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If you think green travel only means eco-lodges and nature breaks, remember Manhattan, whose compact grid and public parks make it possible to leave a small footprint on a visit to the island city – no roughing it required.

Sustainability in a city of 8 million might seem hard to come by, but “it feels like New Yorkers are more determined than ever to go greener,” says Virtuoso travel advisor and native New Yorker Samantha Dorfman. 

When the sun comes out, pedestrians make for design-forward parks and planned outdoor spaces, such as Little Island and the High Line, where leisurely strolling is on trend. Moving indoors, in chic hotels from Fifth Avenue to the Brooklyn Bridge, New York’s hospitality scene is in the vanguard of sustainable stays worldwide, merging uncompromising style with award-winning environmental design.

To plan a New York escape that samples the city’s sustainable strides, prepare to explore by foot or bike, go all out on vegetarian Michelin-starred meals, and retreat to the city sanctuaries where nature still prevails.

Do

Going car-free is a point of pride in Manhattan, a city that yields its best secrets to those willing to walk. “I love strolling around Greenwich Village. The neighborhood feels like stepping back in time,” says Dorfman. For a longer trek, she adds, “Nothing beats crossing the Brooklyn Bridge.”

Virtuoso advisors can book personalized, private walking tours such as Beyond Times Square’s half-day visit to the High Line and Hudson Yards – two urban redevelopment projects that combine cultural programming with public gardens – or the two-and-a-half-hour Brooklyn graffiti tour, which encourages hands-on street art. “The most exciting part is walking the sidewalks,” says Carole Peck of Beyond Time Square. “You’re in a crowd, but in New York that’s all part of the charm.”

Explore newer parks such as Little Island, a two-acre green space, complete with a concert venue, on Hudson River Park’s Pier 54. Or ride a bike: Cycling through Central Park to a private, butler-served pop-up picnic makes for an indulgent end to a carefree afternoon on two wheels.

Eat

When Eleven Madison Park made its entire menu plant-based in 2021, it became the first vegan restaurant to hold three Michelin stars. In late 2024, its culinary team opened a hushed upstairs lounge, Clemente Bar, decorated with original canvases by Italian painter Francesco Clemente and serving playful veggie bar snacks such as sake pickles and black truffle agedashi tofu rolls.

These days, sustainable tables are among the city’s most sought-after reservations, from the Lower East Side’s vegetarian tasting menus at Dirt Candy to Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s plant-forward AbcV near Union Square.

Late last year, a dozen “Certified Green” restaurants also teamed up to form an eco-friendly dining collective in the Flatiron and NoMad neighborhoods. To explore the collective, start with Michelin-starred Rezdôra, showcasing the produce and pasta of Emilia-Romagna. Or opt for the stylish and plant-based sushi at Planta Queen. Proving that green cuisine goes beyond health food, Blackbarn NoMad’s American-style tavern makes its ravioli and other comfort dishes with mushrooms grown at the Queens-based farm Afterlife. Blackbarn then donates its food waste to the farm for compost, completing a full-circle partnership.

Stay

Amid Midtown’s linear skyscrapers, the 164-room Pendry Manhattan West emulates nature’s curving lines across its granite-and-glass facade. Not only futuristic in design, the hotel is also hydropowered and LEED-certified, meeting high standards for energy efficiency, air quality, building materials, and more environmental impacts. Guests are encouraged to explore the neighborhood by joining local artists and curators for guided walking tours of Chelsea neighborhood art galleries. Virtuoso travelers receive breakfast daily and a $100 resort credit.

Behind the Central Park views and Versailles-inspired decor of Taj Hotels’ 189-room Pierre, its EarthCheck Platinum Certification underscores industry-leading efficiency standards – the hotel enrolled in NYC’s initiative to pare back emissions citywide. Consult The Pierre’s Les Clefs d’Or concierge for green dining reservations and citywide earth-friendly activities. Virtuoso travelers receive breakfast daily and a $100 dining credit. 

A location within Brooklyn Bridge Park guarantees unbeatable views from the 194-room 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, a walkable and bikeable home base just across the river from Manhattan. “This neighborhood has old-school New York City history, as well as new businesses excited to bring people that New York experience,” says Brooklyn-based Virtuoso advisor Jaime Weinberg.

The hotel feels almost futuristic – if it weren’t for its age-old building materials, including locally sourced stone and lush greenery. They underpin the property’s biophilic design philosophy, which mimics nature through structure, plant life, and artwork (including flowing, landscape-like ink murals by Alvaro Ilizarbe). Lounging on 1 Hotel’s tree-lined rooftop, as rainwater filters underground to irrigation tanks that keep the landscape alive, it’s easy to imagine an even greener New York City to come. Virtuoso travelers receive breakfast daily and a $100 dining credit.