17 Top Experience Gifts in NYC for 2024

Looking for the perfect experience gift in NYC? The Big Apple is a city rife with great opportunities to make a perfect impression with your gift, including a huge wealth of educational, creative, culinary and adventurous delights.

Whether you are gifting for the holidays or any other occasion throughout the year, experience gifts can be a great solution when you’re not quite sure where to start.

 What to buy someone who lives in New York City? How can I surprise someone in NYC? We’ve rounded up a few favorite experience gifts in NYC that will appeal to even the most challenging person to buy things for.

Many of these gifts appeal to both die-hard New Yorkers and first-time visitors alike. The result is a memorable and singular experience they will never forget. 

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• Foodie Experience Gifts in NYC
• Creative Experience Gifts in NYC
• Unique Experience Gifts in NYC
• Luxury Experience Gifts in NYC
• Best Experience Gifts in NYC for Him
• Best Experience Gifts in NYC for Her

Foodie Experience Gifts in NYC

1. Cooking Classes

One of the best experience gifts in NYC for foodies is to enroll the giftee in a cooking class. Dedicated to all varieties of cuisine and types of dishes, cooking classes in NYC are an excellent gift for the experienced chef or the kitchen novice, offering a chance to learn everything from handmade pasta-making to sushi rolling. If you're unsure which class they want to take, get them a Classpop! gift card so that they can choose.

2. Brewery, Distillery and Winery Tours

Winery and brewery tours and events are a perfect way to sample new beverages and rediscover old favorites.

Whether you are sampling whiskies or learning about brewing, many distilleries, breweries and wineries in NYC and surrounding areas offer educational and social events with plenty of samples to go around.

Check out regular tours and tastings at the Kings County Distillery or the Brooklyn Brewery.

3. Neighborhood Food Tour

New York is a city of distinctive burroughs each with their own flavor and culinary favorites available at neighborhood eateries. A perfect experience gift in NYC is gifting tickets or passes to a food tour, many of which are available everywhere from Manhattan to Coney Island.

From the best bagels to the ultimate sushi rolls, tours cover a huge swathe of the city’s favorite eats.

Creative Experience Gifts in NYC

4. Art or Craft Classes

Creative classes are a perfect experience gift in NYC, giving the enrollee a chance to explore their own creative impulses and learn valuable new skills.

There are a number of great art classes in NYC, photography classes in NYC and pottery classes in NYC that will allow you to explore new art forms and create something beautiful you will have forever. Classes make great gifts for artists and educational gifts for crafters.

5. Paint and Sips

A slightly more casual take on an art class, paint and sips in NYC allow you the creative experience and the social boost of enjoying a few cocktails while working on your masterpiece. They are great for group outings and for a fun date idea in NYC.

If you’re unsure which paint and sip would appeal to your giftee, try a Classpop! gift card. This experience gift card allows you to choose from a variety of experiences, including paint and sips and traditional art classes.

6. Dance Classes

Dance classes are a great way to learn new steps and move your body. Whether you are looking to learn ballet, hip hop, jazz or ballroom dance, dance classes in NYC are a great experience gift in NYC.

Dance classes are one of the best experience gifts in NYC for beginners or more seasoned dancers.

Unique Experience Gifts in NYC

7. Ghost Tours

For the more adventurous, ghost and haunted history tours make a perfect unique experience gift in NYC. Try exploring the city through its more supernatural hotspots through various popular tours of cemeteries, haunted mansions and the secrets that lie beneath bustling city streets. 

8. Escape Room or Murder Mysteries

For active experience gifts that involve ingenuity and problem-solving, escape rooms and murder mysteries allow you to work with others to solve puzzles, games and mysterious happenings.

They make great experience gifts in New York for groups, families and couples. The best escape rooms in NYC are great at any time of the year, but they're especially fun indoor activities in NYC in the winter months as they are temperature controlled.

9. Museum Membership or Passes

New York is home to some of the most exciting museums and cultural institutions in the world, all of which offer daily passes or memberships that grant access to some of the most important cultures in the Western world.

Whether your recipient loves art, natural history or architecture,  gift passes or membership to places like The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History or The Skyscraper Museum.

For a budget-friendly alternative, you can also arrange a visit to one of many NYC art galleries, many of which have free admission.

Luxury Experience Gifts in NYC

10. The Gift of Flight

New York is beautiful from the ground, but even more beautiful from the sky. Whether it's flying lessons for small aircraft, helicopter tours or hot air balloon rides, you can get a bird's eye view of the city in all its glory, a quintessential New York City experience. 

11. Adventures on Water

If not by air, the city is also worth exploring by sea (or rather by river.). Try an architectural tour or a dinner cruise at sunset around Manhattan.

An outing on the water is a perfect luxury experience gift in NYC for both residents and visitors.

You can also charter yachts and smaller boat rentals to explore the region. A dinner cruise makes a perfect birthday dinner in NYC. 

Best Experience Gifts in NYC for Him

12. Sports Tickets

A great experience gift in NYC for sports fans is tickets to all manner of sports events including baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer.

For a splurge, consider gifting season tickets or more affordable single game tickets for the Mets, Giants, Knicks or Rangers

13. Adventure Activities

For the most adventurous giftees, try sending them off for exciting and pulse-racing activities like hang gliding, parasailing, ziplining or bungee jumping, all of which are available in the city and environs. Adrenaline-rushing events make a great experience gift in NYC for him.

14. Personal Style Consultation

While many men are not quite sure where to start when it comes to developing a personal style, scheduling a consultation at their favorite department store may be a great way to kickstart a life of stylishness.

Many offer wardrobe ideas and personal shoppers to help the recipient figure out their favorite look. 

Best Experience Gifts in NYC for Her

15. Spa Day

Everyone loves a spa day, articulatory during hectic times like the holidays. You can get a Spafinder gift card that is good at salons everywhere or choose a specific spa destination.

The recipient will enjoy steam baths, massages, yoga and other activities to destress. Spa days also make a great NYC birthday experience.

16. Afternoon Tea

While the British love to claim the rights to the best high teas, New York does a good job of stroking the rivalry, with a number of exquisite eateries in the city offering high tea service, including the famed Plaza Hotel and the Russian Tea Room. A visit to one of these spots makes a perfect gift for both adults and children. 

17. Mystical Readings

Whether you believe in charting the stars, fortune-telling or other varieties of mystical engagement or not, a fun experience gift in New York is visiting any number of tarot card readers, horoscope specialists or palmistry experts in New York City.

Found at special events, in parks and in parlors, these mystical consultations can offer a glimpse into another world of magic and mysterious omens. 

Whether you are gifting an experience to a NYC resident or looking for the perfect welcome or goodbye gift for visitors, NYC has a wealth of great educational, cultural, and leisure experiences to choose from.

Some of the best New York gifts are ones that can be shared with the recipient for a memorable experience.

For even more fun experience gift ideas, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!