By Maura Daly Phinney

New York offers plenty to do in the winter — shopping, going to the theater and ice-skating at Rockefeller Center. But for me, it's all about the museums.

My first destination during two recent visits was the Guggenheim Museum on the Upper East Side to see the paintings of Vasily Kandinsky. I've been crazy about the Russian-born Kandinsky since the first time I saw his paintings at this same museum 15 years ago. The founder, Solomon R. Guggenheim, was also crazy about the artist, acquiring 150 of his paintings that he had installed in his private apartment at the Plaza Hotel.

Architect Frank Lloyd Wright is said to have been inspired by Kandinsky's works when he designed the museum's spiral building. As I wandered up and up and up the ramp and soaked in the paintings, I was overwhelmed. Maybe it had something to do with the walk up the ramp, but I actually had to sit down and just stare for a while. When the security guard asked if I was OK, I mumbled something about it just being so fabulous that I was overwhelmed.

"Yeah, that's happening to a lot of people," he said.

After taking my time going down the ramp and looking at everything again, I reluctantly left the Gugg (as it is affectionately know by New Yorkers) and headed down Fifth Avenue to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is an easy walk — just five blocks that parallel Central Park. The Metropolitan Museum can be a bit much to take in, so I decided to focus on just one or two exhibits and call it a day.

My first stop was lunch. The Met has several places to eat, but my favorite restaurant is the Petrie Court Cafe, near the European Sculpture Court on the first floor, which turns into a wine bar on Friday and Saturday nights when the museum is open late. The food is good and the view of Central Park is great. En route I passed one of Damien Hirst's conceptual tank pieces, "The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living," which is an enormous 13-foot dead tiger shark in a glass tank of formaldehyde.

After lunch, I went to the recently renovated American Wing and spent some time examining the 18th century silver and early Tiffany jewelry in the balcony galleries. There are several pieces by Paul Revere, who, when he wasn't taking his midnight ride in 1775, was an accomplished silversmith.

At the end of the day, I jumped into a cab and went to the Hudson Hotel, a reasonably priced hotel with a good location on West 58th Street, a nice lobby, restaurants and a rooftop bar with a view of the skyline. I paid $250 per night, including taxes, in a deal I found on www.quikbook.com. The one drawback to the Hudson is that the standard rooms are excruciatingly small. I kept banging my knees and elbows on things as I tried to walk around the room and tiny bathroom, and I actually had to lie down on the bed to get dressed in the morning. But if you're more interested in seeing the sights than hanging out in your hotel room, the Hudson does just fine.

During a subsequent trip to New York I stayed at one of my favorite Quikbook finds — the Excelsior Hotel on the Upper West Side directly across from the American Museum of Natural History. They have a variety of rooms, and it is worth the $20 more to get one of the bigger rooms that overlooks the museum. The price when I was there was $230 (a deal by New York standards), but the rates fluctuate wildly based on the time of year and availability.

I enjoyed the big fluffy bed and woke up to a pounding rain and temperatures in the 40s — perfect museum weather. I dashed across the street to the Natural History Museum and paid $28 for a combination ticket that included admission to the exhibits and the new planetarium show called "Journey to the Stars."

Just a cab ride away was the Museum of Modern Art at West 53rd Street. The exhibits this winter range from the traditional, such as Monet's water lilies, to the mildly creepy Tim Burton retrospective. There is always lots to see, but don't go on Friday nights, when it is free. The crowds are suffocating, and I find it's worth the $20 to be able to take my time and savor the experience.

MoMa has three places to eat, and on this rainy day I opted for Terrace 5, a casual fifth-floor cafe that overlooks the sculpture garden. It is a bit off the beaten track, so you can take your time while you eat and review the museum plan and decide where to go next.

Most visitors would probably say that New York is at its best in the spring and summer. I would argue that for museum lovers, winter is the very best season of the year.

IF YOU GO

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Ave., 212-423-3500, www.guggenheim.org

American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, 212-769-5100, www.amnh.org/visitors/

Journey to the Stars at the American Museum of Natural History, www.amnh.org/rose/spaceshow/journey

Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd Street, 212-535-7710, www.metmuseum.org

Museum of Modern Art, 11 W. 53rd St., 212-708-9400, www.moma.org

Hudson Hotel, 356 W. 58th St., 212-554-6000, www.hudsonhotel.com

Excelsior Hotel, 45 West 81st St., 212-362-9200, www.excelsiorhotelnyc.com/index.cfm

Maura Daly Phinney is a freelance travel writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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