Are you going to travel to New York and are you preparing your itinerary? Don't leave the Bronx out!! It is a beautiful neighborhood with places that you should know.
If you have already read 40 things to do in New York or have read the complete guide to New York, you will see that the Bronx, like the other districts of New York, I always explain it independently since it deserves its space, the Bronx has many things to do and unfortunately we do not always have all the time in the world to visit every corner, so my intention is to give you the maximum information about New York so that you can organize your time well and adapt your visit route according to your preferences and days in the town.
In this post I propose 10 Best Places to See in The Bronx, New York and make you fall in love with this corner of New York. Below I add a map with all the places indicated, so that you can organize your tour as it suits you.
But before explaining to you what to see in this neighborhood, let me answer some of the questions we ask ourselves the most before visiting a place:
IS THE BRONX DANGEROUS?
I don't know this neighborhood well enough (apart from the visits I've been making throughout my trips to the city) to be able to guarantee an answer.
I am originally from Barcelona, currently this city, like the rest of Spain, is 4/5 in terrorism. A very high level of crime and terrorism and if someone were to ask me if Barcelona is dangerous, my answer would be NO. What's more, I recommend you visit it!
Until a few years ago, the Bronx was known to be one of the most dangerous places in New York, even in the United States. Currently, security has increased a lot and it is possible to visit the Bronx without incident. Keep in mind that the Bronx is huge, and some areas are more problematic than others.
The places that I will recommend are mostly quiet areas and you should not apply more security measures than you would in other places in this huge city.
10 BEST PLACES TO SEE IN THE BRONX, NEW YORK
Currently, you can take a walk through the Bronx, the birthplace of rap and hip hop, and visit the New York Botanical Garden, Yankee Stadium, park areas, or see the most symbolic graffiti in the city.
1. The first thing I recommend you do is a tour of contrasts
It was our first visit to the neighborhood and apart from the fact that the guide was very entertaining and fun, he explained a thousand curiosities about the neighborhood and showed us the most emblematic places. It really made us want to visit the place again, and so it was that on future visits to New York we went to the Bronx to continue learning about it.
2. You can't come to the Bronx and not go to a Yankees game! Yankee Stadium
If the Bronx is known for anything, it's for its baseball team. And its stadium is undoubtedly one of the most important points of interest in the district and the most visited place in the Bronx by travelers. It was built in 1923 and was later renovated in 1976. It has a capacity for 50,291 spectators, making it one of the largest baseball stadiums in the United States.
If you have the opportunity to attend a game, I highly recommend it, the atmosphere, the good vibes and the game will make you enjoy like a dwarf.
If you are going to buy the New York Pass, you should know that it includes the entrance to this stadium and a guided tour of it. If you do not have this pass you have two options:
Buy the ticket to visit the stadium and do the guided tour that costs USD 20 per person.
Going to see a Yankees game as a fan. You can look at the tickets here, you will find prices from USD 24 per person for a normal match.
3. Visit the New York Botanical Garden
This beautiful botanical garden is located in the Bronx. It was one of the first botanical gardens in the United States of America. In huge and there are up to 48 different gardens.
If you are going to buy the New York Pass, you should know that it includes the entrance to the botanical garden.
4. Fort Apache, Bronx 42nd Precinct
Paul Newman made this place famous when he appeared in the movie Fort Apache in 1981. In the movie, Newman was one of the policemen from this police station located in hostile territory trying to survive the conflict surrounded by drugs, riots and murders… The movie is a reflection, in addition to the situation in the Bronx, of the police corruption of that time.
The good thing about doing the tour of contrasts, apart from coming here to meet the police station, is that the guide told us all the things that were done to stop so much violence, crime and murders. One of them, known as 'Stop shooting, start living' (Stop shooting, start living), tried to get weapons off the street by giving their owners food or clothing checks in exchange for them. The commitment of the police was not to investigate the origin of these weapons or the crimes that could have been committed with them.
5. Urban art and murals
In the Bronx you will find countless graffiti, many of them dedicated not only to hip-hop music legends, but also to innocent victims of the conflicts in the Bronx. In this district the streets tell stories through urban art, most of them are sad and related to violent deaths.
Walking through the streets you will find true works of art and of those that stand out:
I love The Bronx
Big Pun mural
Mural by Amadou Diallo
Head Acke Nelson mural
6. Woodlawn Cemetery
The Bronx cemetery is huge and houses the tombs of famous people such as Herman Melville, Joseph Pulitzer or Celia Cruz. At the same entrance to the cemetery you can join a tour, which tours the graves of the most famous.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of cemeteries, although I always end up visiting them. But it is a very interesting and popular stop.
7. Bronx Museum of the Arts
Since it was founded in 1971, the Museum has played a vital role in the Bronx by helping to make art accessible to the entire community. In commemoration of its 40th anniversary, the Museum added universal free admission, supporting its mission to make art experiences available to all audiences.
The Bronx Museum's permanent collection is made up of more than 2,000 works of art spanning all formats.
Access is completely free and the hours are as follows:
Closed Monday.
Tuesday closed.
Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Thursday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
8. Arthur Avenue and Belmont, the Little Italy of the Bronx
In this area you will find countless shops and restaurants where you can taste exquisite Italian food that will transport you to Italy.
9. The Edgar Allan Poe Cottage
The Edgar Allan Poe Cottage is the former home of the American writer with the same name. It is located at Kingsbridge Road and Grand Concourse in the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx, New York, a short distance from its original location, and is now in the northern part of Poe Park.
You can get here on a walk and tour the neighborhood and Poe Park.
10. Visit one of its parks and green areas
If the Bronx has something, it is that even when you are in New York, where buildings, houses and shops are everywhere, in the Bronx there are several green areas and some very beautiful ones.
My favorite is the Orchard Beach area (photo), where there is a beautiful beach with a very peculiar pier. It is a very visiting place since it is a beautiful beach near the city and in summer it is bursting.
On the map I mark some more like; go cortlandt park or wave hill which are also beautiful and are a necessary stop to breathe and recharge batteries.
10 + 1. Bronx Zoo
Yes, I already know that at the beginning of the post I proposed 10 options to do in the Bronx, but I, being a zoo geek, could not resist.
The bronx zoo is a beautiful place to walk and if you have time and days to spare it is a good option. Especially if you go with children that surely they will love it.
The bronx zoo is a beautiful place to walk and if you have time and days to spare it is a good option. Especially if you go with children that surely they will love it.
TIME NEEDED TO GET TO KNOW THE BRONX
If you don't have much time, I recommend you do the contrasts tour. This tour allows you to see this area + some other areas of New York in mid-morning or afternoon. But if you have time and can dedicate at least a full day to the Bronx, I recommend that you dedicate this minimum time as there is much to see. You can also do a combination of nights, where one of them you sleep here.
HOW TO GET TO THE BRONX
The best way to get to the Bronx is by subway.
What you have to be clear about is where in the Bronx you want to start your visit, because in addition to being huge, there are conflictive areas in the Bronx. Perhaps what makes the most sense is that you start your visit in the Botanical Garden area and walk to Little Italy.
Bronx Subway Map:
PLAN YOUR TRIP STEP BY STEP
I hope you enjoy your trip to New York a lot and that this article has been useful to you. You can continue reading many more related articles on the blog.
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A hug and see you soon!