An Off-The-Beaten-Path Guide To Queens New York City

Sure, you’ve rooted for the home team at Citi Field and partied with artists at MoMA PS1, but there’s more to Queens than dugouts and DJs. From unlikely foodie destinations to unique outdoor experiences, New York City’s biggest borough boasts plenty of under-the-radar attractions. Here’s our guide to the road less traveled in Queens, New York.

1. Ganesh Temple

Hindu Temple

For 40 years, Ganesh Temple has served the Queens community, regardless of religion. Brought to you by the non-profit Hindu Temple Society of North America, the temple offers daily poojas and special services to its religious visitors and awe-inspiring architecture and decor to all.

2. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

Park, Zoo, Museum

New York, USA. 3rd Sep, 2018. People cool off at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, New York City, the United States, on Sept. 3, 2018. Credit: Li Muzi/Xinhua/Alamy Live News

Home to renowned venue Citi Field, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park may not strike you as being an under-the-radar attraction. However, off the field, not much is known about this Queens green space, which boasts more than just ball games. A U.S. Open-approved tennis stadium, several golf courses, a science museum and Queens Botanical Garden all call this park home.

3. Fort Totten Park

Building, Museum, Park, Ruins

The Bayside Historical Society, formerly the Officers Club in Fort Totten in the Bayside neighborhood of Queens in New York

A Civil War-era fort-turned-public park, Fort Totten Park offers one of the city’s more unique outdoor experiences. Visitors are free to explore the former officers’ quarters, hospital and laboratories, which lie in ruins after being abandoned in the 1970s. To top off the already unforgettable destination, the park is also home to a gorgeous neo-Gothic building known as the Castle, a pool, and superior bird-watching.

5. Flushing

Market

Flushing, Queens, New York, is now the second largest Chinatown in USA, behind SF

Nowhere is New York City’s celebrated diversity more apparent than in Flushing, Queens. Tour the world without ever leaving the city in this neighborhood, home to numerous ethnic groups, vibrant cultural celebrations and what many consider to be the city’s superior Chinatown.

6. Socrates Sculpture Park

Park, Museum, Cinema, Market

Couple viewing a contemporary art installation at Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria, Queens, New York.

Nearly five acres of landfill form the base of Queens’ Socrates Sculpture Park, lending an urban edge to the waterfront green space. Happily for local park-lovers, this attraction is all treasure and no trash. Offering free fitness classes, open-air film screenings, art installations and picturesque plant life, there’s plenty to absorb at Socrates Sculpture Park.

7. Smiling Hogshead Ranch

Botanical Garden

Urban farm in Long Island City in Queens in New York

Think gardening’s got no edge? The down-and-dirty farmers at Smiling Hogshead Ranch invite you to think otherwise. Boasting some questionable beginnings, this volunteer-run urban farm started off as a ‘guerilla garden’ whose founders occupied its land without permission. Situated on an abandoned Long Island Rail Road rail spur, the garden – which is named after the old pig skeleton discovered on the site – brings an urban edge to a classic country pastime.

8. Harry Houdini's grave

Cemetery, Memorial

The final resting spot of the famed escape artist and magician Harry Houdini is seen in Machpelah Cemetery in Queens in New York

Witness the final resting place of a 20th-century icon, who maintains a magical air of mystery even in death. Gone but certainly not forgotten, escape artist Harry Houdini has continued to inspire curiosity since his death on Halloween of 1926. Today, the illusionist’s grave is a popular spot for seances, secretive ceremonies by magician societies and visitors hoping to catch the greatest escape act in Houdini’s history.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.