PHOTO GALLERY Times Square

They don't come any bigger than the Big Apple - king of the hill, top of the heap, New York, New York. It's got its fair share of the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses, but it also has world-class museums, big statues, even bigger buildings, outrageous excess, and a whole lot of whooo-wheee!

New York is a densely packed mass of humanity and all this living on top of one another makes the New Yorker a special kind of person. It's hard to put a finger on what makes the place buzz so hard, but the city's hyperactive rush keeps drawing more and more people to it.

In a city that is so much a part of the global subconscious, it's pretty hard to pick a few highlights - wherever you go you'll feel like you've been there before. For iconic value, you can't surpass the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park and Times Square. The Museum of Modern Art is one of the world's top museums, and the Guggenheim Museum and American Museum of Natural History aren't far behind. Bookshops, food, theatre, shopping, people: it doesn't really matter what you do or where you go in New York because the city itself is an in-your-face, exhilarating experience.

Sights -- Liberty Island (the Statue of Liberty itself remains closed since the 11 September 2001 tragedy); the Empire State Building ; Grand Central Terminal ; a ride on the Staten Island Ferry ; Ellis Island National Monument; the Brooklyn Bridge ; the United Nations Building; Chinatown and Little Italy .

Museums -- Metropolitan Museum of Art ; Museum of Modern Art (now in Queens); American Museum of Natural History ; Guggenheim Museum; Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Memorable Meals --Daniel for quintessential upscale New York dining; Indochine for French-Vietnamese food and celebrity sightings; the River Cafe for spectacular views of nighttime Manhattan; Hatsuhana for delicious sushi; Molyvos for superb Greek food; La Caridad for that distinctive New York hybrid, Cuban-Chinese; Tao for Asian cuisine; One if by Land, Two if by Sea for that special romantic evening.

Late Night -- A performance at Joe's Pub ; a Broadway show or an evening of music at Carnegie Hall or the Metropolitan Opera House; stand-up comedy at Caroline's; hot jazz at the Village Vanguard or Zinc Bar ; dancing at the enormous Webster Hall .

Walks -- Window shopping along Fifth Avenue near Central Park ; a stroll through Central Park from 59th Street to the Metropolitan Museum of Art ; walking down Broadway in SoHo from Houston Street until Greenwich Village .

Songwriters have idealized New York in spring and autumn for a reason -- the city is most beautiful then. If you visit April-June, you'll find comfortable humidity. Temperatures in April range from a low of 36 F/3 C to a high of 54 F/12 C. By June, expect daytime highs of 75 F/24 C and cool nights of 56 F/12 C. In September and October, the clear days will be comfortable in the 60-70 degrees F/15-29 degrees C range, with nights demanding a warm jacket or sweater. Winter can be cold and bitter in New York, and the damp wind cuts to the bone. But New York is magical and quiet after a heavy snow (until it all turns to dirty slush). In general, extremes of temperature and humidity can make winter and summer the least dependable times to visit.

You won't need a car -- in fact, a car will be more hindrance than help, as parking is expensive and in short supply. This is a mass-transit city, and much of it has resumed normal operations since the attacks on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001.

Taxis are easy to hail and reasonably affordable, especially if there's more than one person in your party. A ride from Midtown to Greenwich Village, for instance, runs in the neighborhood of US$10.

Our favorite way to travel in New York, though, is by foot. As you make your way, be alert for cars, taxis and even buses running red lights. Also, cabs will make left or right turns at an intersection without a thought for the pedestrians crossing with the green light. The best strategy is to walk purposefully and don't hesitate when you cross a street.

Manhattan's character changes every few blocks, so quaint town houses stand shoulder to shoulder with sleek glass towers, gleaming gourmet supermarkets sit around the corner from dusty thrift shops, and chic bistros inhabit the storefronts of soot-smudged warehouses. Below 14th Street, you'll need a good street map and good directions to navigate the confusing streets of such neighborhoods as Greenwich Village and the Financial District.

Above 14th Street, where you'll find Midtown, the Upper West and Upper East sides, and Central Park, among many other areas, the streets form a regular grid pattern. Numbered streets run east and west (crosstown), and broad avenues, most of them also numbered, run north (uptown) and south (downtown). The chief exceptions are Broadway and the thoroughfares that hug the shores of the Hudson and East rivers. Broadway runs the entire length of Manhattan on a diagonal. Fifth Avenue is the east-west dividing line for street addresses.

Many visitors to Manhattan notice the four outer boroughs -- Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island -- only from an airplane window or the deck of a Circle Line cruise. There are, however, many things to see and do in the outer boroughs that you simply won't find in Manhattan, and most are just a subway ride from Midtown. It's well worth your time to explore New York beyond the confines of Manhattan. Doing so will give you an idea of just how large and amazing New York City really is.

Whatever the state of the economy or the hour they have to rise and shine the next morning, New Yorkers like going out, and that's every night of the week. Having a drink or a turn on a dance floor with friends is as much about checking out what's new in town as it is about socializing. Downtown, talented bands play back-to-back in 45-minute sets, while uptown, a cabaret singer holds her audience in rapt attention for an entire evening.

The nightlife scene is still largely downtown -- in drab-by-day East Village dives, classic jazz joints in the West Village, and TriBeCa see-and-be-seen boîtes -- but the idea of downtown now includes Brooklyn: Manhattan's neighbor is now the place for rock and roll, with new clubs in Williamsburg and Park Slope. Preppy hangouts are also still alive and well on the Upper East and Upper West sides. And all over town you can find lounges. You'll know you're in one if you see lots of crushed velvet and a zinc-top bar.

These days, night prowlers are more loyal to floating parties, DJs, even party promoters, than they are to addresses. A spot is only hot when it's hopping, and you may find the same party or bar that raged last night completely empty tonight. The other thing to remember is to dress properly, something that is easily accomplished by wearing black and leaving your sneakers at home.

There are plenty of publications in town to tell you what's hot. For the totally hip, Paper magazine's "P.M. 'Til Dawn" and bar sections have as good a listing as exists of the roving parties and the best of the fashionable crowd's hangouts. Time Out New York provides a comprehensive weekly listing of amusements by category.

The more-staid but typically sophisticated Friday New York Times "Weekend/Movies and Performing Arts" section runs "Pop and Jazz" and "Cabaret" columns that can clue you in to what's in the air, as can the Village Voice, a free weekly newspaper that probably has more club ads than any other rag in the world. Look also for that weekly's competitor, the New York Press, which has pages and pages of nightlife listings.

Prices are for a main course at dinner, excluding tales tax of 8.625%.

The city's lingering economic doldrums have put a pinch on New Yorkers' purses, but not their appetite for eating out. In a sign of the times, a slew of mid-range restaurants serving well-made soul-satisfying food have opened. In addition, a wave of makeovers has made some haute eateries more accessible and affordable.

Still, New York is about extremes, and although unemployment is at a high, the metropolis remains a mecca of the monied. So pricey menus haven't stopped new celebrity-chef restaurants from opening and becoming hits.

Whether you decide to go for a steaming bowl of noodles in Chinatown or a chichi brasserie uptown, note that some of the dishes recommended in the following reviews may not be on the menu you receive when you sit down to eat. Chefs often change their menus with the season and with the availability of ingredients in the market.

True to its nature, New York shops on a grand scale at the world's finest department stores, glossy couture houses along Madison Avenue, fashionable boutiques downtown, and renowned antiques dealers all over the city. NoLita practically steams with chic, its streets full of upstart clothing lines and exotic home-design stores, and hip retailers continue to waft into Chelsea.

No matter which threshold you cross, shopping in New York is an event.The city whets acquisitive appetites with widely varied shopping experiences. For every bursting department store, there's an echoing, minimalist boutique; for every nationally familiar brand, there's a local favorite. The foremost American and international designers stake their flagship stores here; meanwhile, small neighborhood shops guarantee a reservoir of both the down-to-earth and the unexpected. National chains often make their New York stores something special, with unique sales environments and merchandise.

One of Manhattan's biggest shopping lures is the bargain -- a temptation fueled by Loehmann's, H&M, and other discount divas. Hawkers of not-so-real Rolex watches and Kate Spade bags are stationed at street corners, even on Madison Avenue, and Canal Street is lined with counterfeit Gucci logos and Burberry plaid. There are uptown thrift shops where socialites send their castoffs, and downtown spots where the fashion crowd turns in last week's supertrendy must-haves. And of course, thousands of eyes train on the cycles of sales.