Things to do / Travel Guide
Scenic Drives in New York City
There are plenty of places to take a scenic drive in and around New York City (NYC), but beware of congestion on the roads. It's a good idea to plan your driving excursion so that it won't conflict with rush hour traffic. That way you get to see the rivers, bays and skyline of New York City and not just the tense drivers.
Scenic Drives in Manhattan
Once you get through the midtown traffic, you will remember that Manhattan is an island surrounded by rivers and bays. The entire island is circled by highways and drivers focusing on the road may not be able to enjoy the views, but the passengers can certainly enjoy views of the Hudson River, the East River, the New Jersey Palisades and the Upper New York Bay.
The FDR drive and the Harlem River Drive cover Manhattans East Side and West Street and the Henry Hudson Parkway cover the west side. Bicyclists will be thrilled to know that a dedicated bike path covers almost the whole route around Manhattan. Enjoy the views of the city and the waterways without any interactions with cars.
Scenic Views of New York City's Skyline from New Jersey
The main sight to see in NYC is unquestionably Manhattan's skyline, which is considered to be among the best in the world. Plan to take scenic drives to see the skyline on weekday nights in particular, as building lights are more likely to be on, but daytime viewings are also spectacular. As Manhattan is an island, its skyline can be viewed from many possible directions:
- Along the New Jersey Turnpike near Secaucus - from Kennedy Memorial Boulevard, Willow Avenue, and River Road
- George Washington Bridge - heading from Fort Lee, New Jersey towards Manhattan, facing south
Scenic Drives in Queens and Brooklyn
- In Long Island - from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
- Brooklyn - from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, right below the Brooklyn Heights Esplanade, a.k.a. “the Promenade”
- Queens - from the entrance to the Queensboro Bridge and the entrance to the Queens Midtown Tunnel
Brooklyn and Queens Scenic Parkways
For another excellent scenic drive, start on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn driving west, where you can see a beautiful panorama of Jamaica Bay. Further along, you'll pass Coney Island, and eventually you'll see a nice view of New York Harbor. Once the Belt Parkway becomes the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, get ready to see the Statue of Liberty. You continue driving inland for a bit, but right before dipping down into the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, you will see one of the best possible views of the Manhattan skyline.
The development of the parkway system in the United States was to a large part, focused on New York City. Fredrick Law Olmsted, designer of Central Park and Prospect Park led a movement to connect these parks with parkways. The New York City area retains several historic and scenic parkways. Similar in capacity to the interstate highways in the area, the experience is quite different. For one the roads were designed not to allow trucks, but this has since changed on some parkways.
The parkways make for a scenic alternative, since they are often through parkland and usually surrounded by greenery. In Queens, take the Cross Island Parkway from the Throgs Neck Bridge to the South Shore of Long Island, near the Queens / Nassau border. Take the Grand Central Parkway as an alternative heading out to Long Island (instead of the Long Island Expressway). Enjoy the views of Jamaica Bay on the way to Kennedy Airport on the Belt Parkway. The Jackie Robinson Parkway connects Queens and Brooklyn.
Westchester and Bronx Scenic Parkway Drives
Heading north from the Bronx to Westchester, Connecticut and points beyond, there are several scenic parkway drives that roughly parallel the interstate highways going north, listed from east to west, as follows:
- The Hutchinson River Parkway (affectionately know as “The Hutch” on traffic reports) starts at the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge and makes its way to Connecticut where it becomes the Merritt Parkway.
- The Bronx River Parkway heads north, becoming the Sprain Brook Parkway in Westchester.
- The Henry Hudson Parkway continues from Manhattan, through the Bronx and then dead ends in Westchester as the Saw Mill River Parkway.
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