Top Spots for NYC Tourists and Locals

In a recent data report from Foursquare, local and tourist hotspots were compared to figure out who was going where in the Big Apple. As one of the most visited cities in the world with 58.3 million visitors last year, NYC continues to define tourism trends, while the 8.4 million locals pride themselves on originality. So find out who goes where and know which places to avoid if massive crowds aren’t your thing.

Foursquare tracked popular NYC attractions and restaurants based on users who checked in via Swarm (Foursquare’s app) with location tracking enabled between September 1, 2015 to August 31, 2016. For attractions with multiple locations, I’ve specified which one. 

Top Attractions & Restaurants Visited by Both Tourists and Locals

• Central Park
• Times Square
• Bryant Park
• UrbanSpace Vanderbilt
• Shake Shack, 8th Ave.
• Shake Shack, 11 Madison Ave.

Top Attractions & Places Visited by Tourists

• Rockefeller Center
• National September 11 Memorial & Museum
• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Battery Park
• Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

Top Attractions & Places Visited by NYC Locals

• Manhattan Bridge
• Prospect Park
• Columbus Circle
• Union Square Park
• Madison Square park

Top Restaurants Visited by Tourists

• The Halal Guys, W 53rd St.
• Junior’s Restaurant & Bakery
• Magnolia Bakery, Avenue of the Americas
• Katz’s Delicatessen
• Carlo’s Bake Shop, 8th Ave.

Top Restaurants Visited by NYC Locals

• Birch Coffee, 7th Ave.
• Dos Toros Taqueria, Park Ave. S
• Rue 57
• Chick-fil-A, Avenue of the Americas
• sweetgreen, Broadway

More from SmarterTravel:

• New York City: 6 Tips to Get the Most Out of a Weekend Visit
• The 10 Best Instagram Backdrops in NYC
• 10 Best Apps for Traveling to NYC