Central Park, New York: Your Complete Guide

It's hard to say anything new about Central Park when so much has already been said about New York's most famous green lung. It's the setting for hundreds of movies and TV shows, which is why walking through it feels like one long déjà vu.

This guide to Manhattan's most famous park will help you plan your visit and see as much as possible in a short time. The place is huge!

What to See in Central Park

The best way to get to know New York's most famous park is to wander and let it surprise you, but when time is tight, planning and measuring distances matters (in the warmer months you can cover more ground if you rent a bike).

Along with the New York subway, Central Park is the great equalizer among New Yorkers. Everyone uses it and everyone loves it.

The park was designed more than a century and a half ago to bring «tranquility and rest to the mind,» in the words of Frederick Law Olmsted, its chief landscape architect.

In the 21st century, Central Park is still an oasis for city residents and one of the most important tourist attractions in the world, welcoming more than 40 million visitors a year.

You'll see college students sunbathing in swimsuits in summer, couples riding in carriages, athletes training for the next marathon, well-dressed older folks catching some sun, dog walkers, hipsters having picnics and musicians of every kind.

In this guide, I've organized the points of interest into categories. Click on each one for detailed information, maps and photos:

1. Central Park's Lawns and Meadows

Central Park has more than 800 acres of gardens, meadows and woodlands. There are iconic spots you should visit, like the Great Lawn, North Meadow and Sheep Meadow.

Read all the details on the most famous meadows in Central Park.

2. Central Park's Lakes and Ponds

Central Park has several ponds and lakes.

There are small ponds like Conservatory Water, where kids and adults alike sail model boats.

There are also large bodies of water like the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, originally built to supply New York with drinking water.

If you have more time, head to spots less known to tourists, like Harlem Meer at the northern end of the park.

Get to know the most important ones in the section on the Lakes of Central Park.

3. Statues and Monuments in Central Park

The heart of the park is Bethesda Fountain, one of the most photographed fountains in the world.

Another walk packed with statues is the Literary Walk.

If you're traveling to New York with kids, let them climb the Alice in Wonderland statue.

Another heavily visited monument is the Imagine mosaic in Strawberry Fields, New York's tribute to John Lennon.

Find out which ones they are and how to reach the most important statues in Central Park.

4. Arches and Bridges in Central Park

There are more than 10 bridges in Central Park, plus several arches you'll come across as you explore.

The first one I'd recommend is the romantic Bow Bridge, known for its beautiful architecture and for appearing in hundreds of movies and shows filmed in Central Park.

5. Nearby Museums

In the Upper East Side you can visit the Met and the American Museum of Natural History, both inside the park, plus the Guggenheim right across the street.

If you want to hit all the museums, you can save on admission by buying a discount tourist pass.

6. Central Park Zoo

This guide wouldn't be complete without a charming attraction: the Central Park Zoo, where you can see polar bears, seals, lions and penguins up close in the heart of Manhattan.

The penguins and the seals steal the show at feeding time 🙂

If you're traveling to New York as a family, it's an excellent option (follow the link for plenty of ideas kids and adults will both love, many of them in Central Park).

Sports in Central Park

The meadows of Central Park are popular for yoga and tai chi, and the woodlands are ideal for birdwatching.

But without a doubt, running is the sport of choice in Central Park. Especially as the New York City Marathon date approaches, you'll see amateur and professional runners on every path.

In winter you can ice skate at either of its two rinks: Wollman Rink or Lasker Rink.

Soon, at some point in spring 2025, the former Lasker Rink site (at the north end of the park next to Harlem Meer) will open as the Davis Center, a recreation complex with a new ice skating rink and the eighth-largest pool in New York.

Events in Central Park

There are events in Central Park in every season.

There are big productions like Shakespeare in the Park, concerts by the New York Philharmonic and screenings of movies under the stars.

But the fun part is that you'll always find people who come to the park to play an instrument, dance or perform.

Lesser-Known Corners

Central Park is full of unexpected corners off the usual tourist routes, especially toward the northern end.

Here are the ones I think are great and that you shouldn't miss (listed from south to north):

1. Hallett Nature Sanctuary

It's one of the park's few wild areas. Walking its trails, you get a sense of what this part of New York looked like before the Dutch and the English arrived.

The Hallett Nature Sanctuary sits very close to Fifth Avenue, around 60th and 62nd Streets.

2. Central Park Carousel

Around 65th Street you'll find a lovely carousel with 57 horses, perfect if you're feeling nostalgic.

The original carousel was installed on this very spot in 1871 (legend has it that it was powered by a real horse), but it burned down. The current one is a vintage carousel rescued from an amusement park in Coney Island.

3. Tavern on the Green

If you've watched Ghostbusters over and over, you'll remember the scene where Louis Tully is cornered and possessed by the gargoyle demon in front of the diners at Tavern on the Green.

The restaurant is housed in an elegant building on Central Park West around 67th Street. Start saving up for a very nerdy dinner by those big windows.

4. Belvedere Castle

One of the most beautiful corners is Belvedere Castle (around 79th Street).

This castle sits on the highest point in the park and has served as a weather observatory for decades. The good news is that you can go inside and take photos from its balconies.

If you've seen Enchanted, you'll recognize it right away. There are no princesses here, but there are griffins and dragons if you look closely 😉

5. Central Park's obelisk

Around 81st Street on the east side you'll come across the oldest public monument in New York: Cleopatra's Needle.

It's an ancient Egyptian obelisk built 3,500 years ago during the reign of Thutmose III. In 1869 the Egyptian government gave it to the United States as a gift.

6. The Ravine and its hidden waterfalls

The Ravine is an area in the north of the park with at least five man-made waterfalls.

With this design, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux wanted New Yorkers to feel like they were in the Catskills or the Adirondacks without ever leaving Manhattan.

You'll reach this man-made oasis by entering the park from the west through the Glen Span Arch, at around 102nd Street.

Just follow the water along the dirt paths heading east (the «Loch Trail»).

Tips for your visit

Central Park is huge. Seeing it on a map is one thing, walking it is another, and only then do you realize the scale of it.

Keep in mind the park runs from 59th Street all the way up to 110th, that's more than fifty blocks! A good way to cover it is to rent a bike, which is especially useful if you're short on time.

The other approach is to get to know it bit by bit, with no rush. That's ideal, since there are so many attractions here that the park easily deserves several visits.

Is it safe?

You may have the impression that Central Park is unsafe. That's understandable, since for decades cop shows and hundreds of movies have taught us to see it as a haven for crime.

At certain points in its history that was true, but today, after major conservation projects and beefed-up security (the park has its own police precinct), it's perfectly safe during the day.

At night it's a different story, and the same precautions apply that you'd take in any park in a city the size of New York.

The history of Central Park

The Central Park we know today was built between 1858 and 1873. It was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and English architect Calvert Vaux, the same team behind Prospect Park, its counterpart in Brooklyn.

Part of their idea was to evoke the most famous European parks of the era, and to play with the contrast between seemingly wild areas and carefully tamed gardens (much like Parque Forestal in Santiago, Chile).

We say «seemingly wild» because everything here was planned, not just the bridges, gardens, fountains and statues, but also the ponds, meadows, hills and woods.

Over time other facilities have been added, including sports fields, ice rinks, performance spaces, a zoo and plenty of other points of interest.

Central Park on screen

Central Park on screen is such a big topic that I gave it its own post. Here's a preview: you can visit the most iconic Central Park filming locations from movies and TV on this walking tour (all the details are at the link).

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Address

Between 59th and 110th Streets, and between Fifth Avenue and Central Park West

Getting there

From Central Park West:
Subway B, C. Stations from 72nd Street up to 110th
From Fifth Avenue
Subway R, W. Fifth Ave-59th St station
Subway 6. Stations from 68th Street up to 110th (you'll come out on Lexington Ave, about 3 blocks from Central Park)

Map