New York City, among its other shining qualities, is a city of world-class museums. On par with the Smithsonian, the Museum of Natural History is New York’s premier history museum with exhibits and galleries on nearly every facet of our natural history. Search the skies, look deep into the world of bacteria, time travel to the land of dinosaurs, and learn about human societies from around the world.

Exhibits and collections span human and earth history from the prehistoric to our modern day knowledge of our universe. See how life thrives in extreme conditions, learn about natural disasters, and more with circulating temporary exhibitions. Tour the Mammal Halls and Dinosaur Wing where you will see a stuffed woolly mammoth, a constructed skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and the fossils and bones of dozens of prehistoric creatures. Visit the Hall of Meteorites, the Human Origins and Cultural Halls, and the Hall of North American Forests to experience the full extent of what the museum has to offer. Kids in your group will enjoy the interactive Discovery Room, dinosaur exhibits, and the 3D films among the other interactive and immersive gallery features.

Groups are more than welcome to take self-guided tours with suggested itineraries like the Whales Tour, the Dinosaur Tour, or the Night at the Museum Tour among others. Museum highlight tours and spotlight tours on specific themes or galleries are regularly scheduled and are great for groups to learn more about the museum from expertly trained guides. Programs, events, and classes are available for every age group including adults, students, and families. Listen to the lectures, attend a film festival, a seminar, workshop, or nature walk.

The Natural History Museum is New York City’s most immersive and interactive discovery center. Bring your group down and experience the amazing natural history of your world.

It’s been said, “If Paris is France, Coney Island between June and September is the World!” Take a break from the standard sight-seeing, grab your group and get out there for the afternoon! This thriving oceanfront entertainment mecca, birthplace of the hotdog as we know it and host to the annual Mermaid Parade, a favorite Summer respite from the hectic pace of the steamy city-is open year round and offers comers of all ages everything they could dream of in the way of traditional, world-class boardwalk/amusement area excitement! Coney is roller coaster heaven, for sure, with competing Island parks all offering their best versions-a turn on the terrifying “Cyclone” is a must for hardy aficionados-but don’t pass the opportunity to take a sweet spin and catch the crazy view on the world-famous
Deno’s Wonderwheel-the quintessentially old-fashioned ferris wheel built in 1920 and still rollin’ strong! Scores of fun snackstands featuring traditional fried fare and local favorites, classic games of chance, great traditional rides and historical Island attractions and the sweet-salty-smoky-gritty scents, sights and sounds of a midway set against the stunning backdrop of broad sandy beach and sea-bird filled Atlantic sky await eager visitors to the oldest amusement destination in the nation! Be sure to visit the conservation-minded New York Aquarium and take in the wondrous displays at Coney Island Museum while you’re there! Hot late Summer nights bring “Flicks on the Beach;”a gigantic inflatable screen turns the Island into a walk-in theatre. As you shuffle along the boardwalk, a Nathan’s dog in one hand and a fresh lemonade in the other, rides tilting, whirling and spinning around you, music and laughter invoking Summers past filling the air and bold seagulls flocking close, hoping to snag a bite of your bun-you, too, will see why Coney Island is known as America’s Playground! Bumper cars, anyone?

Nothing like iconic Central Park, and certainly not bustling urban respite Bryant Park, ecologically rich Great Kills Park, part of the Staten Island Unit of Gateway National Recreation Area, is 580 acres of fantastic recreational opportunities – a marina, four public beaches, public boat launch, fishing and kayaking areas, a model airplane field, wild-flower strewn nature trails, and numerous ball fields….set amongst the serenity of woods, marshlands, beaches and dunes that run along the south shore for over two miles. In the warmer months, the beach area’s various concessions open; the Ranger Station is accessible year-round. Home to the only osprey nesting site on Staten Island and a birder’s paradise, the area is popular with a wide variety of feathered residents-full and part-timers alike, including horned larks, buntings , egrets, purple sandpipers, raptors of all shapes and sizes, catbirds, ducks, pheasant, warblers, red knots and oystercatchers, ruby throated hummingbirds, tree swallows and purple martins; the list is almost as endless are the possibilities you will find at Great Kills-Dutch for “Many Creeks”- a new favorite outdoor escape venue-in New York City!

Fantastic beaches, old military forts, and wildlife are the big draws to this unexpectedly diverse park with an assortment of activities from beachcombing to aviation history. The concept of the urban natural park emerged in the United States in the 1960s. One of the first in the country to be set up by the National Park System, Gateway National Recreation Area protects wilderness along the city’s south shore, combining native wildlife, public beaches and historic structures. There is seasonal ferry service (to be expanded) from Manhattan to Gateway’s Sandy Hook Unit, in NJ.

If you don’t mind sharing-it’s not huge but is the largest municipal beach in the US-and have warm sand, an eclectic mix of friendly faces and cool surf on the brain, the unexpected Long Island refuge of Rockaway Beach is for you! Better-than-ever after Hurricane Sandy’s hair-bending visit, this unassuming 170 acre strip of clean, sunny sand, consequently NYC’s only surfing beach, attracts over one million locals and tourists a year , all in search of their own unique sun-and-surf experience. Known to some as the “Hipster Hamptons” and historically as the “Irish Riviera,” this family-friendly “sanctuary in the city,” peppered with the ubiquitous amenities and peopled with types looking for a little respite from the hustle and bustle of New York City and perhaps a connection with their inner naturalist, will afford your group a relaxing escape from the beaten tourist path. Swimming is permitted from Memorial Day to Labor Day weekend; various concessions offer better-than-standard beach fare and refreshment and restrooms and spray showers are available on the boardwalk.

This wonderful institution, founded 40 years ago by visionary artist and educator Rapheal Montanez Ortiz and a concerned coalition of parents, educators, artists, and activists who noted that mainstream museums largely ignored Latino artists, El Museo holds fast to its commitment of celebrating, interpreting and promoting Caribbean and Latino art culture while providing an educational forum offering an enhanced understanding of its rich and colorful contribution to North America-historically and today. A cornerstone of El Barrio and a truly valuable New York City resource, its colorful, authentic and exotic collection of over 6,500 objects and artifacts spans over 800 years of Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino art history. While in the area, you can’t help but be enchanted by local colors and rhythms-El Museo offers “Around the Block” walking tours -an absolutely immersive, sensory-rich exploration of a variety of neighborhood locations- if you’ve saved room for lunch, plenty of delightful authentic options will appeal to the foodies in your group!

Founded in 1923, and charged with the consideration of “All things New York,” this museum is now the premier institution dedicated to the exploration and preservation of the rich history and distinctly diverse culture of the five boroughs of New York City. While the museum displays many pieces of art in its collections, it is not an art museum; its focus is to educate through the scheduling of exhibitions that not only embrace the past but look toward and celebrate a bright future. Climate controlled galleries display a stunning array of over 750,000 objects including theater artifacts, decorative arts, fine furniture, paintings, prints, toys, sculpture and fine photography. Fabulous collections showcased in ongoing interdisciplinary exhibitions- Timescapes, Marine Paintings, Activists New York, City as Canvas and Rising Waters, to cite a few-explore the city’s past, present and future through dynamic offerings displaying unique cross sections of time, culture, individual and collective New York perspective and artistic interpretation. A favorite field trip destination, the museum continues in its cornerstone mission of serving and education the city’s younger generations.

The Jewish Museum on Fifth Avenue along New York City’s Museum Mile houses the largest collection of authentic Jewish art and culture displayed anywhere outside of Israel. With a dedicated focus on both modern and contemporary art items and artifacts of Jewish history, its permanent exhibition, “Culture and Continuity: The Jewish Journey” is comprised of more than 26,000 objects and is supplemented by regular rotating- as well as special-exhibitions-combinations of fine art and artifact, often interdisciplinary in nature. The collection, while established in the library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1904 where it was housed for four decades- did not go public until 1947, when the widow of a prominent trustee donated the family mansion as a display venue. This little known gem in New York City offers guests a fantastically immersive illustration of the extraordinary diversity that has existed within the Jewish community itself throughout the ages.

Housed in the impressive Georgian-style landmark mansion of industrial magnate Andrew Carnagie, Cooper Hewitt’s displays presents compelling evidence of the impact of design on daily life and is the only museum in the nation dedicated exclusively to historic and contemporary design. Founded in 1896, and a branch of the Smithsonian since 1967, the institution boasts one of the largest collections of decorative arts in the world, with collections, world-class design library and exhibitions exploring a span of over 240 years of design aesthetic and creativity. The 64 room mansion itself is a fascinating study in innovative design and was the first private residence in the United States to have a structural steel frame, a house elevator, central heating and a precursor to air conditioning. It may be lavish but it was designed to be a comfortable , light-filled home. The campus includes two historic townhouses completely renovated with state –of-the-art conservation technology, a wonderful terrace and large private garden, a restful oasis to this day; all are part of the fabulous Cooper Hewitt Design Museum venue. *Currently closed for renovations.

Goethe Institute is committed to fostering cultural cooperation and promoting German language learning via public opportunities to interact with themes and questions relevant to all aspects of German culture and society; the New York Branch is the regional coordinator of 10 institutes and one center in the North American Region, comprised of the United States, Canada and Mexico, all committed to the same goals and objectives. Culture cravers looking to hone their German language skills or slip into uniquely immersive atmospheres of discussion, art and learning will enjoy guided tours of any of the three NYC locations: The Wyoming Building located in the East Village showcases presentations, performances, film screenings and exhibits-an intimate space to gather over coffee and join in great conversation; Ludlow 38 on the Lower East Side serves as a contemporary German art gallery and the 72 Spring Street Loft in SoHo contains the library and is a center for book club meetings, Institute gatherings and conferences.