Is the New York Explorer Pass Worth it: Complete Review of the Go City New York Explorer Pass

Wondering if the New York Explorer Pass by Go City is worth the money? This Go City New York Explorer Pass guide shows you all you need to know about the pass, my honest review of the pass, and calculations to show you if you actually save money with the New York Explorer Pass.

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Planning your first trip (or return trip) to the Big Apple? New York City is such a fun city for both visitors and locals alike, with a ton of things to do and places to eat. From world class museums to modern observation decks to interesting walking tours, New York City offers something for everyone.

While there are many free things to do in New York City, it is inevitable that you need to pay for attractions or museums at some point during your trip. And I’m not going to lie, New York City is not cheap! Observation decks cost an average of $40 to $50 per person and museums cost anywhere between $20 to $35. Walking tours and food tours can cost even more, upward of $50 actually!

But you don’t have to pay these hefty prices to do what you want to do in NYC, because there are a number of great New York City attraction passes that help you save 30-45% on attractions, museums, and tours.

This review will look at the New York Explorer Pass by Go City in particular (you can also check out my New York Pass review), so you can decide if the Explorer Pass is something you want to buy during your time in NYC to save money.

What is the Go City New York Explorer Pass

The New York Explorer Pass by Go City is a flexible money saving attraction pass that allows you to build your own New York City itinerary at your own pace.

It is an attraction-based pass, allowing you to pick 2 to 10 attractions out of a list of 100+ museums, tours, observation decks, and fun activities. Based on however many attractions you pick, you can make your own itinerary, whether you want to do one attraction a day or 10 attractions in a day!

You have 60 days to visit all the attractions you purchased, starting from when you enter your first attraction. So if you purchase a 3 attraction Explorer Pass on May 1, use it to enter the first attraction on October 1, the pass remains active for 60 days starting October 1.

Certain popular attractions do require advanced reservation, examples include The Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty Ferry, American Museum of Natural History and a few more. You can use the Go City website (or the Go City App) to make reservations.

You have 2 years to activate your pass after purchase; there is also a 365 day cancellation/ refund policy on any unused passes.

How Does the New York Explorer Pass Work

Below is a step by step instruction on how the New York Explorer Pass by Go City works.

1. Decide how many choices (max 10) that you want to purchase. Since the New York Explorer Pass is an attraction-based pass, you need to look at its list of attractions, and decide how many of these “choices” you want to purchase.

2. Purchase the Explorer Pass online.

3. Download the Go City App, enter your email and confirmation number to download the pass you just purchased to the app (or you can just use Email confirmation to enter the attractions).

4. Make the necessary reservation. Attractions that need advanced booking are shown on the Go City website and the App.

5. Scan the QR code to enter your attractions. Then you have 60 days to use up all the choices you purchased.

Tip: Use the Explorer Pass for the most expensive tours (hop on hop off bus tour, food tours) and observation decks to make this Go City Pass worth it.

Who Should Buy the New York Explorer Pass (and Who Should Not)

The New York Explorer Pass is not meant for everyone. It is a great pass and my favorite pass but it’s not for everyone.

What Does the New York Explorer Pass Include

This New York attraction pass is one of the most versatile passes, including over 100 museums, observation decks, tours, attractions, fun activities and many more. It has the most comprehensive list of things to do in New York City that you didn’t even realize you wanted to do before you saw them.

This NYC pass includes 4 out of the 5 observation decks in New York City, hop on hop off bus tour, half dozen cruise sightseeing tours and even Yankees Game tickets. Below is a detailed list of everything that’s free with the Go City Explorer Pass.

Observation Decks Free With the New York Explorer Pass

• Top of the Rock Observation Deck ($44+)
• Empire State Building Observatory ($44+)
• One World Observatory ($39+)
• Edge Hudson Yards with Early Entry ($40+)

The prices above are starting prices for adults during non-sunset hours. Actual prices could be more.

If you are a first time visitor, you would probably be interested to visit at least one or two famous observatories in New York City. Most visitors flock to the Empire State Building and Top of the Rock for the iconic view of New York City.

Edge is also a wonderful choice and with the New York Explorer Pass, you can get into Edge one hour before it opens, giving you the perfect opportunity to take amazing photos on top.

I personally have visited all of these observation decks, some using the Explorer Pass and some with the New York Pass (yup, I would like to save money too while getting content for this blog). You can read my detailed guides of the Empire State Building and One World Observatory.

Museums Free With the New York Explorer Pass

If you love museums then you would love New York City, since we have some of the best museums in the world. And it just so happens that almost all popular museums in New York City are on the Explorer Pass by Go City.

In fact, if you love spending time in museums, I would highly recommend the New York Explorer Pass since it allows you to spend as much time as you would like in a museum and not feel rushed.

Some of the most popular museums included on the New York Explorer Pass are:

• 9/11 Memorial & Museum ($29)
• American Museum of Natural History ($28)
• Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) ($28)
• Intrepid Museum and Space Shuttle ($36)
• Guggenheim Museum ($30)

My personal favorites are the Intrepid Museum and the American Museum of Natural History.

Both museums have unique exhibits that are known as the best in the world (think the entire floor of dinosaur fossils and a real space shuttle). Both museums are kids friendly, making them perfect for families as well. In fact when I was at the Intrepid Museum, I heard a few tourists say that they flew to New York City just to see that space shuttle!

Other museums covered by the New York Explorer Pass include the following:

• The Whitney Museum of American Art
• New York Historical Society Museum
• Museum of Jewish Heritage
• International Center of Photography
• Fotografiska
• Museum of SexThe Museum of the City of New York

Tours Included in the New York Explorer Pass

There is no shortage of tours in New York City, from walking tours to food tours to bike tours and bus tours! Actually there are so many tours it’s really hard to pick which ones to go to.

Whether you are looking for a TV/Movie tour, a holiday decoration tour, a delicious food tour or a chill bus tour (these are the best value), you can probably find them on the Explorer Pass for New York.

Walking Tours in New York City

Food Tours in New York City

• Food on Foot Tours
• Lower East Side Food and Culture Walking Tour
• Beer, Spirits & Wine Crawl
• Queens International Food Excursion

Biking Tours in New York City

• New York Highlights Bike Tour
• Central Park Bike Tour
• Brooklyn Bridge Guided Bike Tour

Bus Tours in New York City

• Big Bus hop on hop off bus tour
• NYC Bus Tour of Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens
• Woodbury Common Bus Tour (round trip), exclusive to the Explorer Pass

The Big Bus Hop on Hop Off tour is the most expensive attraction on the Explorer Pass. Usually you only get 1 day bus ride but there is currently a promotion that you can get 2nd day free until March 21!

If you love to shop discounted high end designer clothes, then you absolutely cannot miss Woodbury Common when visiting New York City. The bus ride is super worth it, otherwise it takes over an hour to drive to Woodbury Common and even longer to get back because of traffic. This bus tour is only available on the Explorer Pass.

Boat Cruises and Tours On the New York Explorer Pass

A great way to see New York City is from water, since Manhattan is literally surrounded by water. Boat tours are fun, relaxing, and informative, since you always have a guide that explains to you what you are seeing. Boat tours are my favorite parts of New York City, especially on a nice warm day.

Below is a list of cruises included with the Explorer Pass for New York City:

Unique Activities in New York On the Go City Explorer Pass

There is a lot more to New York City than just museums and walking tours. There are a lot of FUN and unique things to do in NYC, from digital art museums to ice skating to beautiful botanic gardens. I mean how cool is it to skate at the world renowned Rockefeller Center in front of its huge Christmas tree?

With the New York Explorer Pass, you have access to a number of really cool activities below:

ARTECHOUSE is a really cool digital art museum located in the Chelsea Market. Even though it’s not big, it provides a very unique experience and makes you forget things that are happening outside. You can literally sit there for an hour just to enjoy the digital art.

The RIDE is another really fun activity. I used to work at Times Square and saw their bus everyday. But for one of my work events, we actually joined the RIDE, and it was super entertaining. There were actors and dancers on different streets that performed for us, and they showed the essence of New York City.

In addition, if you are visiting NYC in the summer, don’t forget to rent a bike for Central Park or Governors Island! Governors Island gives you an amazing view of the Statue of Liberty and you can even go to a spa there or stay overnight in a glamping site.

Family Friendly Activities Included in the New York Explorer Pass

There are a few kids friendly activities included on the Go City New York Explorer Pass, although the New York Pass has more since a few of them are only included with the All Inclusive Pass.

Kids activities free with the New York Explorer Pass:

• New York Hall of Science
• SEA LIFE Aquarium New Jersey
• LEGOLAND Discovery Center New Jersey and Westchester

What’s Not Included with the Go City New York Explorer Pass

There are only a few popular things in NYC that are not covered by the Explorer Pass:

• The MET
• SUMMIT One Vanderbilt
• New York Aquarium
• Deno’s Wonder Wheel at Coney Island

Cost of New York Explorer Pass by Go City

Prices go up regularly, and the website always shows it’s on sale, but the sale doesn’t really end! But it would be good to buy the pass sooner than later since the prices have definitely gone up from a year ago (I’ve been tracking their prices every month). In addition, be sure to sign up for their mailing list for an additional 5% off.

Pro tip: The more choices you buy, the cheaper it is per attraction. 2 Choice Pass costs $80, which equals $40 per attraction. 10 Choice Pass costs $280, making it only $28 per attraction.

How Much Money Does Go City New York Explorer Pass Save

When you are trying to decide if the New York Explorer Pass is worth it, what better way than to show you how much it can save you. Keep in mind that there are probably a million different combinations of how you want to structure your itinerary, below are just a couple of examples.

New York Explorer Pass Savings Example 1

Choice 1: Empire State Building ($44)
Choice 2: Big Bus Hop on Hop Off ($72)
Choice 3: American Museum of Natural History ($28)

Total Cost if purchased separately: $144
3 Choice Pass cost: $108

Total Savings with the Go City Pass: $36 or 33%

New York Explorer Pass Savings Example 2

Choice 1: Top of the Rock ($44)
Choice 2: Circle Line Sightseeing Cruise – Best of NYC ($48)
Choice 3: Soho – Little Italy – Chinatown Walking Tour ($39)
Choice 4: Statue of Liberty Cruise and Tour ($79)
Choice 5: Intrepid Museum and Space Shuttle ($32.4)

Total Cost (if purchased separately): $242.4
5 Choice Pass Cost: $166

Total Savings with the New York Explorer Pass: $76.4 (or 46%)

As you can see from the two examples above, you can save quite a bit of money by using the Explorer Pass. The exact amount of savings will depend on what activities you choose. If you choose all museums with ticket prices less than $25, then you would not be saving a lot. But if you choose expensive activities, you will be able to save a ton.

Is the New York Explorer Pass the Best NYC attraction pass?

New York Explorer Pass versus other New York City attraction passes

I mentioned previously that I have a super duper detailed comparison guide on every single New York City attraction pass on the market. But if you are short on time, read the summary below:

New York Explorer Pass vs. New York Pass, Which is Better?

Both of these are Go City passes, so you can imagine they both cover similar activities. There are 3 major differences between the Explorer Pass and the All Inclusive Pass:

• The New York Pass is all inclusive, meaning that it lets you see as many things as you can within a certain number of consecutive days. You can do 10 choices within a day or 1 choice for the same price, depending on your own pace.

• There are some attractions that are only available to the Explorer Pass, such as SPYSCAPE, The Beast Speedboat Ride and the Woodbury Common Bus Tour.

• Timing: The Explorer Pass gives you 60 days to finish up all your choices, whereas the All Inclusive New York Pass expires at the end of however many days you purchase.

There is no “better”, but rather what works for you. I usually recommend people who are short on time or people who like to be on the go, can cram a lot of things into one day to get the New York Pass.

Explorer Pass is better for someone who likes to take things slow, really enjoy their time exploring museums or tours and someone who doesn’t like to plan too much (so you don’t need to plan out the most efficient route to cover as much as possible in one day).

New York Explorer Pass vs. New York CityPASS, Which is Better?

New York CityPASS is another popular attraction pass for visitors. It is a pass that covers some of the most popular attractions in New York City. You have to choose 3 out of 6 attractions and the CityPASS also includes the Empire State Building and American Museum of Natural History by default.

There are 3 major differences between the Go City Explorer Pass and New York CityPASS:

• Number of attractions: New York Explorer Pass has over 100 attractions whereas New York CityPASS has only 8. All of the attractions on the CityPASS are included with the Explorer Pass.

• The CityPASS gives you AM/PM access to the Empire State Building (so you can go up twice within one day), the Explorer Pass only lets you go up once.

• Days valid: The Explorer Pass gives you 60 days to use up your choices, New York CityPASS is valid for 9 days

New York Explorer Pass vs. New York Sightseeing Pass

The New York Sightseeing Passes have 2 types of pass, an all inclusive Day pass and an attraction based FLEX pass. The FLEX pass works just like the Explorer Pass, and the only difference is the attractions they include.

While most attractions are the same (like the Empire State Building, One World Observatory, The Rink at the Rockefeller Center, etc, there are some subtle differences:

• Explorer Pass includes Statue of Liberty that is not offered by the Sightseeing Pass as well as a 2 day Big Bus hop on hop off bus (until March 21)
• Sightseeing FLEX Pass includes a number of children’s museums, zoos, the NY Aquarium, one way share-ride transfer from airports to Manhattan and the new HERO NYC, an immersive digital museum.

Is the New York Explorer Pass by Go City Worth it?

The New York Explorer Pass is worth the money if you use it towards observation decks, tours, bike rentals and sightseeing cruises. These expensive attractions create large savings when using the Explorer Pass.

This New York attraction pass is not only flexible but also covers almost everything you’d want to do in New York City.

However if you are the type that wants to do as much as you can in a limited few days, then you should consider the All Inclusive New York Pass instead. Furthermore, if you are interested in zoos and children’s museums, then I would recommend the New York Sightseeing Passes as they have more kids friendly attractions.

Read My Other New York City Travel Guides

If you want to find out the best way to do all these amazing things in New York City, be sure to check out my other New York City travel guides below:

New York City Itineraries & Things to Do

• 100+ best things to do in New York City
• 4 Day NYC itinerary
• NYC One Week itinerary
• SUMMIT One Vanderbilt Guide
• Pier 57 Market & Rooftop Park Guide
• Empire State Building Complete Guide
• One World Observatory Complete Guide

Christmas and Holiday Season in New York City

• Most Instagrammable Places in NYC during the holidays
• Most Festive Pop Up Bars and Restaurants in NYC during the holidays
• Best Holiday Markets in NYC
• Things to do with kids in NYC during the holidays
• What to do and eat at Bryant Park Winter Village
• Complete Union Square Holiday Market Guide
• How to Visit Macy’s Santaland
• Complete Guide on Dyker Heights Holiday Lights Without a Tour

New York City Seasonal Articles

• Why You should visit NYC in the fall
• Best Fall Hikes in NYC
• Where to see Cherry Blossoms in NYC
• Apple Picking in NYC
• Best Sunflower Fields in NYC
• Where to Pick Strawberries near NYC
• Best Pumpkin Farms on Long Island
• NYC Winter Survival Guide
• Visiting New York City in March

How to Save Money Traveling to NYC

• Best New York City Attraction Pass
• New York Pass Review: Is New York Pass Worth it?

New York City Food Guide

• Best Ice Cream Shops in Lower Manhattan
• Best Brunch Spots in New York City
• Honest Review of the Plaza Hotel Afternoon Tea
• Tea Around Town Bus Tour
• Cutest Plants and Floral Cafes in New York City
• Tim Ho Wan Restaurant Review

Other New York City Guides

• Coolest Airbnbs in New York State
• Best New York Themed Gifts
• Unique Brooklyn Themed Gifts
• Cold Spring Day Trip from NYC
• NJ Construction Themed Amusement Park: Diggerland Complete Guide