Wall Street Area at a Glance:

• An icon of America's financial might as well as a direct link to New York's past, the Wall Street area is alive by day with the hum of commerce, and a ghost town during the weekends when a tour of the area is at its most peaceful.
  
  
• If you're here during business hours, be sure to take the tour of the New York Stock Exchange, and walk around the narrow streets to rub shoulders with high-powered financial leaders.
  
  
• For those with a desire to visit Ground Zero, be forewarned that there is nothing much to see but a bare construction site. Otherwise, the mere size of the hole left after the twin towers fell gives most tourists a good hint at the scope of the tragedy that occurred on September 11, 2001.
  
  
• While in the area, be sure to take the required photo-op in front of George Washington's statue at Federal Hall (the nation's first capitol building) or head to St. Paul's Chapel where you can still see the pew where Washington worshiped each Sunday. Also don't miss the nearby stop at Trinity Church to inspect the graveyard for monuments erected to such historical luminaries as Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton.
  
  
• More history is on view heading east to the South Street Seaport, where you can board one of the restored ships and learn more about New York's glorious maritime past.
  
  
• From South Street, head further south to the very tip of Manhattan at Battery Park for a free trip aboard the Staten Island Ferry traversing New York Harbor, as well as paid tours to Elllis Island and the Statue of Liberty.

How to get to Wall Street by subway: Take 2, 3, 4, 5, J, Z, or M to Fulton Street; A and C to Broadway-Nassau.

How to get to Wall Street by bus: M6 "South Ferry"; M15 to Fulton Street.