❌ UPDATE June 2025: The provider Sightseeingpass has filed for bankruptcy! The FLEX and DAY passes can no longer be purchased or redeemed!
If you’re interested in the New York Sightseeing DAY Pass, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ll show you everything you need to know about the Sightseeing DAY Pass: how it works, which attractions are included in the DAY Pass (and which are not), and what advantages and disadvantages it has.
At the end, we answer the most frequently asked questions and share our experiences with the Sightseeing DAY Pass.
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💡 How does the Sightseeing DAY Pass work?
In total, the Sightseeing Pass NYC includes over 100 TOP sights, city tours, and museums, including four observation decks and the BIG BUS city tours.
Once you have purchased it, you are free to visit as many sights as you like and as much time as you have.
You have a choice of 8 different options, as the Sightseeing DAY Pass is available for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 10 days.
Please note: The days are valid consecutively. For example, if you use the 5-day pass for the first time on Monday, it is valid from Monday to Friday. A “day” counts as a full calendar day. In our example, the pass expires at midnight on Friday.
The DAY Pass is a digital product that is delivered to you immediately after purchase. You do not have to pick it up at a ticket counter in New York City.
When you arrive in New York, simply present your Sightseeing DAY Pass at the desired attractions to gain entry.
Please note: Some attractions require a prior reservation!
🗽Which attractions are included?
There is an impressive selection of sights, city tours, guided tours, boat trips, and famous museums. More than 100 well-known highlights await you.
We present the most important ones in the following sections. This will give you a clear overview of the available attractions.
🌃 Viewing platforms
Among the most popular sights that you can visit with the DAY Pass are New York’s viewing platforms. You can visit a total of four free of charge with the Sightseeing DAY Pass:
- Empire State Building (Ticket price: 48 Dollar)
- One World Observatory (Ticket price: 45 Dollar)
- The Edge at Hudson Yards (Ticket price: 44 Dollar)
- Top of the Rock (Ticket price: 44 Dollar)
A reservation is required for the Empire State Building. You can easily book this via the reservation page of the Sightseeing Pass. You will receive the link after purchasing the pass.
You can visit the other viewing platforms without booking in advance, and you will be allocated the next available time. In most cases, you will have to wait between 15 minutes and four hours.
It may happen that tickets are temporarily unavailable. In this case, you should try again later.
SUMMIT One Vanderbilt is the fifth observation deck and is not included in any of the New York Passes. Tickets for One Vanderbilt can be purchased separately here.
🖼️ Museums with the Sightseeing DAY Pass
New York is home to a large number of world-famous museums. You can visit over 20 of them free of charge with the DAY Pass.
Only the 9/11 Memorial & Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art are not part of the program.
These museums are included:
- American Museum of Natural History (Ticket price: $28)
- ARTECHOUSE New York (Ticket price: $35)
- Fotografiska New York (Ticket price: $30)
- Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (Ticket price: $33)
- Museum of Modern Art (MoMA): Ticket price: $30
- Museum of Broadway (Ticket price: $39)
- Guggenheim Museum (Ticket price: $30)
- Madame Tussauds (Ticket price: $48)
- Whitney Museum of American Art (Ticket price: $25)
Our tip: The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is included in the comparable New York Pass. If a visit to this museum is on your itinerary, you should take a look at the New York Pass.
🚌 City tours
The Sightseeing DAY Pass gives you the opportunity to take various bus tours of the city.
The hop-on, hop-off buses from BIG BUS are ideal for an initial overview. Here, you can easily discover the city’s main attractions and districts.
The day ticket includes the downtown and uptown routes. The downtown loop starts at Times Square and takes you past famous sights such as the Empire State Building, Bryant Park, and the Flatiron Building to Battery Park. From there, it goes past the One World Trade Center back to Times Square.
The Uptown loop also starts at Times Square and takes you north past Central Park to Harlem. Another section of this route takes you along 5th Avenue.
An audio guide is available for both routes, providing you with fascinating details about the individual buildings.
These bus tours are included:
- Big Bus New York Essential Ticket – 1 day Hop-on Hop-off Tour (Ticket price: $60)
- THE RIDE (Ticket price: $79)
- NYC TV and Movie Tour by Bus (Ticket price: $61)
- Woodbury Common Premium Outlets (Ticket price: $47)
Our tip: You don’t need to book for the city tour with BIG BUS, but reservations are required for all other tours.
🚢 Boat trips
The boat tours should not be missed in the Sightseeing DAY Pass. There are a total of six boat trips to choose from, including the 1.5-hour Circle Line Landmarks Cruise.
With the exception of the sailing tour on the tall ship (May to October), you do not need a reservation for the boat trips. We recommend that you arrive at the pier one hour before departure. Show your Sightseeing DAY Pass at the ticket counter to receive your tickets for the boat tour.
These boat trips are included:
- Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Ferry (Ticket price: $24.50)
- Circle Line NYC Landmarks Cruise (Ticket price: $41)
- Circle Line Liberty Cruise (Ticket price: $29)
- Circle Line Liberty Super Express (Ticket price: $29)
- Manhattan By Sail – Clipper City Daytime Statue Sail (Ticket price: $55, from May til October)
🎡 Sightseeing with the Sightseeing DAY Pass
In addition to the viewing platforms and numerous museums, there are other sights you can visit with the Sightseeing DAY Pass.
These sights are included:
- 9/11 Museum Workshop (Ticket price: $30)
- Brooklyn Botanic Garden (Ticket price: $18)
- Madison Square Garden Tour (Ticket price: $37)
- Radio City Music Hall (Ticket price: $33)
- RiseNY (Ticket price: $43)
- Central Park Zoo & Bronx Zoo (Ticket price $40)
- Harlem Gospel Tour (Ticket price: $55)
- New York Botanical Garden (Ticket price: $35)
- New York Aquarium (Ticket price: $30)
- Luna Park at Coney Island (Ticket price: $70)
Our tip: With the DAY Pass, you can also book a transfer from JFK airport to Manhattan. However, we advise against this as it activates the pass. In the rarest of cases, you will have a whole day of sightseeing at your disposal, as most international flights only land around midday. This means you are “wasting” valuable hours when you cannot use the pass.
🕺 Walking tours
Walking tours are very popular in New York. These are also called walking tours and are conducted by a New York guide.
There is a suitable tour for almost every important neighborhood, which you can do for free with the Sightseeing DAY Pass.
These walking tours are included in the Sightseeing DAY Pass:
- Brooklyn Bridge & DUMBO Walking Tour (Ticket price: $39)
- Central Park Walking Tour (Ticket price: $36)
- Grand Central Tour (Ticket price: $35)
- Food on Foot Tours (Ticket price: $49)
- Graffiti & Street Art Walking Tour of Brooklyn (Ticket price: $32)
Important: You need a reservation for almost all of them.
🚲 Bike hire with the Sightseeing DAY Pass
In addition to classic bike hire, you can also choose from guided bike tours. You can even hire an e-scooter or e-bike with the Sightseeing DAY Pass.
These bike tours are included in the Sightseeing DAY Pass:
- Central Park Bike Rental
- Central Park Bike Tours
- Brooklyn Bridge Bike Rental
- Brooklyn Bridge Bike Tours
📅 Reservations
For some attractions, you will need a timed ticket in addition to your Sightseeing DAY Pass. Although this ticket is free, it is required to gain access to certain attractions with your Sightseeing Pass.
This is particularly the case for guided tours of New York. You will also need a timed ticket for some major attractions, such as the Empire State Building, the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and the American Museum of Natural History.
Note that the list of attractions where this is the case may change over time. You should, therefore, check which attractions and tours require reservations before traveling.
A constantly updated overview of attractions that require a reservation can be found under this link.
Especially during the high season from May to October, you may not find any available times for your desired day. In such cases, try to choose other days.
🫰What does the Sightseeing DAY Pass cost?
The cost of the Sightseeing DAY Pass varies depending on the period of validity. While the one-day pass is available for $149, the price for the 10-day pass is $399.
The age limit for children is 3 to 12 years.
Price Adult | Costs per day | Price Child | |
DAY Pass 1 day | $149 | $149 per day | $114 |
DAY Pass 2 days | $204 | $102 per day | $139 |
DAY Pass 3 days | $249 | $83 per day | $174 |
DAY Pass 4 days | $289 | $71 per day | $194 |
DAY Pass 5 days | $319 | $64 per day | $214 |
DAY Pass 6 days | $339 | $57 per day | $234 |
DAY Pass 7 days | $359 | $51 per day | $259 |
DAY Pass 10 days | $399 | $39 per day | $289 |
Our tip: Select the additional insurance when purchasing the pass. This gives you the option of canceling the pass free of charge if necessary. This insurance costs 6% more and can be added directly during the purchase. You cannot cancel the pass without this insurance.
💻 Does the Sightseeing DAY Pass pay off?
Visiting the attractions in New York City can be expensive. A single ticket for the Empire State Building costs $48, the hop-on hop-off city tours from BIG BUS $60 and the boat tours $44.
If you consider visits to other attractions such as One World Trade Centre, Top of the Rock, the Edge observation deck, and Madame Tussauds, the cost of individual tickets adds up to $333.
In comparison, you can get a 2-day Sightseeing DAY Pass for as little as $204, a saving of $129 per person, a 39% discount.
The more of the high-priced attractions you visit, the more profitable the Sightseeing DAY Pass becomes for you.
🗺️ Itinerary for 4 days
The most popular option is the DAY Pass for four days. This costs $289, so we have created a sample itinerary for you here.
It includes viewing platforms, museums, and the best attractions.
With just ten attractions spread over four days, you save $239 per person, making the DAY Pass for four days 45% cheaper than comparable individual tickets.
This shows you how quickly a Sightseeing DAY Pass pays for itself.
Attractions | Price without DAY Pass |
DAY 1 | |
Empire State Building | $48 |
BIG BUS Hop-on Hop-off | $60 |
Madame Tussauds + Marvel 4 D | $48 |
DAY 2 | |
American Museum of Natural History | $28 |
Guggenheim Museum | $30 |
Top of the Rock | $44 |
DAY 3 | |
Intrepid Museum | $33 |
Edge Hudson Yards | $44 |
Circle Line Best-of-NYC Cruise | $44 |
DAY 4 | |
Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Ferry | $25 |
The RIDE | $79 |
One World Observatory | $45 |
YOUR SAVINGS | |
Costs without DAY Pass: | $528 |
Sightseeing DAY Pass 4 days: | $289 |
SAVINGS: | $239 per person (45%) |
👨👩👧👧 Sightseeing DAY Pass for children
Many attractions in New York offer free admission for children up to the age of 5. If you are traveling with a child of this age, it may not be beneficial for the child to purchase a Sightseeing DAY Pass.
These are the age limits for selected attractions:
Attraction | Child |
Empire State Building | 6 to 12 years |
Edge Hudson Yards | 6 to 12 years |
SUMMIT One Vanderbilt | 6 to 12 years |
One World Observatory | 6 to 12 years |
American Museum of Natural History | 3 to 12 years |
Museum of Modern Art | 16 years and younger free of charge |
Guggenheim Museum | 12 years and younger free of charge |
📲 Purchase, download, and free app
We recommend purchasing via the official website SightseeingPass.com. Experience has shown that the Sightseeing DAY Pass is the cheapest there.
After purchase, you will receive an email with your personalized Sightseeing DAY Passes. In the email, you will also find a digital travel guide with lots of information about the attractions.
You then have two options: Either save the passes as a PDF and print them out, or you can save your passes directly to your smartphone. This is very easy with just one click.
On Android smartphones, you can do this with the pre-installed Google Wallet. For iPhones, it’s the Wallet app.
The advantage of this is that you can access it in New York City, even without the internet. You don’t need a SIM card or WLAN.
After purchasing and downloading the passes, they are not yet active. We explain how and when activation takes place in the following section.
🚀 Activation of the Sightseeing DAY Pass on site
As soon as you present your Sightseeing DAY Pass at the first attraction in New York, it will be scanned and activated. The first day of use only begins from this point.
To get the most out of your Sightseeing DAY Pass, you should ideally start it early in the day. Then you can use the full day for sightseeing.
If you start late in the afternoon, you will have less time to see many sights and could miss out on potential savings.
This process is completely automatic and requires no further action on your part.
🚨 Disadvantages
However, in addition to the many advantages of the pass, there are also aspects that you should consider:
- Cost: If you only want to visit one or two sights a day, the pass might not be ideal for you in terms of price.
- Validity: The days of use of the pass must be consecutive.
- Sightseeing pressure: You may feel that you need to visit as many attractions as possible to maximize the value of the pass.
- Reservations: Additional reservations are required for some attractions. You can find an overview here.
- Waiting times: Despite separate queues for pass holders, these are not fast-track accesses.
- Not all attractions are included: The 9/11 Memorial Museum is one important museum that is missing.
Recommendation: If you are wavering between the 4-day and 5-day pass, tend toward the shorter option. This reduces the pressure of having to see everything, and the 4-day pass still offers excellent value for money.
👉 Sightseeing DAY Pass alternatives
In addition to the Sightseeing DAY Pass, there is a comparable City Pass: the New York Pass from Go City.
It works in the same way as the Sightseeing DAY Pass and has 100+ attractions to offer. The 9/11 Memorial Museum and the tour of the Rockefeller Center are also covered by the New York Pass.
We have put together more details in the comparison of the New York Pass vs. the Sightseeing Pass.
Instead of the Sightseeing DAY Pass, you can also consider the Explorer Pass, the Sightseeing FLEX Pass, or the CityPASS New York. With these passes, you can select certain attractions and visit them over several days.
You can see which other NY passes are available in our New York Pass comparison.
👍 My experience with the Sightseeing DAY Pass
Over time, we have used the Sightseeing DAY Pass twice. We opted for a validity of 5 or 7 days as we wanted to get the most out of our visit.
In the past, however, there were brief problems at the attractions because they were unable to scan the pass. However, this has now been resolved.
🔎 Conclusion: Who is the pass suitable for?
If you want to experience the best of New York City, the Sightseeing DAY Pass is ideal for you. It gives you access to over 90 attractions, including viewing platforms, museums, city tours, and boat trips.
The only pity is that the 9/11 Memorial Museum is not included. If this is on your itinerary and you liked the Sightseeing DAY Pass, you should definitely take a closer look at the New York Pass.
☝️FAQ
When will I receive my Sightseeing DAY Pass?
You will receive your Sightseeing DAY Pass by email immediately after purchase. Each person receives an individual Sightseeing DAY Pass. These work independently of each other.
Can I visit the same attraction more than once?
No. Each attraction can be visited exactly once with the Sightseeing DAY Pass. However, you can visit as many attractions as you like!
Is public transport included in the Sightseeing DAY Pass?
The Sightseeing DAY Pass does not include the Metrocard for the subway and buses. This applies not only to this pass but to all Sightseeing Passes offered in the city.
Can the Sightseeing DAY Pass be extended?
No, unfortunately, it is not possible to book an additional day after purchase.
Can the Sightseeing DAY Pass be canceled?
You can cancel the Sightseeing DAY Pass if you have booked the additional insurance at the time of purchase. It costs 6% of the total amount. It must not have been activated yet, and no reservations should have been made at the sights.
