Where to Stay, Play, and Dine in New York City This Fall

Dare I say: New York City is pretty close to perfect in the fall, the weather is as crisp as that farmers market apple you’re munching, the events calendar is overstuffed, and everyone stops what they’re doing to run a marathon (or cheer on a marathon) in November. It’s not too late to plan a trip now, even if you intend to book a seat at the biggest and best openings this season. Here’s everywhere you should be staying and dining, and everything you should be enjoying, in Manhattan this fall. Related Stories Here’s Why Wealthy Travelers Are Flocking to the Hamptons of Sweden This Superyacht Expedition Includes a Private Chalet Buyout in the Remote Alaskan Wilderness These Travel Experts Can Curate Your Dream Trip to Indonesia

Our guide to the city’s 15 best luxury hotels includes a mix of classic (the Carlyle and newly revamped Waldorf Astoria) and bold (the Fifth Avenue Hotel and any of the Kit Kemp properties). The maximalist Faena New York was too new to include in our list, but since its September 2025 opening, it’s become a West Chelsea hot spot, with nightly live music and DJ sets at La Boca and the Living Room. Insider tip: a Faena-curated Chelsea art walk with exclusive access to studios and galleries such as Hauser & Wirth and Paula Cooper (three hours, $3,500).

We scouted the most exciting restaurant openings of the season across the U.S., including these newcomers to NYC: WATCH

Before I was a travel editor, I was an arts and entertainment editor and critic living in Seattle. I would go out four or five nights a week, gobbling up touring Broadway productions, contemporary art openings, classical and pop concerts, indie film releases, and some really terrible performance art. If I could have a perfect week of performances in NYC this fall, it would look something like this. Seeing…

…Harry Styles during his 30-day residency at Madison Square Garden, including a special “Harryween” show on October 31 to cap it off. Tickets range from ~$310 to $1,500+.

… SNL alum turned multiplatform star Bowen Yang as Mary Todd Lincoln in the delightfully kooky Oh, Mary! (September 15, December 6). Tickets are from $49 to $298.

…Julia Louis Dreyfus make her Broadway debut alongside Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery, and Lily Rabe in the Pulitzer, nominated family drama Other Desert Cities . Tickets are from $140.

… Imitation of Life , a new musical by the inimitable Lynn Nottage, the only woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama, with music and lyrics by John Legend. Tickets are from ~$71 to $500+.

…legendary conductor Gustavo Dudamel in his debut season with the New York Philharmonic . Tickets are ~$260 to $800+.

“Rock & Royals” November 3-30, Manhattan Why don’t more Americans know the name Kos Evans? The fearless action and yachting photographer has spent 40 years capturing iconic images while dangling from the top of a 200-foot mast or diving beneath the keel of a racing boat. She was the go-to choice for an America’s Cup final or a water sequence of a Bond movie, embracing the sea as a “moving canvas.” Though she lives just across the Atlantic, where she’s well known in her native England; has exhibited in London, Saint-Tropez, Barcelona, and Monaco; and has King Juan Carlos of Spain saved as ‘King’ in her cell, she’s only just cracked into the U.S. market this year. Evans’ exhibition “Rock and Royals” will spend the month of November in Manhattan at New York Design Center’s Gallery at 200 Lex , following its American debut in Nantucket this August.

These maritime destinations are a fitting place for Evans’s collection of images handprinted onto heritage yacht sails, each with its own pedigree. The sails once belonged to President John F. Kennedy (yacht Manitou) , King Juan Carlos of Spain, King George V ( Britannia ), Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (family yacht Bloodhound ), Sir Ben Ainslie’s AC75 Britannia , a challenger in the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona, and the Who’s Pete Townshend, the “rock” to the “royals.”

“I’ve been involved in America’s Cup pretty much since 1982, ‘83, so I knew a lot of people,” she said. “I was asking everybody I knew, ‘Do you have a sail that you’re throwing out?’” A portion of all proceeds for Evans’s work, which are masterworks in upcycling, goes to Oceans Without Borders and Nantucket Community Sailing.