Best Part to see in the Central Park
 

Since our schedules are very tight, where is the best part to see/spend for 2 hours in the Central Park.

Thanks

In my opinion, the southeast corner from 59th and Fifth up to about 75th St. This includes the Pond, Zoo, Balto Statue, Dairy, Carousel, Mall, Bethesda Terrace, south end of the Lake, and Conservatory Water.

Well, you could start at the very pretty Conservatory Garden area on the north-enter at 105th St.- and work your way south.

Start at the Mall, closer to the east side around 66th Street. Walk north up the mall past the bandshell to Bethesda Terrace. See the beautiful fountain, pond & boathouse in the background.

Turn west and cross the Bow Bridge and walk up through the woods to Belvedere Castle. Enjoy the view of the Great Lawn.

Then continue north to the Reservoir! From the Reservoir you can exit the Park on either the west or east side, whichever is more convenient for you.

Enjoy!

I agree with Gekko - the walk up the Mall to Bethesda fountain is just beautiful. My very favourite walk I try to do on each of my visits to NYC. Last year I did it at Thanksgiving as the leaves were falling from the trees - breathtaking.

And, particularly on weekends, the south third of the Park can be EXTREMELY crowded. The area around CPS & 5th Avenue is the worst.

Is it better to go the Park in the morning or afternoon?

I would start in the South-East corner, go up thru the Mall and over to the west side to the Bow bridge.

It would help to know who you are - ages, genders, interest, willingness to do quite a bit of walking.

It would also help to know when you're in the city - if it's midwinter there are some parts that will be quite dreary - never mindhow cold it may be.

Or, you might want to join in the ice skating.

And you definitely want to see the 2 museums- the Met on the east side at 80th St and the Museum of Natural History - across from the Park at 78th St.

Also - it's Central Park - no "the".

We are a couple with the age between 40-45. We will be stay in the city for 3 nights (Sat - Tues).

wingding:

With two hours I would not try to do the Museum's

Ellenm and gecko gave good suggestions. I lean slightly to the gecko walk, done it many times.

Check out the 'restored tile roof' under the roadway to the Fountain.

Look across the pond from the 'bow bridge' to the Dakota House (John Lennon)

Check out the reservoir and watch out for the joggers (Look for Dustin Hoffman..."is it safe"!)

Hey! If you like to jog that would be the best way to see the lower park in 2 hours! Morning would be perfect!

If you are a Beatles fan, then you gotta see Strawberry Field, and the Imagine memento to John Lennon, just across from Dakota Apartments.

I've run the perimeter loop several times ..... never seen any of the actual sights of the park. It's an easy to find 6+ mile loop around the park ...... my favourite section is a hilly section around Strawberry hills or whatever it's called. Also you can add on the reservoir loop for another 2 miles or so (dirt path).

Actually, if you've only got 2 hours for Central Park, I would simply stroll and enjoy the park as a lovely place to relax and enjoy nature. Take a picnic with you or eat at the Boathouse. If it's an outrageously beautiful day, one lovely way to enjoy the park is rent a boat. Also, it needs to be said that it is extremely easy to get lost in Central Park, even with a map. So to have an "itinerary" can turn out to be frustrating.

If you would like to understand the park as a work of art, try to get up high enough to look down on it. Unforutnately, I don't know a good spot to recommend to do this that is open to the public. Perhaps someone else can. But to see the park design from above, especially from Central Park South and that vicinity, is fantastic. Perhaps there is someplace in the new Time Warner building.

By the way, the Natural History Museum is a more of a sight from the outside than the inside. I wouldn't go in unless you are terribly interested in natural history.

PS: Before everybody starts howling at me, the lobby of the Natural History Museum is interesting -- and like I said, if you have a lot of interest in its contents (or its frozen-in-time 19th c. exhibits) then of course you should go in.

I suggest you google The Boathouse restaurant, which is on a lake in Central Park. It is a beautiful place to eat lunch, right in the middle of the park. Don't try to see everything!

By the way, the Museum of Natural History is on one side of the park, and the Metropolitan Museum is on the other. You didn't ask about museums, and everyone has their favorite, but I recommend the Metropolitan. (You can walk there from the boathouse). It also has a rooftop sculpture garden and from there you get a beautiful view overlooking Central Park.