There may be no more cinematic season than fall in New York, and it’s no wonder When Harry Met Sally and You’ve Got Mail filmed here at the height of autumn. When that coveted sweater weather arrives each year, the pumpkin spice lattes start pouring and the trees — a reported 5.2 million of them — transform every borough of Gotham into a fall foliage wonderland.

While every neighborhood feels worthy of a stroll at that first sign of fall, don’t forget to also explore toward the end of October, says Grant Braswell, licensed associate real estate broker at Compass and a StreetEasy Expert. “One of the biggest things in Park Slope in the fall is Halloween,” he says. “Everyone gets in on it, houses get decorated, there’s lights, there’s giant eight foot spiders on huge nets that people put out…it’s just something that everyone loves.”  

Here are a few of our favorite neighborhoods for taking a bite out of the Big Apple pie this fall season, with insider tips from NYC real estate agents.

Fall in New York: 6 Top Neighborhoods for Foliage and Food

Inwood, Manhattan

“Being right on the water and all of the parks that both neighborhoods have, [Inwood and Riverdale are] sort of the perfect places for fall,” says Stephenie Skyllas, licensed real estate salesperson at Bizzaro Agency and StreetEasy Expert, who lives in the area. 

One of Stephenie’s top restaurants for a fall nosh in Inwood: The Hudson, which serves lobster grilled cheese and Wagyu burgers on brioche buns. “You can sit outside and see all the leaves changing across the water on the Palisades,” she says. 

Just north of there, Inwood Hill Park is Skyllas’ favorite green space in town. “It is one of the last sort of natural parks in New York City, and what I mean by that is there’s still amazing playgrounds and ball fields and all of that, but there’s untouched forests. It’s not like Central Park where it was designed by humans.” Bonus: the park also offers a top-notch farmer’s market, the Inwood Greenmarket, on Saturdays year-round, where local delights range from 1857 — a handcrafted potato vodka from Schoharie County, New York — to apple cider from Samascott Orchards & Nine Pin Ciderworks. 

“In the fall, all the apples start coming,” Skyllas says. “You can get fall foods like your apple cider and your apple cider donuts and all of that sort of yummy stuff direct from the people who are making it, and then you can go sort of on a little hike through Inwood Hill Park.” 

Finally, don’t miss one of her other farm-to-table go-to restaurants of choice, The Inwood Farm. Current dishes include brussels sprouts with green apple, prosciutto, hot honey, and balsamic reduction, and herb-stuffed roasted chicken with pommes puree, broccoli rabe, and pan gravy sauce. It may seem too good to be true, but it’s fall-real.

Park Slope, Brooklyn

“One of my favorite things any time of year, but especially once it’s a little cooler and not as wet as spring, is going into Prospect Park,” Braswell says. “Especially in the fall, I prefer meandering more in the fields because then you get the open views of all the leaf changes and everything, and some cool breezes coming through and getting down to the Nethermead [rolling meadow]. You really don’t feel like you’re in the city in the fall.” 

Plus, as a particularly storied section of Brooklyn, Park Slope is chock-full of bakeries and coffee shops that put national chains to shame, including Velvette Brew — a barista-owned spot offering buttery Italian cookies with their highly Instagrammable lattes. Just a few minutes away on the border of Park Slope is the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which may get most of its fanfare during spring and summer, but fall is no slouch. You may see fiery orange 20-foot-tall Japanese maple trees and a century-old sweetgum tree dressed in cherry red leaves as you wander through the 52-acre grounds. 

Riverdale, Bronx

“Van Cortlandt Park is one of the biggest parks in the city, with several old houses and a bunch of old creepy graveyards,” Skyllas says of the manicured expanse. She often makes a beeline, though, for the horse stables. 

“You can go up there and go hiking all around the north end of Van Cortlandt Park, and you really have no clue that you’re in New York City. So for everybody who wants the trees and the nature, but needs to take public transportation or doesn’t have all day, you can just go up there. My little secret is to go to the northwest corner of the park and it’s not busy. You almost never see other people if you’re out there hiking, which I think is amazing in New York.” 

Another of Skyllas’ favorite green (and red, orange, yellow) spaces is Riverdale Park. “I’m a big water person, so I love the parks that are near the water — especially in the fall, because of course, across the other side of the Hudson is the Palisades, and all of those leaves are stunning.” 

Nearby, her favorite restaurant in Riverdale is the farm-to-table Moss Café. They source from local farms for dishes like the farmer’s plate with two eggs, sauteed garlicky greens, roasted potatoes, and toasted whole wheat sourdough. “It’s a kosher restaurant, so they’re closed on Saturdays,” she notes. “The food is incredible. And it’s seasonal because they get food from farms all throughout the Hudson Valley.” 

If you’ve got a seasonal sweet tooth, hit up The Corner Cafe’s bakery where you can grab a cranberry apple pear tart, banana walnut bread, cinnamon heart cookies, and more.

Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn

Braswell lives in Windsor Terrace, where many street-facing gardens set it apart from other neighborhoods and make it a great place to take in the onset of fall in New York. “You have some of these really big trees with leaves that sweep down the street,” he says. “That’s when you’re like, like, ‘Oh, winter’s coming.’ That big breeze coming in over the cemetery and through the street.” 

One of Braswell’s coffee shops in Windsor Terrace is ELK Cafe, on the Southwest corner of the park, which has its own working fireplace for the coziest feel imaginable. “I like flat whites everywhere I go,” he says. “It’s a coffee shop where I think they do it right and it’s cute, and it’s right by the park.” 

Greenwich Village, Manhattan

If New York City were a band in need of an album cover photo, they’d no doubt shoot it in Greenwich Village — in the fall (of course). At a time of year synonymous with back to school and bibliophiles, Greenwich Village is autumnal perfection, thanks to historic Washington Square Park and a plethora of college students on their way to class. It’s a bit morbid, but around Halloween, don’t miss the Hangman’s Elm, which is more than 300 years old and reportedly where “traitors” were dispensed with during the American Revolution.

On Sullivan Street, Third Rail Coffee makes picture-perfect cortados and iced lattes with local Battenkill Dairy Farm milk. Head to Mille-Feuille for some of the best pastries this side of Paris, including the very autumnal chausson aux pommes, a puff pastry pocket filled with applesauce.

Upper East Side, Manhattan

As the leaves in Central Park swirl, there may be no more iconic place to take them in than the Met’s Temple of Dendur gallery. Behind the circa 10 B.C. stone temple, glass spans the entire wall — overlooking a prime panorama of the park’s trees. 

While you’re on the Upper East Side, it’s also worth trekking to 787 Coffee, which has locations on both East 70th and 80th, to indulge in a rum-infused espresso or dulce de leche latte, which are exactly as debauched and delicious as they sound (and not actually alcoholic, since the booze evaporates).

Stop by Levain Bakery while you’re at it for a pumpkin ginger spice loaf cake — only offered seasonally — or Orwashers, who’ve perfected babka with their sticky bun babka muffins drizzled in caramel schmear. 

And finally, you can’t do fall in New York without walking the iconic Mall and Literary Walk in Central Park. Enter at 66th Street to stroll under two towering rows of American elm trees, which were the fanciful imaginings of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in the 19th century. Squint and you can picture Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal there, snuggled up in cable knit sweaters and each other.