How to Spend a 10 Hour Layover in New York: Newark Airport to Lower Manhattan
Updated October 3, 2026
Ten hours at Newark Airport is time to ride PATH into Lower Manhattan and walk from the 9/11 Memorial and Trinity Church to Fraunces Tavern and the free Staten Island Ferry.
Lower Manhattan is where New York began, and from Newark it takes one change of trains to get there, from NJ Transit to the PATH at Newark Penn. The PATH ends under the white ribs of the Oculus. From there, a few blocks cover four centuries: the memorial pools, Alexander Hamilton's churchyard, the tavern where George Washington bid his officers farewell and the fort that once welcomed immigrants. A free ferry ride past the Statue of Liberty closes the day.
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Is it worth leaving the airport?
Yes. Ten hours leaves room for a full walking loop, a sit-down lunch and the ferry, with everything near one train line. Skip the ferry if your connection starts to feel tight, because it only runs on its own timetable and you have to ride both ways.
Getting from EWR into the city
Ride AirTrain Newark to the rail station and take NJ Transit one stop to Newark Penn Station, buying the ticket to Newark Penn so the AirTrain charge is included. Upstairs, board a PATH train to World Trade Center, tapping a contactless card or phone at the PATH gate. The last stop is beneath the Oculus, your first stop.
Plan on about 2 hr 4 min for the round trip between Newark Liberty International Airport and the first and last stops.
This plan also keeps 45 min to get out of the airport and 1 hr 30 min to get back through security before your flight. You can customize these buffers with Navi through text.
Times are estimates, not guarantees. Confirm your boarding time with your airline and check entry requirements before leaving the airport. You are responsible for getting back in time for your flight.
Visa and entry
Coming from overseas, you went through immigration at your first US airport even if you're only connecting, so you're already free to spend the day downtown. No other permit is needed. You'll go through TSA again at Newark, so budget more time if your onward flight is international.
What to do with your bags
Drop your bag with Bounce before the walk; the app shows shops near the World Trade Center and Wall Street. As of October 2026, prices run from $2.90 a day, and each shop sets its own. The airport has no storage desk, and the 9/11 Memorial plaza is easier without a suitcase.
The 10 hour plan, stop by stop
About 5 hr 41 min in the city
Time to head out from Newark Liberty International Airport for The Oculus. It's a 51 minute transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
Santiago Calatrava said he pictured a dove released from a child's hands. His transit hub, opened in 2016, does look ready to take off, with white steel ribs rising over a marble hall a full block long. It links the PATH, many subway lines and the Westfield shopping center beneath the World Trade Center. The skylight is aligned so that each September 11 a beam of sunlight falls across the floor.
Tip: Ride the escalator up to the balcony level for the best photo straight down the length of the hall.
- Time here
- 15 to 25 min
- Website
- wtc.com
NaviTime to head out from The Oculus for 9/11 Memorial & Museum. It's a 1 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Two reflecting pools sit in the footprints of the Twin Towers, each fed by what the memorial calls the largest manmade waterfalls in North America. The names of the nearly three thousand people killed in 2001 and in the 1993 bombing are cut into the bronze parapets. Staff place a white rose on a name on that person's birthday. The plaza is free, while the museum below sells timed tickets. The Survivor Tree, a pear tree pulled from the rubble, still blooms beside the pools.
Tip: Look for the Survivor Tree near the south pool; it is easy to miss among the newer oaks.
- Time here
- 35 min to 1 hr
- Website
- 911memorial.org
NaviTime to head out from 9/11 Memorial & Museum for Trinity Church. It's a 5 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Trinity's Gothic Revival spire was the tallest point in New York when it was finished in 1846, and the church still anchors the top of Wall Street. Entry is free, though the churchyard gates close earlier than the church. Pass the short security check and step inside for the stained glass and the quiet. Then walk the churchyard, one of the oldest burial grounds in the city, where Alexander Hamilton, his wife Eliza and Robert Fulton lie among the slate headstones.
Tip: Hamilton's white pyramid-topped grave is on the south side of the churchyard, closest to Rector Street.
- Time here
- 20 to 30 min
- Website
- trinitychurchnyc.org
NaviTime to head out from Trinity Church for Charging Bull. It's a 4 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Sculptor Arturo Di Modica trucked this bronze bull, all three and a half tons of it, to Wall Street overnight in 1989. He left it outside the stock exchange without permission, as a gift to the city after the market crash. Police hauled it away, and the city then gave it a spot at Bowling Green, where it has stood ever since and draws a constant line of photographers.
Tip: The crowd bunches at the horns. Step to the side on Broadway for a profile shot of the lowered head and twisting tail without waiting in line.
- Time here
- 10 to 15 min
NaviTime to head out from Charging Bull for Fraunces Tavern. It's a 6 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Samuel Fraunces ran a tavern on this corner from 1762, and in 1783 George Washington gathered his officers in the Long Room upstairs to say goodbye at the end of the Revolution. Most of what you see today is a 1907 reconstruction by the Sons of the Revolution, who saved the corner and still run the museum on the upper floors. The ground floor is a busy restaurant and pub with several rooms. The bars take walk-ins, and the dining rooms can be booked, which helps at busy lunchtimes.
Tip: The museum upstairs keeps its own hours and charges a separate admission; the Long Room is the highlight.
- Time here
- 1 hr to 1 hr 20 min
- Website
- frauncestavern.com
NaviTime to head out from Fraunces Tavern for Castle Clinton National Monument. It's an 8 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
This round sandstone fort was built before the War of 1812 to guard the harbor. It went on to serve as a concert hall, then as Castle Garden, the immigration station that processed millions of arrivals before Ellis Island, and later as the city aquarium. Rangers run the small free exhibits inside the walls, and the ticket office for the Statue of Liberty boats is here too.
Tip: Walk the waterfront promenade in Battery Park afterward for a clear look at Lady Liberty before the ferry.
- Time here
- 15 to 25 min
- Website
- nps.gov
NaviTime to head out from Castle Clinton National Monument for Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal. It's a 7 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
The bright orange ferries leave this terminal at the tip of Manhattan around the clock, and the ride passes close to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the downtown skyline. It costs nothing and needs no ticket. If it looks familiar, it's the commute Melanie Griffith makes in the opening of Working Girl. Everyone has to get off at St. George on Staten Island; just follow the signs back around through the terminal and board the next boat to Manhattan.
Tip: Stand on the starboard side, which is the right as you face forward, on the way out for the closest view of the statue.
- Time here
- 1 hr to 1 hr 20 min
- Website
- siferry.com
NaviTime to head out from Staten Island Ferry Whitehall Terminal for Newark Liberty International Airport. It's a 1 hr 13 min transit ride if you leave now. Here's the link
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