The Bronx is one of New York’s most beautiful boroughs, with a rather tough reputation, but full of history and nature. Mostly rural until the turn of the late 1800s, it was once where Manhattan’s elite had their country homes. Look for some of these buildings still visible amid construction. Today, come for baseball games at Yankee Stadium or celebrate a slightly macabre literary heritage at the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage.
Bronx’s rural past translates into pockets of beautiful nature. Bring a swimsuit to lounge at Orchard Beach or binoculars to spot migratory birds flying above Pelham Bay. Walk along the paths of Van Cortlandt Park or view the natural world in full bloom in the greenhouses and grounds of the New York Botanical Gardens. Nearby, lions roar and bear cubs tumble at the Bronx Zoo. See celebrities’ final resting places and enjoy the quiet in Woodlawn Cemetery.
After exercise and fresh air, head to iconic Little Italy for the culinary delights of the Arthur Ave. Retail Market. Attend public lectures or just soak up the youthful campus atmosphere at Fordham University. Learn about the borough’s artistic heritage at the Bronx Museum of Art, a celebration of everything that makes the Bronx iconic.
The Bronx is located north of Manhattan, across the Harlem River. Several MTA lines run into the borough, though they do not extend throughout the neighborhood. A robust system of buses provides connections between subway lines and covers areas that have no subway at all. Most of the most famous destinations in the Bronx are easily accessible by public transportation, but getting around by car here is easier than in the rest of the city.
The borough is safer than its reputation implies, but use caution when walking around late at night.
Watch the sunset in the Bronx while enjoying seafood and drinks on the patios of City Island, the perfect place to see the sky turn pink behind the Manhattan skyline.
