We (five adults age 22- 57) are very interested in taking one of the free Central Park walking tours offered by the Central Park Conservancy on our first-ever visit to NYC. We would have loved to do the "Cross-Park Promenade" tour, but it is not offered on any of the days we will be there. Tours offered during our time there include:

Amble Through the Ramble
The Castle & It's Kingdom
Views From the Past
West Side Stories

The Central Park Conservancy website offers a little insight on each tour, but for those of you who have ever done any of these tours.......

Is there any one of the 4 that stand out to you as being better than the others for first time visitors whose main objective is to get a general taste of the park?

I wish I could help, but I have only done the Cross-Park Promenade tour. If no one else answers this, perhaps you can call or email the Central Park Conservancy and see which one they'd recommend?

Where does the "Cross Park Promenade" end up-at what cross section?

ita - see my trip report (w/description of the tour and photo link)
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...omment-5524108

I haven't taken them, but the ramble is my least favorite part of the park.

yk,
Your great report is what got me thinking of one of these tours. Thanks.

Centralparkgirl,
Thanks. Your comment speaks volumes. Unless I hear otherwise, the list is now narrowed down to 3.

I haven't done any of the tours, but I would imagine West Side Stories would be great. A lot of the most famous sites are on the West Side (or in the middle).

From the descriptions I'd take Views from the Past, as it sounds like it is the most "overview" type walk, and almost certainly would to include the area of Bethesda Fountain/the Lake/Bow Bridge/The Boathouse, which is the part of Central Park everyone has seen hundreds of times in the movies.

If you wanted to do a walk by yourself, I'd start at the Zoo, then up past Balto and over the the Mall, up the Mall and down the stairs to Bethesda Fountain, over to the Bow Bridge and back past the Fountain and the Boathouse to Conservatory Water (where folks play with model boats on the water, also seen in lots of movies).

Oh, and I agree with Centralparkgirl about the Ramble.

The ramble is one of the prettiest parts of the park so don't eliminate it from your choices. When will you be in New York?

The Ramble is a nice wooded area, great for city residents, but not really a part of the Park that visitors are looking for.

DancingBearMD,

Thanks for the advice. We really are looking for something that gets us AROUND the park a bit, rather than just exploring one small section, no matter how nice that section might be; which is why I've been leaning to the Views From the Past, or West Side Stories. I've also plotted your suggestion for a walk on our own and that looks like generally what I'm after...the only problem being we wouldn't have a guide to feed us the little tid bits of information that make a guided tour worthwhile. I'm assuming that Conservatory Water is where that miniature boat scene in Stuart Little was filmed.

SueNYC,
Thanks also. I'm not totally ruling out the Amble Through the Ramble, but we are after as much bang for the time we have. We'll be there during the middle of May.

The Stuart Little scene is kind of a mishmash between Conservatory Water (where they really do have model boats) and the Lake. If I remember correctly the characters are on Bow Bridge (which is at The Lake) with the remote controls (when the bad kid drops the remote and it breaks).

The other part of the Park that you've seen a hundred times is the Pond, at the South end of the Park. The view from the north end of the Pond, with the Plaza in the background, has been in lots of movies (think Home Alone 2).

Maybe you want to pay for this tour http://www.screentours.com/tour.php/central/