What is something New York City still has that many other major destinations don't?
It's not (just) Broadway theaters or pizza rats or rap-star mayors.
Unlike other tourism heavy hitters that are crowded with travelers year-round—think Florence, Paris, Orlando, or Tokyo—NYC still has a definite low season, when visitation plummets. During that deep winter period of roughly January 4 through mid-March, tourist-facing businesses have to get creative to stay solvent.
The city’s winter Restaurant Week has become a key component of that plan. That's when participating eateries all over town offer discounted prix fixe meals for two-course lunches and three-course dinners.
NYC Restaurant Week discounts
This year's winter edition of Restaurant Week will be from Tuesday, Jan. 20 through Thursday, Feb. 12 (so more like 3 weeks).
Options include some of the hottest tables in town, from star chef projects—such as Marcus Samuelsson's Hav & Mar and Red Rooster Harlem, Hillary Sterling's Ci Siamo, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten's ABCV and The Fulton—to classics including the Union Square Cafe and Pete's Tavern.
All will be offering two-course lunches and/or three-course dinners for the good-for-NYC prices of $30, $45, or $60. Reservations are open; slots go fast. To see the complete list of participating restaurants, click here.
Winter discounts for Broadway shows, museums, and hotels in NYC
In recent years, Restaurant Week has been just the tip of the big-savings iceberg.
During the same period, pretty much every major Broadway show will be offering two-for-the-price-of-one seats during NYC Broadway Week.
That includes 2025's Tony Award–winning Best Musical Maybe Happy Ending (if you ask me, the best show to hit the Great White Way in years) as well as Death Becomes Her, Hamilton, Chess, Ragtime, Oh, Mary!, and Moulin Rouge! The Musical. To capitalize on that promo, click here.
Just as enticing, nearly 100 of the city's top museums and other attractions will be letting two visitors in for the price of one as part of NYC Must See Week, also set for Jan. 20 through Feb. 12.
The promotion covers entry to the Intrepid Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the United Nations, the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, plus most of the city's observation decks and a number of tours. To see all of the offerings, visit the NYC Must See Week web page.
There's also an NYC Hotel Week promotion, but I can't recommend that one.
As the author, for the last 15 years, of the best-selling guidebook to the city—Frommer's New York City 2026 in its latest iteration—I track hotel prices. In my research I have seen that nightly rates tumble by as much as 50% every year during the winter and into early spring. I'd say prices bottom out starting January 4 and don't start to rise again until the last weeks of March.
So you can just use a regular booking engine to get a good deal on a hotel stay. No need to go through this promo.
How good will the savings be? It's not uncommon to see hotel rooms that go for between $400 and $700 a night from October through December cut to between $149 and $275 in deep winter.
This is all a long way of saying that if you have New York City on your bucket list, go in the coming weeks. The savings are REAL.
Yes, the weather is uncertain in winter; yesterday's temps were in the 20s, but they're saying next week could reach the 50s.
Still, it's not at all difficult to build a vacation around indoor entertainments. And there's no more welcoming, fun, or safe a destination in the United States today. Truly. NYC is a marvel you should experience for yourself.