New York City is the primary travel destination in the state. In 2001, there were 35.2 million visitors to New York City, including 5.7 million international visitors. A typical visit to New York City might include a boat ride to the Statue of Liberty—a three-hour boat ride around Manhattan; visits to the World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, the UN, Rockefeller Center, and the New York Stock Exchange; walking tours of the Bronx Zoo, Chinatown, and the theater district; and a sampling of the city's many museums, restaurants, shops, and shows.
Second to New York City as a magnet for tourists comes Long Island, with its beaches, racetracks, and other recreational facilities. Attractions of the Hudson Valley include the US Military Academy (West Point), the Franklin D. Roosevelt home at Hyde Park, Bear Mountain State Park, and several wineries. North of Hudson Valley is Albany, with its massive government center, Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Plaza, often called the Albany Mall; Saratoga Springs, home of an arts center, racetrack, and spa; and the Adirondack region, with its forest preserve, summer and winter resorts, and abundant hunting and fishing. Northwest of the Adirondacks, in the St. Lawrence River, are the Thousand Islands—actually some 1,800 small islands extending over about 50 mi (80 km), and popular among freshwater fishermen and summer vacationers.
Scenic sites in central New York include the resorts of the Catskills and the scenic marvels of the Finger Lakes region, including Taughannock Falls in Trumansburg, the highest waterfall east of the Rockies. Further west lie Buffalo and Niagara Falls. South of the Niagara Frontier is the Southwest Gateway, among whose dominant features are Chautauqua Lake and Allegany State Park, the state's largest. The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation operates state parks, historic sites, and boat-launching sites.