For most, visiting Wall Street is just like visiting any other dreary corporate street in a major city, as people in suits scramble on sidewalks that are promptly deserted after the markets close. But for those truly interested in seeing the center of world finance, The Wall Street Experience can help.

The company’s tours are led by Andrew Luan, a former vice president at Deutsche Bank, and take visitors on an in-depth look at the financial institutions and landmarks of Lower Manhattan like the Stock Exchange and Federal Reserve. Andrew, meanwhile, keeps tourists entertained with insider stories and tales from the world of high finance.

One popular tour offered by the company is the two-hour “Financial Crisis Tour” that takes a close look at the 2008 financial crisis and its relationship to Wall Street. The “Wall Street Insider Tour” is a lighter 90 minute version of the tour.

Finance students might appreciate the company’s special student tours that give participants a chance to learn trading and corporate finance hands on from some of the city’s top bankers.

Another former Wall Street insider, Anneline Dinkelmann who is previously of Morgan Stanley, runs Wall Street Walks and offers similar tours. Anneline’s forte is her storytelling ability and guests on her tours usually leave entertained and informed. One notable specialty tour offered by Wall Street Walks is the “Women of Wall Street Tour.”

Conveniently for guests of The MAve, our boutique hotel in Midtown’s Flatiron District, Wall Street is a simple 15-minute subway ride Downtown from nearby 28th Street and Park Avenue.

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The Bronx is the city’s northernmost borough and the only one of the city’s neighborhoods located on the continental mainland. Despite being home to over a million people, if it weren’t for the Bronx Zoo and Yankee Stadium, the Bronx would rarely be mentioned as a tourist destination.

The folks at MCNY Bronx Historical Tours, however, are seeking to change that by offering guided walking tours that showcase the Bronx’s rich culture and heritage to interested tourists. Two neighborhoods often visited for their drinking and dining potential are Woodland, the neighborhood’s Little Ireland, and Arthur Avenue, which is the area’s Little Italy. Other highlights of the walking tours include stops at the borough’s best pizza joints and just a ridiculous amount of information on the Yankees and their stadium home.

Speaking of the Yankees, or the Bronx Bombers as they’re affectionately called, taking in a game at Yankee Stadium is a great way to spend a spring or summer afternoon. One of the league’s most luxurious baseball stadiums, expect to find gourmet food stands and microbrews in lieu of hot dogs and Budweiser.

The Bronx Zoo is the other big draw to the borough, as it is one of the world’s largest urban zoos. Operating since 1899, the zoo has about 4,000 animals from 650 different species on its 250 acres. Children and children at heart will be absolutely thrilled with a visit to the zoo, and it’s honestly pretty cool to escape from the concrete jungle into a literal jungle.

Guests at our boutique hotel The MAve are perfectly situated for a visit to the Bronx, as the D, an express train that travels to the Bronx, leaves from the nearby 33rd Street Station with a travel time of less than 20 minutes.

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As it doesn’t have the keynote attractions that draw visitors to other neighborhoods in Manhattan, an interesting way for tourists to explore Harlem is with a food tour.

Taste Harlem takes groups through thirteen miles of Harlem on a quest for the neighborhood’s best food. The cuisine of the Caribbean and Africa are heavily represented, but so are the American soul-food renditions of the two.

The company’s most popular tour is the Harlem’s Tasting Tour. This four-hour tour, $95 per person, combines tastings at Harlem restaurants with an insider’s look into the history, architecture and contemporary art scene of the neighborhood.

Another, more focused, tour is the Soul Food Tasting Tour. As its name suggests, this tour takes visitors on an exploration of Harlem’s noteworthy soul food restaurants. The tour takes 2.5 hours and the cost is $55 and a countless amount of calories. Seriously. Anyone on a diet should probably not take the soul food tour.

While in Harlem don’t miss the opportunity to swing by the famed Apollo Theater at 253 West 125th Street. A stalwart in the African-American entertainment industry, this theater helped launch the careers of celebrated musicians like James Brown and Ella Fitzgerald.

After all of the Harlem eats and Uptown fun, come back down to our boutique hotel The MAve in NYC’s Midtown to give yourself some time to digest before your evening plans inevitably pull you back into the bustling and lively city.

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First on the agenda is the illustrious Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York and indeed the country’s premier art museum, the Met is the one museum in the city that can absolutely not be missed. Though they suggest $25 per person, admission is always discretionary at the Met, which means frugal tourists can save a bit of coin. Also, on Fridays and Saturdays the museum keeps its doors open until 9 p.m.

Not far from the Met, the Guggenheim Museum has a two-hour window on Saturdays that allows visitors to take in the museum’s impressive art collection for less than the $18 standard admission fee, as from 5:45 p.m. until closing at 7:45 p.m. admission to the Guggenheim is discretionary.

On Fridays another Upper East Side Museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, waives its $18 admission fee in favor of voluntary donations from 6 p.m. until close at 9 p.m. This is a great time to visit, as for all but the most ardent art fans $18 may be a little too steep to visit the museum’s niche collection.

In Midtown, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) is one of the world’s principal museums of contemporary art. Its collection, encompassing six floors, is fantastic and includes famed pieces by artists as celebrated as Monet, Miro and Van Gogh. Thanks to a special promotion by department store Target, admission to the MOMA is free every Friday night from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., which amounts to a savings of $25.

With all of this saved money on museums and the great deals by our boutique hotel The Mave—20% discounts on stays of 3-4 nights—it seems that having a great time in NYC isn’t as expensive as you thought.

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Founded in 2008, the goal of City Winery is to introduce the urbanite denizens of NYC to the intricate process of winemaking and allow them to experience the full wine experience, from production to consumption.

As NYC has no vineyards, the winery imports grapes to its SoHo location from some of the world’s premier grape-growing regions like France, Australia and South Africa. These grapes then embark upon the winemaking process, as they are mashed, fermented and aged to perfection in the winery’s barrel room.

Visitors are welcome to explore the winery and to enjoy some of its house wines at its 30-seat Barrel Room Restaurant. Eleven of the homemade wines are available on tap and there are more than 400 wines from around the world available, if, for some reason, someone wants to try something else.

A more in-depth look at the urban winemaking process can be seen on a guided tour of City Winery, each of which comes with a wine-tasting, cheese-platter finale. The tours are $35 per person and are available seven days a week from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

The City Winery is just one example of an innovative and unique NYC establishment. The city truly does have a little bit of everything, and tourists would be wise to spend as much time as possible getting acquainted with the city. To help make this dream a reality, every guest staying at least four nights at our boutique Manhattan hotel The MAve will now receive his/her fifth night free!

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