The Upper West Side is one of Manhattan's quieter, more residential neighborhoods, with wide sidewalks and a (relatively) slower pace. The Met Cloisters, in Inwood, houses part of the Metropolitan Museum's medieval collection.
The tree-lined side streets of the Upper West Side are lovely, with high stoops leading up to stately brownstones. Central Park, of course, is one of the main attractions here, no matter the season or time of day; though locals know that Riverside Park, along the Hudson River, can be even more appealing thanks to smaller crowds.
The Upper West Side also has its share of cultural institutions, from the 16-acre Lincoln Center complex, to the impressive and quirky collection at the New-York Historical Society, to Columbus Circle's Museum of Arts and Design and the much-loved, soon-to-be-expanded American Museum of Natural History.
