WHY GO Known as the city that never sleeps, New York is bursting with energy from morning till night. Offering everything from great monuments and museums to chic hotels, shops and lively restaurants, New York is a very popular city-break destination - particularly during the Christmas present buying season.

WHAT TO SEE There are plenty of must-sees in New York, and you will probably feel like you have seen many of them before.

BUILDINGS

EMPIRE STATE BUILDING
350 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10118 (00 1 212 736 3100;  Located between 33rd and 34th Streets in midtown Manhattan, it is impossible to miss the Empire State Building. The observatory, 1,050 feet above the ground, offers panoramic views. Built during the difficult financial times of the 1930s, it is a true monument of New Yorkers' determination. The observatory is open daily, 8am-2am. Last elevators go up at 1.15am.

ROCKEFELLER CENTER
Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112 (00 1 212 332 6868;  No longer the highest building on the New York skyline, but still a great experience. Watch the ice-skaters in action during the winter, shop, eat or join the tour explaining the history behind the house. Buy tickets in advance online if you want to skip the queues.

MONUMENTS

STATUE OF LIBERTY
Liberty Island, New York, NY 10004 (00 1 212 769 5100; The national monument that has captured the imagination of millions of immigrants entering New York harbour since 1886. The Statue houses a museum and visitors can join two different guided tours, of which one allows you to go all the way to the top of the lady. Tickets are issued with a time pass to ensure that queuing is minimised. Open daily.

MUSEUMS

AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024 (00 1 212 769 5100; Five floors of evolution - the perfect place to take children interested in science in general and dinosaurs in particular. Set up in 1869, the museum is only ten years younger than Darwin's Origins of Species. It has a good permanent exhibition and many varying and interesting temporary ones too. Open daily.

GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM
1071 5th Avenue at 89th Street, New York, NY 10128 (00 1 212 423 3500; One of the world's greatest museums and when it comes to modern art, the Guggenheim has it all. Restored in 1992, it offers paintings by all the greats - Picasso, Kandinsky and Miró to mention a few. Open Fri-Wed.

MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019 (00 1 212 708 9400;  Initially an educational project to enlighten the world on modern art, MOMA has now become one of the most important art museums in the world. The permanent exhibition is very good, and if you are lucky you will catch one of the better temporary ones too. Open Wed-Mon.

PARKS

BATTERY PARK
Southern tip of Manhattan, New York, NY 10280 (00 1 212 267 9700;  In reality a collection of smaller parks that together make a popular path for joggers. Battery Park offers beautiful views over Hudson River on a good day. Good shopping and restaurants are available too.

CENTRAL PARK
Central Manhattan, New York. New York's lung, Central Park is a vital detour on any shopping trip. Go rollerblading or people watching, or join one of volunteer-based Central Park's Conservancy's free walks to learn more about the Park's ecology and history. The Conservancy has a good website that allows you to check up on events in the Park during your visit 

OTHER

TIMES SQUARE
New York, NY 10036. A must-see for all tourists visiting New York - you will definitely recognise the most American square of them all from its countless TV and film appearances. A spectacle on New Year's Eve.

Visas: Most visitors to the US require a visa. Canadians need only proof of citizenship. A reciprocal visa-waiver program allows citizens of the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Andorra, Brunei, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Singapore, San Marino, Portugal, Norway and Monaco to stay up to 90 days without a visa. They must, however, have an onward ticket.

Public holidays: New Year's Day; Martin Luther King's Birthday (third Monday in January); Washington's Birthday (third Monday in February); Memorial Day (last Monday in May); Independence Day (4 July); Labor Day (first Monday in September); Discoverers' Day (second Monday in October); Veterans' Day (11 November); Thanksgiving (last Thursday in November); Christmas (25 December).

Good buys: Clothes are a popular choice as the brand names tend to be cheaper.

Local dishes: In the States you can pretty much eat whatever you want, whenever you want. The predictable enormous steaks, burgers, piles of ribs or half a chicken, served up with salads, fries, cooked vegetables and bread, can be found everywhere. But there is also a great deal of regional variation - try Cajun dishes in Louisiana, soul food in the southern states or Tex-Mex in Texas.

TRAVEL TIPS

DO:

Buy a worry-free unlimited MetroCard for public transport (see www.mta.info/metrocard for further information);

Pay by credit card - some places will only give you a refund by cheque if you pay cash;

Take the Staten Island Ferry and the Roosevelt Island Tram for free transport with great views.

DON'T:

Shop on the weekend, unless you love long queues, pushing, shoving and fighting over the last pair of size-small briefs;

USA Information