How to Spend a Perfect Day in NYC for $25 or Less

You came to Columbia University in the City of New York for a reason, so it is time to make some plans to get out there and explore. Luckily, you don't have to break your budget as a student to partake in all of the greatness that the city has in store. 

We asked our readers to share itineraries for a perfect day in NYC under $25 and, man, did they deliver. From pay-what-you-wish museums to unforgettable eats, we hope you'll bookmark this page and come back to it for inspiration when you just need to make your way out of Butler and onto the subway...or kayak...or CitiBike...or ferry!

You start your day with a walk down Riverside Park...

You will start your day with a walk down Riverside Park, all the way to 84th, where you will exit and enter Daily Provisions [78th and Amsterdam] to have your world INEVITABLY ROCKED by their famous cruller doughnut. Now, I'm not even a doughnut girl myself, but wow. It is utterly fantastic. Life-changing, some might even say. I believe it is around $5, and if you're feeling especially jazzy, you could even grab a matcha or coffee!

Next, you'll walk to grab a "G'day Mate" bagel from Modern Bread and Bagel [83rd and Columbus]...thank me later...and eat it while strolling through Central Park. The perfect day in NYC, if you ask me.

— Ashley Young (CC'26)

Kayak the Hudson, visit MOMA, and listen to a midnight jazz set, all in one day.

Free kayaking at Pier 26 + MoMA. [Starting at] $5 orchestra at Lincoln Center. $10 late-night jazz at Smalls Jazz Club [for students].

— Yatin Gilhotra (SEAS PhD Candidate)

Grab a lil' sweet treat, head down to Koreatown, and visit Bryant Park after. 

So one routine I had with my friends was to go to Blank Street on W. 31st St. for our $6 iced cookies & cream latte, then after chatting for an hour, we built up an appetite and headed into K-town on W. 32nd St. to grab a bite. Usually, we would get BCD for less than $18 to eat a filling meal.

Lastly, we would walk around towards Bryant Park on W. 40th St. and people-watch. A lot of tourists tend to go to Bryant Park, and there is always a lot happening.

— Gisela Medina (GSAS'25)

Branch out in Brooklyn

So here’s my day: coffee at Think Coffee at 30th St. near Hudson Yards, then walk The High Line down to Meatpacking. There are so many ferries to choose from, I would continue walking down to Wall Street and take the $4.50 ferry from Pier 11 to DUMBO. Here I’d check out Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory (they have vegan ice cream) and/or rooftop drinks at TimeOut Market.

— Matilda Ivarsson (SPS’22)

A BEC, chopped cheese, tacos...plus, some fine art.

Bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll with hot sauce from a deli/corner store for breakfast (~$3). Walk through Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, pop out of the Met for a chopped cheese sandwich with everything on it at a deli/corner store for lunch (~$7), then continue seeing more of the Met.

Walk up 5th Ave. to 116th St. and turn East on 116th and go to La Chula at 116th and Lexington for some tacos (~$10). Walk back towards Columbia and walk through Morningside Park.

— Will Hunnicut (Senior Staff Associate, Columbia Engineering)

Chicken sandwiches, a river view at 'Hudson Beach,' and museum hopping.

1. Tiki Chick weekdays during happy hour: $5 sandwiches and reasonable drink prices.
2. Riverside Recreation area [105th Street Beach] to play volleyball with a group of friends. Bring your own drinks to share.
3. American Museum of Natural History: (entrance is "pay what you wish for New York State residents") and a nice walk in Central Park to get there.
4. Whitney Museum (free for those under 25 years old) and then walk to the Chelsea Market.

— Michelle Cimino (SIPA'26)

Hot tip: A day spent on the NYC Ferry is some of the best sightseeing you can do in the city.

Taking the NYC Ferry from Manhattan to the South Street Seaport (Wall St. stop) and eating Mister Dips while catching the AMAZING view of the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset/maybe even "overhearing" a Pier17 concert while you eat. Cheap food and literally priceless view! And that Ferry ride down the East River (catch it at E 90th St. or 34th) lets you see it ALL—from the Empire State Building to the Chrysler to the LIC iconic Pepsi sign and more.

—Jennifer Ratner, Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics

Anyone up for a sunrise viewing down at The Battery?

NYC is so great that even if you pick only one borough, you would have things left out! I would start my day all the way down in The Battery with a beautiful sunrise viewing of the Statue of Liberty. Then, I would grab a coffee at any diner for $3 and head to Chinatown and have Golden Diner pancakes for brunch for $12, with Wall Street and Brooklyn Bridge views on the way. I would then head to Times Square, hopping on a subway so $3, and take in the Midtown beauty. At last, grab a $6 vodka slice from Artichoke Basille's Pizza and finish my day in Bryant Park or Central Park (depends on my leg strength!!!).

— Vaishanvi Yagnik (MPH'26)

Begin the day as Nora Ephron would. End the day with a thrift store find.

Take your breakfast ($5) to Riverside Park and pretend you’re in a Nora Ephron movie while judging dogs’ outfits.

Walk down to The Met (pay-what-you-wish, so $1 counts) and spend an hour getting lost in the Temple of Dendur because you “just came to look” but somehow now you’re contemplating the ancient Egyptian job market.

Grab a $3 slice at Sal & Carmine’s: yes, you could get cheaper pizza elsewhere, but this one will haunt your dreams in the best way.

Head to the Strand Bookstore and dig through the $2 racks like your future depends on it (because in this economy, it might).

End the day with a $6 lavender latte from a hole‑in‑the‑wall East Village cafe where the barista looks like they’re in an indie band, then wander Washington Square Park for free street performances and existential dread under the arch.

Total: $17. You have $8 left for impulse‑bought earrings from a thrift store, because obviously. ;)

—Anna Zueva (SEAS'27)

And, much like Occam's razor, sometimes the simplest plan is the best one.

CitiBike + lawn blankets + snacks + Sheep Meadow, Central Park.

— George Verghese (GSAPP’23)