Travel Man: New York City
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Quick NYC Excursion
Welcome to New York City, a place where every block feels like a movie scene and every moment carries a pulse. This short but intense escape is designed to capture the essence of the city that never sleeps: bold culture, high-energy exploration, and unforgettable food.
Watch Travel Man S3E1: New York on Journy
Richard Ayoade's approach to travel has always been to treat every minute like a resource not to be wasted. In Season 3, Episode 1 of Travel Man, he brings comedian Katherine Ryan to New York City for 48 hours of methodical, slightly manic, thoroughly entertaining tourism. The result is an episode that captures something true about New York: it rewards the people who show up with a plan and the stamina to follow through.
The Journy itinerary takes that same energy and builds it into a customizable three-day trip. Book your New York escape here.
The Ferry That Sets the Tone
Richard and Katherine start on the water. The Staten Island Ferry is free, it runs 24 hours a day, and it delivers an unobstructed view of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty without the crowds or cost of the tourist boat alternatives. It's the kind of move that looks effortless but is actually a very deliberate choice, and it sets the tempo for everything that follows.
Grand Central and Marie's Crisis
Grand Central Terminal isn't just a transit hub. The main concourse, with its turquoise ceiling and constellation map, is one of the more genuinely beautiful interiors in the city. Richard and Katherine pass through and absorb it the right way: briefly, and without a guided tour.
The evening brings Marie's Crisis, a piano bar in the West Village where the songs are show tunes and audience participation is not optional. It's an institution, unpretentious and genuinely fun, and it's the kind of place that doesn't make it into most itineraries despite being exactly what people mean when they say they want to experience the real New York.
Katherine Ryan & Richard Ayoade eat New York's best Hot Dog | Travel Man
Richard and Katherine Ryan take a fast and funny trip to New York. Their overflowing schedule includes skyscrapers, rollerblades, museums, ferries, showtunes and cronuts. In this clip, Richard & Kathe...
Mmuseumm
This one requires some explanation. Mmuseumm is a museum housed in a freight elevator shaft in a Tribeca alley. Its exhibits are small, strange, and oddly compelling: objects that illuminate something about contemporary life, each displayed with the same seriousness you'd find at the Met. Richard, who approaches most tourist experiences with deep suspicion, responds well to it. It earns its place.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met is enormous and could consume an entire trip on its own. The episode doesn't try to solve that problem. Richard and Katherine take a selective approach, moving through specific galleries rather than attempting comprehensive coverage. That's the right call. The building itself, on Fifth Avenue along the eastern edge of Central Park, is worth the visit independent of whatever's on the walls.
Richard Ayoade and Katherine Ryan at the Top of the Rock observation deck, with the Empire State Building behind them.
Top of the Rock
The observation deck at 30 Rockefeller Plaza offers something One World Trade doesn't: a clear view of the Empire State Building from above, with Central Park and the rest of Midtown laid out on either side. The elevator up is fast and the views, particularly in the late afternoon as the light changes, are worth the time. Richard and Katherine make the obvious jokes and then go quiet for a moment. The city tends to do that to people.
Roller Skating and Cronuts
Roller America brings a very specific 1970s energy to the proceedings. Richard on roller skates is exactly what you'd expect, and Katherine handles it with more composure than he does. It's a good time.
The cronut line at Dominique Ansel Bakery requires some patience. The pastry, a croissant-doughnut hybrid that inspired a thousand imitators, is still very good and still worth the wait. Katherine agrees. Richard reserves judgment.
Building Your New York Trip
The Journy itinerary is designed around a three-day framework but can be customized from seven to ten days depending on how much you want to expand beyond the episode. That might mean adding a day in Brooklyn, more time in the Met, a visit to the High Line, or a longer stretch in the West Village. New York accommodates almost any version of a trip.
Start planning your New York itinerary here.
Watch Travel Man Season 3, Episode 1 on JOURNY
Walk and Ride Like a New Yorker
Use your phone's Apple Pay or Google Pay contactless payment for subway rides to save time and avoid long lines at ticket machines.
When walking, always stay to the right on sidewalks and avoid stopping abruptly to keep the fast-paced pedestrian flow moving smoothly.
Familiarize yourself with the uptown and downtown directions of subway lines; this will help you navigate more efficiently.
Use apps like Google Maps for real-time subway updates and walking directions to optimize your travel route.
Consider using Citi Bike for short trips; it's a fun and quick way to see the city, especially around Central Park or along the Hudson River Greenway.
Be aware that taxis can be difficult to hail during shift change (around 4-5 PM), so plan accordingly or use ride-sharing apps.
Quick NYC Excursion
Welcome to New York City, a place where every block feels like a movie scene and every moment carries a pulse. This short but intense escape is designed to capture the essence of the city that never sleeps: bold culture, high-energy exploration, and unforgettable food.
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