Manhattan's character changes every few blocks, so quaint town houses stand shoulder to shoulder with sleek glass towers, gleaming gourmet supermarkets sit around the corner from dusty thrift shops, and chic bistros inhabit the storefronts of soot-smudged warehouses. Below 14th Street, you'll need a good street map and good directions to navigate the confusing streets of such neighborhoods as Greenwich Village and the Financial District.

Above 14th Street, where you'll find Midtown, the Upper West and Upper East sides, and Central Park, among many other areas, the streets form a regular grid pattern. Numbered streets run east and west (crosstown), and broad avenues, most of them also numbered, run north (uptown) and south (downtown). The chief exceptions are Broadway and the thoroughfares that hug the shores of the Hudson and East rivers. Broadway runs the entire length of Manhattan on a diagonal. Fifth Avenue is the east-west dividing line for street addresses.

Many visitors to Manhattan notice the four outer boroughs -- Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island -- only from an airplane window or the deck of a Circle Line cruise. There are, however, many things to see and do in the outer boroughs that you simply won't find in Manhattan, and most are just a subway ride from Midtown. It's well worth your time to explore New York beyond the confines of Manhattan. Doing so will give you an idea of just how large and amazing New York City really is.