New York in March: Weather, Events and the Best Tours
Written and checked by the Best NYC Tours editorial team. .
March is the month New York restarts. The harbour cruise winter season ends on 5 March, the clocks go forward on Sunday 14 March and sunset jumps from 18:01 to 19:02 overnight, and because Easter Sunday is 28 March the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade falls in March this year rather than April.
Quick pick: the best New York tours in March
| # | Tour | Best for | Duration | From | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SUMMIT One Vanderbilt Tickets | A view with an hour more evening after 14 March | 1.5 - 2 hours | £36 | 4.7 (57,616) |
| 2 | NYC Statue City Cruises: Official Statue of | The Ellis Island hospital tour back at full frequency | 5 hours | £24 | 4.6 (20,163) |
| 3 | NYC Sunset & Harbor Lights Cruise with Statue | The first month the full cruise schedule is back | 2 hours | £34 | 4.6 (8,698) |
| 4 | 9/11 Memorial & Museum Timed Ticket with Tour | A snowy first half of the month | Varies | £19 | 4.8 (33,819) |
| 5 | Edge Immersive Observation Deck Ticket | An outdoor deck as it becomes usable again | 1 hour | £34 | 4.6 (22,661) |
| 6 | Top of the Rock Observation Deck Ticket | Sunset at a proper evening hour again | 2 hours | £34 | 4.6 (21,397) |
| 7 | American Museum of Natural History Ticket | A reliable answer to unreliable weather | Varies | £28 | 4.5 (16,971) |
| 8 | Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour by Open-top Bus | Returning after four months out | Varies | £34 | 4.2 (6,323) |
| 9 | Contrasts Tour of Harlem, The Bronx, Queens | Covering ground before the spring crowds | 4.5 hours | £30 | 4.5 (2,761) |
| 10 | Speakeasy Drinks and Prohibition History Tour | St Patrick's week, 21 and over | 3 hours | £30 | 4.8 (558) |
Prices, ratings and review counts verified against live GetYourGuide listings on 28 July 2026. Duration varies by the option you choose at checkout.
Is March a good time to visit New York?
Yes, with the caveat that March is unpredictable rather than mild. Average highs of 9.9C sit alongside a 13cm snowfall normal, so the month spans genuine winter and early spring. What is certain is the light: the clocks go forward on 14 March and sunset moves an hour in one night.
March is the least consistent month in this guide. The average high of 9.9C is a genuine average of a very wide range, with snow still falling in the first half and afternoons that feel like spring in the second. The 13cm snowfall normal is higher than December's 12cm, which surprises almost everyone, so this is not a month to pack for spring and hope.
The transformation is in the schedule rather than the weather. On Friday 5 March the harbour cruise operator comes out of its winter band, so the flagship full-island cruise resumes after two months of no departures at all. The Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour goes back to six departures a day from four. The zoos come off their winter hours during the month.
And the daylight arrives all at once. Daylight saving resumes on Sunday 14 March, which turns a 18:01 sunset on the Saturday into a 19:02 sunset on the Sunday. That is the single largest overnight change in this ten-month set, and it is what makes the second half of March feel completely unlike the first.
New York weather in March
Average highs of 9.9C and lows of 2.1C, with 109mm of precipitation and a snowfall normal of 13cm, higher than December's. Mid-March gives 11 hours 58 minutes of daylight, sunrise 07:05 and sunset 19:03 after the clock change, and the month gains 1 hour 21 minutes.
| Measure | March | Annual context |
|---|---|---|
| Average high | 9.9C | Ranges from 4.2C in January to 29.4C in July |
| Average low | 2.1C | Ranges from -2.3C in January to 21.2C in July |
| Precipitation | 109mm | Driest is February at 81mm, wettest is July at 117mm |
| Snowfall | 13cm | Zero from May to September, heaviest in February at 26cm |
| Daylight, mid-month | 11h 58m | From 9h 19m in mid-December to 15h 08m in mid-June |
| Sunrise and sunset, 15th | 07:05 to 19:03 | From 16:30 in mid-December to 20:30 in mid-June |
| Change across the month | gains 1h 21m | Clocks go back on 1 November 2026 and forward on 14 March 2027 |
Temperature, precipitation and snowfall are the NOAA 1991 to 2020 US Climate Normals, Central Park station USW00094728, converted from Fahrenheit and inches. Daylight, sunrise and sunset are for the 15th, from sunrise and sunset times computed for Central Park, 40.783N 73.965W, in local New York time.
The March snowfall figure is the most consistently underestimated number in New York planning. At 13cm the Central Park normal is higher than December's 12cm, and materially higher than November's 1.3cm. March snow tends to be wetter and heavier than midwinter snow and to melt faster, so it disrupts a day rather than a week, but it is a real possibility right through the first three weeks.
The daylight gain of 1 hour 21 minutes is the largest of any month in this guide, and most of it is delivered in a single night. Before Sunday 14 March, sunset is 18:01. After it, 19:02. Sunrise moves the wrong way at the same moment, from 06:09 to 07:07, so early mornings become dark again for a fortnight while evenings gain an hour.
Rainfall at 109mm returns to a fully wet-season figure after February's dry 81mm, and this is the month where it starts falling as rain rather than snow more often than not. Late March in New York is genuinely muddy underfoot in the parks, which is worth knowing if Central Park is on the itinerary.
Crowds, prices and what to book ahead
March is quiet in the first half and picks up sharply in the second. St Patrick's Day on Wednesday 17 March is the largest single crowd of the month, and because Easter Sunday falls on 28 March the Easter weekend lands in March too, which is unusual.
The first fortnight of March is still winter pricing in practical terms, and it is the last of the genuinely cheap New York weeks before the spring market starts. Occupancy climbs steadily through the month and does not fall back again until the following autumn.
St Patrick's Day is the crowd event. It falls on Wednesday 17 March, and the parade up Fifth Avenue is the oldest and largest in the world. A midweek date means it draws a working-day crowd rather than a full weekend one, which is fractionally better for anyone trying to move around Midtown, but Fifth Avenue and the cross streets in the fifties are effectively closed for the day.
The Easter timing is the piece worth planning around and almost every guide gets it wrong. Easter Sunday 2027 falls on 28 March, which means the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival happens in March, not April. Anyone booking an April trip expecting to catch Easter in New York will miss it entirely, and anyone booking the last weekend of March gets both Easter and the start of the spring weather.
The best tours in New York in March
Ranked on verified GetYourGuide review volume, then re-ordered for March so that the products coming out of their winter restrictions rise. The full harbour cruise schedule returns on 5 March and the Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour goes back to six departures a day.
1. SUMMIT One Vanderbilt Tickets
4.7 out of 5 from 57,616 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £36 • 1.5 - 2 hours
Returns to the top on review volume. The specific March advantage is the clock change: after Sunday 14 March a late-afternoon slot leaves you a whole evening afterwards, which was not true in any month since October.
Best for in March: A view with an hour more evening after 14 March
2. NYC Statue City Cruises: Official Statue of
4.6 out of 5 from 20,163 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £24 • 5 hours
Ranked up substantially. From March the Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour returns to six departures a day after running at four through January and February, so the island visit you can actually build is bigger than it has been since December.
Best for in March: The Ellis Island hospital tour back at full frequency
3. NYC Sunset & Harbor Lights Cruise with Statue
4.6 out of 5 from 8,698 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £34 • 2 hours
Moved up hard on a hard date. The operator's winter season ends on Friday 5 March, so the flagship full-island cruise resumes after two months with no departures at all and the landmarks sailing returns to four a day. March is the first month since December with a complete choice.
Best for in March: The first month the full cruise schedule is back
4. 9/11 Memorial & Museum Timed Ticket with Tour
4.8 out of 5 from 33,819 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £19 • Varies
Stays high because March is snowier than December, at a 13cm normal against 12cm. An entirely underground museum remains the most weather-proof serious booking in the city, and March weather is the least predictable of the ten months.
Best for in March: A snowy first half of the month
5. Edge Immersive Observation Deck Ticket
4.6 out of 5 from 22,661 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £34 • 1 hour
Rising as the temperature does. Its published policy still applies, with heated and cleared outdoor floors on snowy days and closures possible in high winds, but at 9.9C average highs standing on an open deck becomes a choice rather than an ordeal.
Best for in March: An outdoor deck as it becomes usable again
6. Top of the Rock Observation Deck Ticket
4.6 out of 5 from 21,397 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £34 • 2 hours
The clock change on 14 March moves sunset from 18:01 to 19:02 overnight, which restores the sunset slot to a genuine evening booking. This is also the deck whose view contains the Empire State Building rather than being on it.
Best for in March: Sunset at a proper evening hour again
7. American Museum of Natural History Ticket
4.5 out of 5 from 16,971 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £28 • Varies
Ranked lower than in January and February but still firmly in the ten, because March is the month you cannot predict. Having one large indoor booking that works whatever happens is worth more in this month than in a settled one.
Best for in March: A reliable answer to unreliable weather
8. Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour by Open-top Bus
4.2 out of 5 from 6,323 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £34 • Varies
Back in the ranking for the first time since October. At 9.9C an uncovered top deck is finally defensible again, particularly in the second half of the month once the evenings have lengthened. There is still no official guarantee that the top deck is covered or heated, so pick a mild day.
Best for in March: Returning after four months out
9. Contrasts Tour of Harlem, The Bronx, Queens
4.5 out of 5 from 2,761 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £30 • 4.5 hours
A four-and-a-half-hour coach tour with walking segments works properly again from March, and it does it in the last month before spring pricing arrives. Good value on a day when the weather is too uncertain to commit to a long outdoor plan.
Best for in March: Covering ground before the spring crowds
10. Speakeasy Drinks and Prohibition History Tour
4.8 out of 5 from 558 verified GetYourGuide reviews • from £30 • 3 hours
Prohibition history in a city that spends the week of Wednesday 17 March thinking about drink is a reasonable pairing, and three hours largely below street level still suits a 2.1C evening. The age limit is 21 and identification is expected.
Best for in March: St Patrick's week, 21 and over
The Chinatown and Little Italy food tour steps back out of the ten after its February peak, because Lunar New Year has passed and the walking conditions in a 13cm snow month are worse than in February's drier air. The helicopter tour stays out: normal cancellation terms apply in March, but the operator's spring no-refund window opens on 14 April, so it is worth knowing that an early April booking is fine and a mid-April one is not. The Niagara Falls day trip remains out; a twenty-two hour round trip to a partly frozen waterfall is a poor use of a New York March.
Events and festivals in March 2027
March holds two of the biggest dates in the New York year and they are three weekends apart. St Patrick's Day falls on Wednesday 17 March, and because Easter Sunday is 28 March the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade lands in March rather than April this year.
| Event | Dates | Where | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harbour cruise winter season ends | Friday 5 March | Hudson River piers | Full-island cruise resumes after two months of no departures |
| Daylight saving resumes | Sunday 14 March | Nationwide | Sunset jumps from 18:01 to 19:02 overnight |
| St Patrick's Day Parade | Wednesday 17 March | Fifth Avenue, Midtown | Free to watch. Fifth Avenue closed all day |
| Easter Sunday | Sunday 28 March | Citywide | Not a federal holiday in the US |
| Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival | Sunday 28 March | Fifth Avenue around St Patrick's Cathedral | Free, and free to join in a hat |
| NYBG Orchid Show | Running to Sunday 25 April | New York Botanical Garden, the Bronx | Ticketed. Garden closed Mondays |
The Easter date is the correction worth carrying away from this page. Easter Sunday 2027 is 28 March, which puts the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival in March. It is not a formal parade so much as a slow, free procession of people in elaborate hats along Fifth Avenue around St Patrick's Cathedral, and anyone can join simply by wearing one. If you have planned an April trip around Easter in New York, the date has moved out from under you.
St Patrick's Day on Wednesday 17 March is the older and larger of the two events, and the parade up Fifth Avenue is the biggest of its kind anywhere. Practically, Fifth Avenue is closed from the mid-forties north through the day, cross-town traffic is very slow, and Midtown bars are extremely busy from lunchtime onwards. A midweek date makes it marginally more manageable than a weekend one.
The Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden continues through the whole month, closing on Sunday 25 April. In a month with a 13cm snowfall normal, a heated glasshouse in the Bronx is a better wet-day plan than most, and the Garden is closed on Mondays.
What is closed in March
March is the month closures reverse. The harbour cruise winter band ends on 5 March and the flagship full-island sailing resumes. The Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour returns to six departures a day. The zoos come off winter hours during the month, though the changeover date is not published.
| Site or service | Closed or reduced | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Harbour cruises, flagship full-island route | Resumes Friday 5 March | The winter band ran 5 January to 5 March with zero departures on the flagship route. The landmarks cruise returns to four sailings a day from two. |
| Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour | Back to six departures a day | The four-a-day reduction covered January and February only. The full schedule runs March through December. |
| Bronx Zoo and Central Park Zoo | Winter hours end during March | Winter operation ran from 1 November. The exact date the summer schedule and the seasonal exhibits resume is not published in advance, so check before travelling for the Children's Zoo or the Monorail. |
| Fifth Avenue | Wednesday 17 March, all day | St Patrick's Day Parade closures through Midtown, with heavy delays on every cross street. |
| New York Botanical Garden | Every Monday | Applies throughout the Orchid Show, which runs to Sunday 25 April. |
| Central Park rowing boats | Not yet open | The season runs roughly April to November. Walk-up only, first come first served, and never bookable in advance. |
| Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry | Open every day in March | Only Thanksgiving and 25 December close it. |
Harbour cruise season bands are published by the operator on the Circle Line published seasonal sailing schedule. Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island opening days come from the National Park Service hours page for the Statue of Liberty. Check both before you book a dated slot.
The 5 March date is the one to build around if a full harbour cruise matters to you. From Tuesday 5 January to Friday 5 March the flagship full-island cruise had no departures at all, and the landmarks sailing ran at half frequency. From the 5th the complete schedule returns. Booking on the 4th and booking on the 6th are genuinely different propositions.
The zoo changeover is the one seasonal date in this guide we cannot pin down. The winter operation, with reduced hours of 10:00 to 16:30 and the Children's Zoo, Monorail, Butterfly Garden, Zoo Shuttle and Budgie Landing all closed, runs from 1 November through to some point in March. The exact resumption date is not published in advance, so if you are travelling specifically for those attractions, check with the zoo before you commit.
One more piece of March housekeeping. Cherry blossom is the question everyone asks about a late-March New York trip, and it is one we deliberately do not answer with a date. Peak bloom is confirmed by the botanic gardens in real time and is never reliably predictable more than a couple of weeks ahead. Any guide giving you a specific 2027 bloom window is guessing.
What to wear and pack for New York in March
Pack for two months in one bag. With a 13cm snowfall normal and 9.9C average highs, the first half of March can still be winter and the second half can be spring, so the practical answer is winter footwear plus lighter upper layers.
Keep the boots. It is tempting to treat March as spring, but the snowfall normal is higher than December's and the average low of 2.1C is close enough to freezing that wet pavements are still a hazard overnight. Waterproof footwear is the item you will regret leaving behind.
Above the ankles you can lighten considerably. A mid-weight coat with layers underneath covers a 9.9C afternoon and a 2.1C evening far better than a single heavy winter coat, and by the last week of the month you may not need the coat at all in the middle of the day.
Add sunglasses and something for wind. March is the windiest feeling month in Manhattan, partly because the avenues are still funnelling cold air while the sun is strong enough to be in your eyes.
- Waterproof boots, because March snowfall exceeds December's
- A mid-weight coat plus layers rather than one heavy winter coat
- Something green if you are here on Wednesday 17 March
- A hat, if you want to join the Easter Parade on Sunday 28 March
- Sunglasses, for a strong low sun over wet pavements
How we chose these tours
The base order is verified GetYourGuide review volume. For March we ranked on schedule restoration rather than weather, because the two products that change most this month change on fixed dates: the harbour cruise winter band ends on 5 March and the Ellis Island Hard Hat Tour returns to six departures a day.
- Popularity first. The base order is the verified review count on the live GetYourGuide listing, which is the only booking signal we can check independently.
- Then seasonal fit. A tour moves up or down for a specific, stated reason tied to March: temperature, snowfall, sunset time, an operator season band or a closure. Every move is explained in the entry itself rather than left implied.
- Closed means out. If a product is not running, or an operator has cut its sailings for the season, it does not sit in the ten unflagged however popular it is. We name it in the closures table instead so you can plan around it.
- Nothing is invented. Prices, star ratings and review counts come from the live product page, checked on 28 July 2026. Where an official 2027 date had not been published when we wrote this, we describe the usual pattern and say plainly that the date is not confirmed.
- We earn a commission. Booking links go to GetYourGuide and pay us if you book. That does not change the ranking: the review counts are public and you can check every one of them against the listing.
FAQs about New York in March
When is Easter in New York in 2027, and does the Easter Parade fall in March or April?
Easter Sunday 2027 is 28 March, so the Fifth Avenue Easter Parade and Bonnet Festival falls in March, not April. This catches a lot of people out, because Easter is often an April event. It is free, informal and takes place along Fifth Avenue around St Patrick's Cathedral, and anyone wearing a hat can join the procession rather than only watching it.
Does it still snow in New York in March?
Yes, and more than in December. The NOAA Central Park normal for March is 13cm against December's 12cm, and well above November's 1.3cm. March snow is generally wetter and clears faster than midwinter snow, but the first three weeks of the month can produce a genuine snow event, so waterproof footwear is still the right call.
When do the clocks go forward in New York?
Sunday 14 March 2027. The effect is dramatic: sunset moves from 18:01 on Saturday the 13th to 19:02 on Sunday the 14th, an hour of evening daylight gained overnight. Sunrise moves the other way at the same time, from 06:09 to 07:07. March gains 1 hour 21 minutes of daylight in total, the largest monthly gain in this guide.
Can you take a full Manhattan cruise in March?
From Friday 5 March, yes. The operator's winter season band runs from 5 January to 5 March, and during it the flagship full-island cruise has no departures at all while the landmarks sailing runs at half frequency. From the 5th the full schedule resumes, which makes March the first month since December with the complete range of harbour cruises available.
When is the New York St Patrick's Day Parade in 2027?
Wednesday 17 March 2027, up Fifth Avenue through Midtown. It is the oldest and largest St Patrick's Day parade in the world and it is free to watch. Practically, Fifth Avenue is closed for the day from the mid-forties north, cross-town traffic is very slow, and Midtown bars fill from lunchtime. A midweek date makes it slightly easier to navigate than a weekend one.
Will the cherry blossom be out in New York in late March?
We will not give you a date, and neither should anyone else. Peak bloom is confirmed by the botanic gardens in real time and is not reliably predictable more than roughly two weeks ahead, because it depends on the temperatures in the preceding weeks. Any 2027 bloom window published now is a guess. Check the gardens directly in the fortnight before you travel.