Downtown Jersey City
& The Waterfront:
The Complete Guide

Of all the naming confusion in Jersey City, this is the biggest. "Downtown," "the Waterfront," "Exchange Place," and "Paulus Hook" all get used somewhat interchangeably to describe the same stretch of the city — the high-rise, skyline-view district that sits directly across the Hudson from Lower Manhattan. It's Jersey City's financial and corporate core, nicknamed "Wall Street West" for the concentration of banks and finance firms headquartered there, and it's also home to some of the best unobstructed Manhattan skyline views anywhere in New Jersey.

This guide covers the whole district — what to call it, how to get around, and what a visit actually looks like.

What "Downtown" and "The Waterfront" Actually Mean

Exchange Place is the anchor: a car-free plaza and the historic heart of the district, built on landfill at the foot of Montgomery Street. It's ringed by high-rise office towers and residential buildings and has been Jersey City's major transportation hub since the colonial era. The neighborhood immediately around it — cobblestone streets, 19th-century brownstones, a genuine small-town feel despite the skyscrapers overhead — is Paulus Hook, Jersey City's oldest neighborhood. A few blocks inland, Van Vorst Park and Hamilton Park add tree-lined residential streets and green space to the mix.

"The Waterfront" typically refers to the same general area, named for the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway that runs along its edge. In practice, when people search for "Downtown Jersey City" or "the Waterfront," they're usually picturing the same skyline, the same PATH stations, and the same few blocks — this guide treats them as one district because that's how the neighborhood actually functions.

Getting In, Out, and Around

This is the single most transit-connected part of Jersey City, which is a big part of its appeal.

PATH train: The Exchange Place and Grove Street stations both run direct to the World Trade Center and connect through to 33rd Street in Manhattan. Exchange Place to WTC is one of the shortest PATH rides in the entire system — often under 5 minutes.

Hudson-Bergen Light Rail: Runs directly through Exchange Place, connecting north to Jersey City Heights and Hoboken, and south toward Liberty State Park.

NY Waterway Ferry: A scenic alternative into Manhattan, running from the Paulus Hook ferry terminal directly across the Hudson.

Citi Bike: Stations are dense throughout the district, making it one of the most walkable and bikeable parts of the city.

Flying in for your visit? See our Newark Airport transportation guide for the full breakdown of getting from EWR into Jersey City, or search flights on Booking.com to compare fares.

The Waterfront Walkway & Skyline Views

The Hudson River Waterfront Walkway runs the length of the district, and on a clear day it delivers one of the most photographed skyline views in the region — the full Lower Manhattan skyline, One World Trade Center included, directly across the water. The Colgate Clock, one of the largest clocks in the world and a Jersey City landmark since the early 1900s, anchors one end of the walkway near Exchange Place Plaza.

Morris Canal Park and the southern stretch of the walkway toward Liberty State Park add more green space and more skyline, with views that stretch to the Statue of Liberty on a clear day. It's an easy, flat walk — no planning required, just show up and follow the water.

Historic Streets & Local Life

Step a block or two inland from the high-rises and the character shifts fast. Paulus Hook's cobblestone streets and preserved 19th-century brownstones give it a quaint, small-town feel that's genuinely surprising this close to a financial district. Van Vorst Park and Hamilton Park, a short walk further in, are classic Jersey City brownstone neighborhoods built around leafy, historic parks — the kind of streets where a Sunday farmers market or a dog walk feels like the whole point of the visit.

Food, Nightlife & Newark Avenue

The district has two distinct food-and-drink personalities. Near Exchange Place, you'll find rooftop bars and upscale spots catering to the finance crowd — the Rooftop at Exchange Place is a genuine destination in its own right for skyline-view drinks. A few blocks over, the Newark Avenue pedestrian mall running through Grove Street is where the neighborhood loosens up: a walkable strip of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops with a younger, more local energy, plus regular events and a farmers market.

Where to Stay Nearby

StayJC's properties sit in Journal Square, Bergen-Lafayette, McGinley Square, West Side, and Jersey City Heights — all a short PATH or light rail ride from Exchange Place, and typically at a better value than a stay directly in the high-rise district. If proximity to Exchange Place and the Waterfront walkway is the priority, SunSuite in Journal Square is your closest option — a 6-minute walk to the PATH, which puts you at Exchange Place in well under 15 minutes total.

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Booking Tours & Experiences

From Downtown Jersey City, you're minutes from everything else worth seeing on a NYC trip — Statue of Liberty tours, Manhattan sightseeing, Hudson River cruises, and more. We partner with the following platform to help you make the most of your stay:

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