Funnily enough, most of my conversations with Europeans who dream of visiting the U.S. involve me trying to direct them toward cities that aren’t New York — places like Denver and Atlanta where there’s a lot to do but it’s a little less expensive. NYC is a bit European, or city-of-the-world; you could get some of the same experience by visiting Paris and London, which are closer. There’s not really a European match for someplace like Santa Fe or Memphis.

Of course, I’m partly making these suggestions in the interest of helping visitors not empty retirement accounts, so it’s not quite the same situation; and inevitably my suggestions are taken politely in stride before my friends plan a visit to New York.