Hello Friends!
Like almost all the big city, also in New York city people go to one the parks in the city for escape from the 
chaos, the sounds, the noises and also the high temperature of the city. Although my favorite park in Manhattan is the tiny Bryant Park, today, I’m going to talk you about the most popular park in the city and particularly I’m going to show you my best 10 activities to do in Central Park, the 10 that I love most and the 10 that I suggest to all my friends that plan to visit New York.
My 10 Favorite Things To Do In Central Park
- A visit at Central Park Zoo: you cannot say to had visited Central Park if you have never visited its Zoo. The zoo is pretty small (really tiny compared to the huge Bronx Zoo) and the number of animals showed is small as well. In any case the Zoo is pretty amazing especially thanks to the penguins and the awesome clock. Indeed at every hour there is a kind of super cute carousel on the clock in which metal animals dance for announcing the new hour. A little Tip&Trick I suggest to check on the zoo’s website when the feeds for sea lion and penguins are scheduled, because you can see that and it is pretty amazing. The ticket costs $ 18.00 but for discounts and any other information about timing and exhibitions, I suggest to take a look on the Central Park Zoo’s web site.
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- A Bike ride: Central Park is huge and the best way to explore any single acres is on a bike. All that you have
to do is rent a bike and pedal completely absorbed by the nature of the park. Starting from $ 15.00 you can rent a bike for 1, 2, 3 hours or all day long, and starting from $ 40.00 you can rent a tandem. Based on the season you can have different timetables (8am – 8pm from April to August and 9am – 6 pm from September to March), the pick-up and drop-off spot is at 208 W 80th Street close to te American Museum Of Natural History (for more information take a look of Central Park website on the section bike tours). - A walk on the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir: if you look the park from the top, it is the huge lake on north. Walking around the lake is the perfect chance to relax yourself and recharge your energies. In addition from the lake you can have a pretty uncommon view of the skyscrapers that make an incredible frame to the park. For those of you who love arts, few step away in east direction from the lake there ia one of the most interesting museum of the city: the Solomon and Guggenheim museum.
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- Feelling like a child at Alice in Wonderland Sculpture and Conservatory Water Lake: they are close each other and are both on the east side of the park. The sculpture is pretty amazing and all around it you can see plates in which you can read some quotes of the popular novel. Very close to the sculpture there is a little lake dedicated to the regattas for the radio controlled boats. At last, few steps to east from the lake there is a little café with live jazz music that is absolutely awesome for an aperitif.
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- A trip on boat: at Loeb Boathouse you can rent for an hour a boat and explore by yourself the lake, During the trip you can have a very unusual view of the park and of the skyscrapers.
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- A thought to John Lennon at Strawberry Field: John Lennon is a myth for his generation but also for all
the following generations. His music and his ideas are milestones for the music as we know and for our society. If you are in Central Park, and you love music you should visit his memorial at Strawberry field. The field is located in close to the place in which he used to live with Yoko Ono (Dakota Apartments) and in which he was killed the 8th of December 1980. In Strawberry Field you can see the mosaic memorial and you can also listen some fans that are singing and playing his songs all day long. - Relax at Sheep Meadow: if you look again the park from the top, this field is located at south west above the
baseball fields. It is the best place for have a picnic or for relaxing over a simply perfect, gorgeous and emerald grass carpet. - Like a Princess at Belvedere Castle: it is on the west side of the park close to Delacorte theater. If you visit this castle you will have the feeling to be in a real novel.
- Performers at Bethesda Terrace and Bethesda Fountain: in this part of the park that expose on the boats lake, you can find a tons of amazing street artists and performers. Especially under the terrace, there is a perfect acoustic and you can listen here a great pieces of music.
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- Museums: they are both close to the park even if maybe they are not part of it. On west there is the American Museum of Natural History on the east side the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MeT). The most famous attractions of the American Museum of Natural History are the dinosaurs and the blue whale. Some months ago a new dinosaurs, the Titanosaurus, joins the museum collection and it became the most bigger dinosaur ever discovered. In addition the museum’s collection is really huge and you can find all types of animals and also ancient civilities. There is also a special place dedicated to the universe. At last, on the right side of the park between 80th and 85th street there is the Metropolitan Museum (MeT). Here you can find a very rich permanent collection and also temporary collections. The past year the most interesting temporary collection was about China and the fashion inspired from the chinese art, this year there is the “Manus ex Machina” that inspired the Met Gala 2016. Remember that for both the museums you can buy a ticket making an offer, so you choose how much pay. Remember also that your offer will be donated and used for the maintenance of the museum.
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Seasonal activities
Central park is fascinating 365 days per year, but in each season you have a particularly event. Below my suggestion for each season:
- Winter Time: Central Park covered with snow seems like the forests of Narnia Chronicles, and the silence is complete. What you must do? Rent a pair of ice skates and skating in the ice rink with beginners and professional skaters.
- Fall Time: it is the most romantic season in which you can look hundreds of different shades of yellow, brown and red of the trees. The best way to see all the park’s color is on boat or with a walk on Literary walk.
- Spring Time: in the second half of April at Cherry Hill you can see the amazing show of the cherry blossom. Everything is pink and the blossoms are all around you.
- Summer Time: Shakespeare in the Park at Delacorte Theatre. It is probably the most famous
event in the New York summer. Especially in the past there are international actors that perform the show. The tickets are free, but catching one is a kind of mission impossible. Indeed the tickets are distributed the same day of the show at noon. The problem is that people are in lane starting from 6.00am to grab a free ticket. I’m not joking they make a real camp for waiting 6 hours at least for take a ticket! This is the reason why… I gave up!
Here a little movie recap:
These are my favorite 10 ways to enjoy Central Park. But the number of possible activities is way bigger than this. You can have a full list of all activities on the Central Park official website. I hope you like this post and I guess it could be useful for those of you who plan a visit of the park.
Let me know, in the comments box below, what do you think about my 10 things and if, in your opinion, I forgot something!
Stay Tuned!
Tricks in this post: 1. My 10 favorite activities to do in Central Park; 2. Seasonal activities; 3. Don't forget the animal's feed show; 3. Real "price" for the tickets for American Museum of Natural History and MeT Museum.