Top 15 Things To Do in Staten Island, New York

Why Staten Island Belongs on Your Adventure Shortlist

There’s a quiet subversion to Staten Island: a place rarely associated with escape that quietly gives it away. Step off the Staten Island Ferry and you have two narratives at once — the glinting towers of Manhattan receding behind you and an immediate promise of shoreline wind, marsh reed chorus, and the slow geometry of parkland. For travelers who measure a city by the ease with which it lets you leave it, Staten Island is an elegant compromise. You can spend an hour crossing the harbor with your camera trained on the Statue of Liberty, then, the same afternoon, swap crowds for craggy shoreline and a long, unhurried walk across the South Beach Boardwalk. The borough’s Greenbelt is a revelation for anyone expecting concrete: miles of singletrack and gravel lanes, kettle ponds and glades that absorb city noise and replace it with cedar and chirp.

The travel logic here is simple and practical. Staten Island gives you micro-adventures — short, high-value outings that fit between trains, meals, and museum hours. A morning walking tour of historic St. George and its colonial streets can be followed by a midday fishing charter leaving from a neighborhood marina. In late afternoon, local outfitters stage boat tours and sailing trips that trace the Narrows, while photographers and sightseers linger on ferry decks to catch golden-hour reflections off the harbor. For families, the boardwalk and quiet beaches are low-stress options; for cyclists, bike rentals and e-bike routes offer gentle topography and surprisingly varied shoreline vistas.

Culturally, Staten Island is its own New York: neighborhood festivals, small museums, and a growing food scene anchored in corner bakeries and seafood stands. Ecologically, it’s an overlooked classroom — Fresh Kills Park’s ongoing transformation from landfill to grassland is an active example of urban-scale restoration, and guided eco tours offer a firsthand look at how a city reimagines its edges. Practical travelers will appreciate how accessible many experiences are: short transit times, a compact set of staging areas, and outfitters who know the pace of a day trip. Bring a good camera, plan for changing wind off the water, and leave room in your schedule for the borough’s slower gifts — quiet overlooks, tideflats at low tide, and the half-hour when the ferry hums and the city opens like a map.

Staten Island’s appeal is in its mix: city-tour convenience with water activities and greenway escapes. Outfitters and seasonal rentals make it easy to tack a sailing or fishing trip onto a neighborhood stroll; photography tours often pair a ferry ride with curated viewpoints around St. George and the boardwalk.

Plan for shifting weather on the water and wear layers; shoulder seasons (late spring and early fall) offer the best combination of mild temperatures and fewer crowds. For deeper nature excursions, check tide charts, park access details, and any guided-tour schedules in advance.

Choose Your Adventure Level