Queens Travel Guide — Best Time, Things to Do & Where to Stay

Why Queens

Queens is the largest of the five boroughs of New York City by area, situated on the western end of Long Island. It is bordered by Brooklyn to its south and west and Nassau County to its east, while sharing maritime boundaries with Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten Island, and New Jersey. The borough covers roughly 178 square miles, with about 39 percent consisting of water features such as Newtown Creek, Flushing Bay, and Jamaica Bay. It is widely recognized for its cultural and demographic makeup, standing as the most linguistically diverse place in the world, with nearly half of its residents born outside the United States.

European settlement in the region began with Dutch arrivals in the 1630s, who established early communities including Flushing, Elmhurst, and Jamaica. In 1657, local colonists drafted the Flushing Remonstrance, a document advocating for freedom of religion. The territory was officially created as Queens County in 1683 and named after Queen Catherine of Braganza. During the American Revolution, the region was subject to British military occupation. Queens was formally incorporated as a borough of New York City in 1898, after which transportation expanded rapidly with the opening of the Queensboro Bridge in 1909 and the introduction of subway lines, leading to a doubled population during the 1920s.

Visitors to Queens encounter a variety of notable public parks, sports venues, and media facilities. Flushing Meadows–Corona Park served as the site for both the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs. Located nearby are major athletic centers, including Citi Field, home to the New York Mets baseball team, and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, which hosts the annual U.S. Open tennis tournament. For film and television production, the borough contains Kaufman Astoria Studios and Silvercup Studios. Along its southern edge, the Rockaway Peninsula offers seven miles of ocean beaches situated between Jamaica Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

As a commercial hub, Queens contains both of New York City's primary airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. The climate is categorized as humid subtropical transitioning to continental, bringing moderate to heavy rainfall throughout the year that averages nearly 45 inches. Summers are typically hot and humid, whereas winter months bring icy conditions and snowfall. The area is connected to the surrounding region through the Long Island Rail Road and the New York City Subway system.