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Central Park rower row boats bow bridge
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The best things to do in Central Park

No matter what season we're in, experience the best things to do in Central Park from walking tours to boat rides

Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner
Written by
Jillian Anthony
&
Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner
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Manhattan’s iconic green space (and one of the top New York attractions), Central Park, has a lot of entertainment to offer, regardless of which season we’re experiencing. In fact, you may be surprised to know that some of the best things to do in Central Park occur in fall and winter! While tourists and locals love to frequent one of the city’s best parks for its various lawns, fountains, walking paths, trees and picnic spots, Central Park also hosts major events from epic summer concerts and theater performances to the annual Winter Jam festival. There’s always an excuse to visit, but here are a few of our favorite happenings to get you started.

RECOMMENDED: Full guide to Central Park in New York

Best things to do in Central Park

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Take a romantic paddle around the Lake ($20 per hour, cash only)—or let someone else do the work during a Venetian gondola ride (half hour $45, up to six people) at Loeb Boathouse. It’s definitely one of the most iconic things to do at Central Park and can be a romantic setting for a date or an engagement.

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  • Zoo and aquariums
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Animal lovers will dig the cute critters at the Tisch Children’s Zoo, adjacent to the main zoo, where you can also get up close and personal with pot-bellied pigs and goats. In the Central Park Zoo itself, coo over the daily feeding of the sea lions and penguins, and watch snow monkeys leap playfully between rocks. Tickets start at $15 for kids and $20 for adults and can be reserved in advance online.

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Thirty-six acres of winding trails, rocks and streams remain here, seemingly waiting to be discovered. It's also the city's primo bird-watching spot, where you can view many of the park's 230 species. Fun fact: Everything you see is man-made, dating back to 1859—even the waterfalls can be turned on and off.

  • Things to do
  • Walks and tours

Budding cherry blossoms are one of the prettiest seasonal signifiers that spring in NYC is in full swing. If you think the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is the only place you can see those beautiful, pink-petal trees, guess again! There are a handful of spots in the city where you can see cherry blossoms, and one of our favorites is Central Park. Hundreds of cherry trees bloom along the Reservoir starting in April. To honor this, Central Park has launched a new Cherry Blossom Tour for folks who want to learn the history of this area as well as where the trees came from. 

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On warm days, we're hard pressed to think of a better spot in Manhattan to ogle hotties than Sheep Meadow, the bucolic 15-acre field located along the southwestern edge of the park. Expect thousands of scantily-clad locals to take over the area on weekends, alongside frisbee-throwing bros, guitar sing-alongs and many handstand attempts. To secure a shaded spot, we suggest arriving at 11am, when the field opens.

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Don't fret if the kiddies climb all over this bronze statue of Alice and company—that's what it's there for. Dedicated to the children of NYC and commissioned by George Delacorte after the passing of his wife, who enjoyed reading the story to their children, the larger-than-life figures have been explored by kiddies since 1959. Make sure to meander over to the nearby Conservatory Water, where you can grab a bench and watch motorized miniature sailboats whiz by as you contemplate life’s meaning.

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Ice or roller skate at Wollman Rink
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  • Ice skating
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Wollman Rink has turned into a roller skating rink complete with a roller disco on summer nights! Once winter descends, you can hit the ice for some romantic skating and even catch a hockey game.

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Under the shade of one of the largest stands of American Elm trees in North America, without a skyscraper in sight, you can truly feel like you’ve left the city behind for a minute. Once a place to stroll in your Sunday best, it’s now an area where many artists and performers set up shop—but not in an obnoxious way. It’s a great spot to grab a bench and watch the fabulous eccentricities of the strangers around you unfold over an afternoon.

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Experience the charms of a European garden without having to, y’know, fly to Europe. This six-acre garden offers three styles (French, Italian and English) and a plethora of flowers, fountains, neatly trimmed hedges and walkways. Just be prepared for the throng of wedding photo shoots—and, by that, we mean be prepared for photo-bombing.

  • Theater

Every summer, the Public Theater produces a beloved NYC democratic tradition and one of the best free things to do in NYC: Shakespeare in the Park, presented at the open-air Delacorte Theater in Central Park. There’s nothing quite like hearing the Bard’s immortal words performed outside in New York, with a backdrop of natural splendor and the Belvedere Castle looming in the background like the world’s most impressive set decoration.

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Pay homage to Seneca Village
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11. Pay homage to Seneca Village

Before Central Park was a massive green space connecting the Upper West and Upper East sides, the land served as a community for African American property owners through the mid-19th Century. The city then purchased the land and forcibly removed the neighborhood to build Central Park, leading to a 2011 excavation of the site and the installation of historic, informational panels at the former site between 82nd and 89th Streets on the west side of the park. The Conservancy also leads tours here to learn more about the lost neighborhood. 

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  • Arcades and amusements
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Experience the retro charm of bobbing along to organ music atop one of the Friedsam Memorial Carousel's 52 saddles. The carousel is in its third incarnation since 1871 (the original was horse-powered, and the next two were supposedly destroyed by fires), and the current version dates back to 1950, when it was discovered in a Coney Island trolley terminal. Expect long waits, popcorn, hot dogs and a few crabby kids.

  • Music

For New York music fans, SummerStage is always one of the highlights of the summer-concerts calendar. The City Parks Foundation series is a juggernaut among warm-weather concert presenters, booking everything from classic New York hip-hop artists in outerborough NYC parks to big-name indie-rock bands on the Central Park mainstage. 

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  • Things to do

Celebrate the Halloween season at one of the best park’s in the city for fall foliage: Central Park. Listen to ghost stories, check out a costume parade and get creative by carving a pumpkin. After the festivities, the Central Park Conservancy will partake in a traditional Pumpkin Flotilla, where 50 gourds (possibly your creation) will take a sail across the Harlem Meer at twilight. 

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It just wouldn’t be the holidays if the city weren’t using up enough electricity in a month to power a small country for a decade. For more than 20 years, the Central Park Conservancy has been draping the Charles A. Dana Center in holiday lights and ringing in the season alongside a hot-cocoa-bearing Santa. Families can listen or open a songbook to join in with the Mistletones for some holiday carols. Ice carvers from Okamoto Studios will be carving a nutcracker and a polar bear on site and everyone can watch while they much on some cookies and cocoa.

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We don’t know about you, but our inner child always appreciates a snow day. Since you can't always rely on mother nature, that’s where Central Park Winter Jam comes in. The NYC Parks and Recreation event includes ice-skating, sledding, snowboarding (yes, they bring in a snow machine), grub and more, so get ready to join New Yorkers of all ages for one of the best things to do in winter. 

Have you visited New York's other outstanding parks?

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