For a bit of fall fun, take yourself on a long weekend to Manhattan, the city that never sleeps.

do
Whether it’s your first trip or your fifth, launch your big apple adventure with a stop at the sleek NYC Information Centre. Use interactive touch-screen maps to get local celeb recommendations or create itineraries that can be emailed to your phone. 810 Seventh Ave., New York City, www.nycgo.com

shop
We squealed with delight upon discovering vintage-inspired dresses (from $178) at James Coviello. This girlie boutique on the LES carries soft floral numbers that hint at a time when swingy skirts and hourglass figures were the very definition of subtle sex bomb. 70 Orchard St., New York City, 212-695-0842, www.jamescoviello.com

sleep
The four-poster beds are divine but you won’t want to sleep at the new Gansevoort Park Avenue. More midtown chic than its Meatpacking sister, it has six bars, a heated roof top pool and spacious rooms with step-out balconies. Order cocktails and nibbles from your assigned iPod GPS and staff will track you down on any floor. And for trips around town, dial up the hotel’s chauffeur-driven Porsche Panamera. How 21st century. Rooms from $325, 420 Park Avenue S., New York City, 877-830-9889, www.gansevoortpark.com

eat
We love Sachiko’s On Clinton for traditional Kushiage made from crisp, panko-breaded beef, chicken or veggies served on skewers ($24/10). Sit in the back garden or in view of the restaurant’s striking David Hockney collage. If you’re lucky, Sachiko herself might bring out a bottle of sparkling Nama Sake from behind the bar. 25 Clinton St., New York City, 212-253-2900, www.sachikosonclinton.com

What do you get when you combine an Irish priest, a Park Avenue socialite, and a mother-daughter hooker team?

It may sound like a joke, but author Colum McCann skillfully interweaves the lives of these diverse characters in his novel Let the Great World Spin. Beginning with a true historical event, a daring tightrope walk between the twin towers of the World Trade Centre that occurred in 1974, McCann’s characters try to keep their balance in an increasingly unstable world.

Tightrope walker Philippe Petit made it to the other side safely, but you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens to everyone else.

$17.47 at Chapters.Indigo.ca

It may not fit in our suitcase, but Taschen’s massive guide to New York City sure is easy on the eyes.

Globe-trotting publisher Angelika Taschen has gathered all her insider tips into a fabulous coffee table book highlighting the hotels, restos and shops favoured by swish New Yawkers. More than a pretty face, it also reveals how to get a great table at The Waverley Inn, where Robert De Niro might be spotted sipping espresso (The Greenwich) and who boasts the biggest bath tubs in town (The Mercer).

TASCHEN’s New York, $26.30 at Amazon.ca

Forget springtime abroad, Manhattan is where it’s at for warm weekend adventures.

sleep
The sleek and chic Thompson Lower East Side is the place to retreat after pounding the NYC  pavement. We love the Lee Friedlander light boxes over the bed, the C.O. Bigelow toiletries and the Fellini movies on re-run in the elevators. Be sure to ask for a room with balcony and Empire State Building view (from $259). Thompson LES, 190 Allen, New York, 877-460-8888, www.thompsonles.com

eat
Pay some Canadian respect at Shang, Susur Lee’s new Asian-fusion eatery at the Thompson. Order up his infamous Singapore Slaw ($18), followed by Mongolian Lamb Chops served with glazed bananas and cardamom chutney ($25). Wash it all down with a couple of glasses of sparkly Syrah and bask in your own patriotic glow. Shang, 187 Orchard, New York, 212-260-7900, www.shangrestaurant.com

drink
After dinner, trot yourself over to The Back Room. Formerly an illegal speakeasy frequented by 1920s gangsters, this on-the-down-low bar isn’t easy to get into (no sign, huge bouncer). Get inside and you’ll enjoy beer served in paper bags and Proletariat cocktails (Absinthe, Cointreau and lime juice) ($14) poured into tea cups. The Back Room, 102 Norfolk, New York, 212-228-5098.

shop
Our favorite mecca of throw-away fashion has finally crossed The Pond. Topshop’s stateside branch is filled to the brim with edgy goodies like gold leather brogues ($125), copper studded trenches ($460) and a stunning beaded Kate Moss flapper dress ($260) that would make Meyer Lansky cry. Topshop, 478 Broadway, New York, www.topshop.com

do
The New Museum carries works by edgy young artists that will leave you stimulated, and sometimes scratching your head. Our fave? Chu Yun’s live installation of a sleeping-pill induced woman lying in a giant white bed. The New Museum, 235 Bowery, New York, 212-219-1222, www.newmuseum.org

For more tales from our Manhattan trip, check out today's Editors' Diary.

Think a trip to New York is going to cost you an arm and a handbag? We've got the inside scoop.

see

When it's not playing host to Fashion Week, Bryant Park provides the perfect backdrop for another kind of black-and-white classic. Grab a spot on the grass, order sandwiches from 'wichcraft (delivered straight to your blanket), bring a bottle of wine (but don't advertise it) and cuddle up with your sweetie under the New York City lights. Our pick? Casablanca on August 13. Free movies run Mondays all summer long, at sunset. Between 40th and 42nd Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues, 212-768-4242. www.bryantpark.org

eat

Pssst!!!! Can you keep a secret? PDT (short for Please Don't Tell) located at the back of Crifdogs, is a speakeasy style lounge only accessible via a secret entrance in a vintage phone booth. Pick up the receiver and smile for the camera that's checking you out from the other side. Once you're buzzed in, grab a chair (there's a strict no standing policy) and chow down on deep fried hot dogs and tater tots that, oddly enough, go quite well with muddled fruit cocktails. Drinks are $11 but the dogs are street cheap, starting at $2.25. 113 St. Marks Place, 212-614-0386, www.pdtnyc.com

do

Free on Friday? If you are, then the MoMA is too. Every Friday from 4 to 8 p.m., the Museum of Modern Art waves its standard $20 admission fee thanks to Target Free Friday Nights. Don't be daunted by the line, it'll all be worth it once you get inside and see the Richard Serra retrospective, currently the hottest exhibition in the country. 11 West 53 Street, 212-708-9400. www.moma.org