explore new york's central park
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New York's Central Park offers so many sights and activities that it's nearly impossible to see it all in one visit, but visiting the park's better-known spots or taking a tour will provide you with a thorough introduction. Keep in mind that Central Park covers 843 acres of land and has 58 miles of walking paths, 21 playgrounds, almost 9,000 park benches, two skating rinks, a swimming pool, an outdoor theater and a zoo.
Things You'll Need
- Good walking shoes
- Map of Central Park
Instructions
Tour the Park
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If your time is limited, take a free guided walking tour of the park conducted by the Central Park Conservancy. Some 10 tours are available year-round except in "-extreme weather conditions,"- which means heavy rainstorms, snowstorms or in temperatures below 25 or above 95 degrees. Tours take between an hour and an hour and a half. No reservations are required, as long as you're in a group of six or fewer people.
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With the help of technology, you can now conduct a self-guided tour of Central Park if you own an MP3 player. Centralpark.com offers a combination of podcasts, maps and interactive guides for park visitors who want a do-it-yourself tour. Download interactive tour maps from any location, printable PDF maps and MP3 files, which can be uploaded onto your MP3 player to provide an audio excursion that can keep you company in the park.
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Many tour companies in New York offer tours of Central Park, and a quick search will produce dozens of options. Bite of the Apple Tours offers a Central Park Bike Tour that combines exercise and sightseeing, with one price covering bike rental and a tour guide. At the time of this article's publication, the company offered three tours daily, seven days a week.
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Have a little fun with On Location Tours' walking tour of famous movie sites filmed in Central Park. You'll see the Boathouse Cafe from "-When Harry Met Sally,"- the bandshell where scenes from "-Breakfast at Tiffany's"- and "-Kramer vs. Kramer"- were filmed, the place where Macaulay Culkin fed pigeons in "-Home Alone 2,"- Bethesda Fountain from "-Gossip Girl"- and the Wollman Rink of "-Love Story"- fame. Some 40 sites are included on this two-hour tour, so wear comfortable shoes. Purchase tickets online at Zerve.com.
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If you prefer to experience the park at your own pace, rent a bike from Bite of the Apple Tours. You can rent for two hours, three hours or all day. The cost includes a helmet and park map.
Venture Forth on Your Own
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Visit Central Park on your own, but do your homework first. Your best authority on the park is the Central Park Conservancy, so visit the group's website and download a good map of the park, which the Conversancy divides into quadrants -- the North End, the Reservoir, the Great Lawn or the South End -- to make it easier to navigate the park.
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Check on the sites situated in each of the Park's quadrants, then decide what you'd like to see the most -- perhaps the Wollman Rink, Strawberry Fields, the Zoo, the Carousel or Tavern on the Green. It's important to know where each of these sites is before you head out, or you'll certainly be walking in circles.
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Highlights of the park include the Obelisk, also known as Cleopatra's Needle, a 71-foot-high landmark situated behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was originally constructed in Heliopolis around 1500 B.C. and then moved to Alexandria by Augustus Caesar in 12 B.C. It was shipped to the United States in 1897.
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Visit Belvedere Castle, which is near the Great Lawn- the castle is another famous Central Park landmark. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux as a fantasy building. It houses the Henry Luce Nature Observatory, which features simple nature displays. Kids can borrow binoculars and maps here to explore the nearby Ramble or Turtle Pond.
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Go around to the front of the castle and you'll be at the Great Lawn, a favorite place for New Yorkers to spend time outdoors on its softball fields, basketball courts and the Great Lawn itself for passive recreation, suntanning, Frisbee games and people-watching.
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Look for the Delacorte Theater, summer home of the Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival and site of the free Shakespeare in the Park program. If you're visiting New York in the summer, wait in line for a ticket at the Delacorte Theater, which distributes them on the day of the performance.
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Visit Strawberry Fields, the 2.5-acre area of Central Park dedicated to the memory of John Lennon and named after his famous song "-Strawberry Fields Forever."- The site was officially dedicated by Mayor Ed Koch in 1981. The teardrop-shaped area includes an unforgettable mosaic medallion inscribed with the word "-Imagine"- in the center. The entrance to Strawberry Fields is on the West Side south of 72nd Street, close to where Lennon and Yoko Ono lived in The Dakota.
Bring the Kids
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Bring the kids to Central Park, a wonderland for little ones in all four seasons. The park has 21 playgrounds that are situated all over the park. In the vicinity of the Great Lawn, you can find seven playgrounds, and at the South End of the park, from 59th to 72nd streets, kids can play on five more playgrounds.
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Go skating at the Wollman Rink, which is open to the public from November 1 through April 1. You won't have to wait in long lines, which you often run into at the Rockefeller Center rink. Life is a bit more mellow at Wollman, and you can skate under the stars. You can rent skates if you don't have your own.
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Take the kids wall-climbing on Sundays at the North Meadow Recreation Center, situated in the middle of the park near 97th Street. The indoor climbing wall is available for use by kids ages 8 to 17.
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Visit some of the park's most beloved sculptures for photo ops with the kids. Two of these sculptures, Alice in Wonderland and Hans Christian Andersen, are near the Great Lawn. Both are meant to be climbed on, and the park sponsors popular children's story times at the Hans Christian Andersen statue during the summer.
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Take the whole family to the Central Park Zoo and to the Tisch Children's Zoo. The zoo is just a short walk from the Fifth Avenue entrance to Central Park and features more than 130 different species on five acres of land. In the Polar Zone, you'll see polar bears, harbor seals and adorable penguins. In the Temperate Territory, you can see sea lions and a popular family of red pandas, and the Tropic Zone houses reptiles, amphibians and monkeys. Admission includes the children's zoo.
Tips &- Warnings
Never walk in Central Park at night, unless you're attending a Shakespeare in the Park event. You will be in lots of company both entering and exiting the park after seeing a show.
Keep a close eye on your kids in Central Park, which is usually swarming with people, particularly in the warmer months.
Tags: Central Park, Great Lawn, Central Park, Central Park, Strawberry Fields, Wollman Rink, acres landSource: www.ehow.com
