No trip to New York is complete without a walk through Times Square, the boisterous epicenter of Manhattan. Visitors from all over the world come to see the site of the New Year’s Eve ball drop, Broadway shows and the guitar-strumming Naked Cowboy, taking in the bright lights and frenetic energy along the way. Megastores abound, with big names like Sephora, Toys R Us, the MTV Store and ESPN Zone dominating their own stretches of sidewalk. Interactive billboards loom above, screening videos, flashing LEDs and playing music all in chaos with one another. There’s a hotel to suit every style here, including old-school establishments, like the Art Deco Hotel Edison and The Algonquin (with its famous Oak Room Supper Club), lushly decorated boutique stays, like The Michelangelo, and stylish, modern options, such as the W New York – Times Square. For dinner, skip the chain restaurants you know from home and hit one of the tried-and-true spots in the neighborhood: Carmine’s for outstanding family-style Italian fare or John’s Pizzeria for a perfectly charred brick oven pie under the stained glass windows of an old church. Nearly every subway line in Manhattan makes a stop at Times Square; it’s also the perfect launching pad to other attractions, like Bryant Park, Grand Central Station and Rockefeller Center, which are all just a short walk away.