavy West Harlem. Th 8PM and Sa 9PM are jazz/dinner and dancing nights ($55) for a southern cooking buffet and swing band, while Sa-Su have gospel brunches at noon and 2:30PM ($45).
Parks and walks
Do Riverside Park
While nearby Central Park is justly famous and finds its way onto a "must see" list for most visitors to New York, Riverside Park also has its charms, as its riverfront location provides pleasant views of New Jersey and sometimes breezes off the river. Summer brings al fresco movies, plays and music to Riverside Park.
Do Morningside Heights Walking Tour
Morningside Heights remained relatively bucolic till the turn of the 20th century because of its relative inaccessibility, and most of the existing apartment buildings were constructed between about 1900 and 1910. The buildings survive because elevators were being introduced then, and consequently most of the buildings are ten- to twelve-story apartment blocks rather than smaller townhouses or single family homes. Juliet balconies, details on the facades, and grand lobbies make this neighborhood a great place to explore the local architecture. The Cathedral of St. John's the Divine and 115 buildings in the area bounded by Riverside Drive, Amsterdam Avenue, 110th Street and 119th Street are designated as landmark buildings by the New York City Landmarks Preservation committee. On the border between Morningside Heights and Harlem is Morningside Park, once the murder capital of Manhattan in the 1970s but now a peaceful, beautiful space of greenery with some plunging hillsides.
Cinemas
Buy
The neighborhood, especially the Morningside Heights area, is home to several excellent bookstores.
Eat
Budget
Eat El Malecon
A Dominican restaurant known as one of the best places for pollo a la brasa (rotisserie chicken) in Manhattan. They also serve a number of daily specials for lunch and dinner.
Eat Flor de Mayo
This is a Peruvian-Chinese restaurant, owned and staffed by Peruvian immigrants of Chinese descent. However, because there are way more Dominicans than Peruvians in the area, they have catered to the Criollo taste. They have long been known in the neighborhood for reliably tasty pollo a la brasa (rotisserie chicken), served with a delicious garlic sauce (if they don't automatically bring it for you, ask for it). They also offer specifically Peruvian dishes, which are well worth your trying if you are not in the mood for the chicken. Their Chinese dishes are in a style similar to the American-Chinese restaurants of the 1970s - perfectly acceptable, though perhaps a bit oily. They have another location at 484 Amsterdam Ave, between 83rd and 84th Sts, which some people prefer.
Eat Gray's Papaya
One of the best hot dog joints in Manhattan (the "Recession Special" is a popular favorite), Gray's also serves up some excellent tropical drinks.
Eat The Heights
Tex-Mex. The bar is the best part. A rooftop terrace is open on warm days for al fresco dining.
Eat Koronet Pizza
A very good pizza parlor serving the Columbia University area. They specialize in large pies and large slices, amongst the largest in the city.
Eat Le Monde
Faux French food but a great international beer selection and good burgers.
Eat Metro Diner
Diner with long, varied menus for all meals.
Eat Massawa
One of the oldest Ethopian (Eritrean) restaurants in the city, but renovated. Good food, service, and a well stocked bar.
Eat Ollie's To Go
Workday Chinese. Fast and cheap lunch or dinner, but don't expect anything close to average Chinatown quality.
Eat Peacefood Cafe
Vegan food only
Street food
Eat Halal Cart
Good chicken, veggies, lamb with rice combos for lunch. Coffee and bagels in the mornings.
Eat Italian Ice Lady
Late Spring to early Fall only.
Eat The Taco Stand
A popular stand with good tacos. Nights only.
Mid-range
Eat Barney Greengrass
Barney Greengrass has been known as the "Sturgeon King" for a very long time, having opened his original store in 1908. The smoked fish that this establishment is known for is not cheap: Smoked fish platters in the restaurant range from $28-58, not counting the "deluxe platter for two," which will set you back $95. You can save some money by having eggs with a side of smoked fish; that'll still cost you between $14.50 and $20.75, but you won't regret it. This place is a real New York institution, and the only place in Manhattan that is generally considered to rival it for what's traditionally called Jewish "appetizing" (that is, pareve products that are neither meat nor milk but include fish) is Russ & Daughters on the Lower East Side.
Eat Manhattan Valley
A classy Northern Indian restaurant that serves excellent food. Their lunch special is a bargain; dinner is a little more, but still a fine value.
Eat Pio Pio
A Manhattan outpost of a very popular upscale Peruvian chain. Serves great rotisserie chicken, and tends to be very loud due to the large crowds of locals that come here.
Eat Salumeria Rosi
The cuisine of this restaurant is based on excellent salumi (cured meats), and the other ingredients are fresh and high-quality. The "small" selection of salumi is quite substantial, and the salads are large and quite good. The antipasti, while tasty, are rather small, so they're worth getting but can add up more quickly. Good cheeses, too. The front of the shop is a counter that sells salumi and cheeses to take out. Informal atmosphere, serious cuisine, and good service. It isn't cheap, but it is a very good value, especially for the neighborhood.
Splurge
Eat Atlantic Grill
Seafood; sushi, oysters and simply grilled fish à la carte.
Eat Masa
Probably the most expensive restaurant in New York, so go only if money is no object. Those who have been there strongly recommend that you sit at the sushi bar in order to have the best experience. Reservations necessary.
Eat Per Se
The New York outpost of Chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry in Yountville, which is in the Napa Valley of California. Chef Keller is one of the most famous and highly praised chefs in the United States. It used to be necessary to call months in advance for reservations, but same-day reservations may be worth attempting.
Markets
Eat Citarella
Started out as a fish market, then added an increasingly large meat section. They also sell some prepared items. Can be pricey.
Eat Fairway
Probably the best-known supermarket in New York, Fairway sells a wide variety of specialty and prepared items, in addition to usual supermarket fare, and has large produce sections. Lots of good values to be had, but watch out for elbows and aggressive shopping cart drivers at peak times. Great values in produce, but they don't take good care of their cheese. Yogurt and other products not kept in shrink-wrapped plastic are fine.
Eat Milano Market
Italian products with a good deli, reasonable cheeses, and a good selection of international beers.
Eat Schatzie's
Totally friendly, great meats, great butchers, order by phone, and cheaper than Citarella. And they will cook dinner for you if you like. Recognizable by the life-size plastic statue of a cow, which is outside the shop when it's open.
Eat Westside Supermarket
An old neighborhood establishment gone upscale. Amazing choice of prepared foods and good fruits and vegetables. The cheese section is outstanding, as also are the meats and fish.
Eat Zabar's
A very well-known store in New York, with an enormous selection of delicious (and often expensive) foods. Foodstuffs (cheeses, olives, smoked fish, prepared foods, breads, etc.) are sold on the first floor. The second floor is where you will find all sorts of devices related to cooking and food processing at price points ranging from inexpensive bargains to very expensive luxury items. As with Fairway, do not go the day before Thanksgiving, and think carefully before going on a busy weekend. They also have a small cafe at the corner of 80th St. that has quite decent offerings (for example, frozen yogurt and sandwiches with some of the good products sold in their store) and is not expensive.
Drink
Drink Amity Hall Uptown
Food and drink in a large pub-like space.
Drink Amsterdam Ale House
Local pub specializing in microbrews.
Drink Dive Bar
One of the few bars in the neighborhood with any type of scene during the week. Good whiskey selection, good bartenders.
Drink Dublin House
Neighborhood bar.
Drink George Keeleys
Excellent beer selection
Drink City Coffee & Bar
Café, sports bar, Latin American restaurant, and lounge.
Cafes
The Upper West Side has many idiosyncratic cafes, some of long standing in the neighborhood. Of course, there is no shortage of Starbucks in the area, but for something different try one of the following:
Drink Alice's Tea Cup
Good tea selection, excellent scones and an Alice in Wonderland theme. Very popular with families with daughters
Drink Crumbs
Bakery specializing in cupcakes, including the Oreo cupcake and the Hostess cupcake cupcake
Drink The Hungarian Pastry Shop
Coffee and super-rich pastries in a "bohemian" setting. A Columbia University neighborhood fixture, the cafe has been in business since 1963. There is no WiFi, but that doesn't stop it from being perpetually crowded.
Drink Levain's Bakery
Bakery best known for their big, dense cookies.
Drink Magnolia
Part of the cupcake bakery chain
Drink Oren's
A local chain with good coffee and excellent teas.
Sleep
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Go next
Other than visiting Central Park, obvious places to go next are the Theater District and the Village, easily reachable via all subway lines that run through the Upper West Side; and the Upper East Side, for visits to the Metropolitan Museum and any number of other museums along 5th Avenue. In addition, Harlem is easily walkable from the northern reaches of the Upper West Side, and well worth exploring.
Get in and around
By subway
The primary subway service to the Upper West Side is the 1 local train and the 2 and 3 express trains, which run under Broadway. All three lines stop at 72nd St. and 96th St., with the 1 also stopping at 59th St. (Columbus Circle), 66th St. (Lincoln Center), 79th St., 86th St., 103rd St., 110th St., 116th St. (Columbia University), and 125th St. The 1 line continues north along Broadway, while the 2 and 3 lines branch east north of the 96th St. stop and head into Central Harlem.
Also serving the neighborhood are the A, B, C, and D lines, which run under Central Park West (called 8th Av. north and south of Central Park), although the A and D express lines usually stop only at 59th St. (Columbus Circle) and 125th St.(at St. Nicholas Av.), except after midnight, when the A goes local for a few hours. The B (weekdays only) and C local lines stop at 59th St., 72nd St., 81st St. (Museum of Natural History), 86th St., 96th St., 103rd St., 110 St., 116th St., and 125 St.
By bus
Numerous bus routes serve this neighborhood, including:
- M5, on Riverside Drive north of 72 St. and Broadway south of that street
- M104 on Broadway
- M7 and M11, which go uptown (north) on Amsterdam Av. and downtown (south) on Columbus Av.
- M10 on Central Park West.
- M4 on Broadway coming from the north to 110th Street, then crosstown to 5th Avenue.
- M60 from Broadway and 106th Street to LaGuardia Airport via Broadway to 120th Street and Amsterdam Avenue to 125th Street.
There are also crosstown buses on 65th/66th Sts., 72nd St. (the M72, which uses the 66th St. transverse through Central Park), 79th St., 86th St., 96th St., 106th St. (to and from East 116th St.), and 125th St.
On foot or by bicycle
A walk or bike ride to the Upper West Side is a very pleasant way to get in in good weather, whether going through Central Park from the Upper East Side or heading north from the Theater District. The Hudson River Greenway provides easy access through Riverside Park to Upper and Lower Manhattan. The Citibike bike share system has stations all around the neighborhood and most of Manhattan.
Nearby
Weehawken
City / town · 10 listings · 3 mi away
Union City
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Hoboken
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Fort Lee
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Secaucus
City / town · 10 listings · 5 mi away
Bronx
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Queens
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Jersey City
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