From downtown’s Battery Park to uptown’s Harlem, the Big Apple has been dipped in caramel and is more tempting than ever. And visitors are eating it up in record numbers: more than 45 million people were estimated to have visited New York City in 2007 to see what all the buzz is about.

Times Square has cleaned up its act and now has more neon than Las Vegas. The Financial District and Lower Manhattan are vibrant parts of town once again. And there’s no denying the city’s reputation as a cultural mecca. From Broadway shows, to Carnegie Hall concerts, to Lincoln Center performances, to the Museum of Modern Art’s recent facelift, the city is a giant canvas for the arts. Additionally, some call it the Sporting Capital of the United States, home to the Knicks, Yankees, Mets, Rangers, U.S. Open Tennis and the New York City Marathon.

You’ll find the pace of life energizing and contagious in New York. Type A personalities will thrive here, while mellower personalities will have no choice but to step it up a notch. And that’s the beauty of it all. Otherwise, New York is just another city.

Where to start

• The New York Stock Exchange.
• Jeffrey Keeton

To get the most out of your stay, a little planning is a good idea, but leave room for flexibility, because things can—and do—change in a New York minute in this city. With that in mind, here are some tips for what to see and where to go.

Historic Downtown

Beginning in the Financial District, visit St. Paul’s Chapel, a lovely church that was a staging area for rescue teams on 9/11, and Ground Zero, a humbling site where the World Trade Center Towers once presided over the City. For other free destinations, try Federal Hall National Memorial where George Washington was inaugurated, the New York Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank (hour-long tours available if you reserve ahead). And steal time for the National Museum of the American Indian (also free), the Skyscraper Museum ($10 adults/$5 students/children free), the Museum of Jewish Heritage ($5 GA/$2.50 students and seniors) and definitely the South Street Seaport. Kids especially love the festival atmosphere of the Seaport, a thriving community in its own right, with a maritime museum and a myriad of shops and restaurants.

Grab the ferry at Clinton Castle at Battery Park and take it to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Rides are $12 for adults, $5 for children, and you can buy tickets in advance online to make sure you get a spot on the ferry (www.statuecruises.com). Or take a ride on the free Staten Island Ferry, which cruises for five miles and runs by Lady Liberty.

The Lower East Side used to be celebrated for its pickles and pastrami (Katz’s Delicatessen on Houston Street is one of the few remaining old-school New York delis), and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum chronicles this transitional neighborhood’s immigrant past. The museum can be seen only via guided tour, so you may want to purchase your tickets in advance, either over the phone (866-811-4111) or online (www.tenement.org).