New York - The Route

New York. An edgy, fast-paced melting pot of cultures framed by its iconic midtown skyline, the Hudson and East Rivers and a history-laden past that has shaped the city as it is today. Clipper crews and their families and friends who come to visit them while they are berthed in Manhattan’s North Cove Marina will find something to suit every interest, every mood and every possible culinary taste.

There are different ethnic neighbourhoods like Lower Manhattan's Chinatown and the traditionally Jewish Lower East Side. Then there are the more artsy areas of SoHo, TriBeCa and the East and West Villages. Museums to make a bee-line for aren't limited to the Metropolitan and MoMA; there are countless smaller collections that would take weeks to get around. Dance, theatre and music are all superbly catered for – you might even manage to get hold of tickets for the latest must-see production on Broadway.

The city's trendiest quarter is the Meat Packing District. New York magazine calls it 'New York's most fashionable neighborhood'. In the area bordered by West 15th Street in the north, Gansevoort Street in the south and extending east from the Hudson River to Hudson Street, not so long ago the height of fashion was a blood-stained butcher's apron.

Now it's full of trendy boutiques guaranteed to put a dent in your bank account, exclusive clubs and the hippest of restaurants. Despite the new-found glitz, the area has retained its gritty edge as many wholesale meat companies continue to operate in the area. Blue collar workers by day give way to ad execs, magazine editors and models by night. It's been the setting for a movie premiere in the multi-award winning drama series, 'The Sopranos' and the area one of the characters in 'Sex and The City', Samantha, called home.

Architecture, food, shopping, culture, people watching, living the 24-hour lifestyle…you could spend weeks here and still barely scratch the surface. Whether it's cutting between buildings that are an icon to the modern age, gazing at the flickering lights of the midtown skyscrapers as you drive across the Queensboro Bridge, riding the ferry to Staten Island or shopping 'til you drop on Fifth Avenue, there is nowhere on earth like New York.