NYC visitor

Is it possible to spend the entire day in Central Park? What are the must see sites in the park? Any unsafe areas? Where is a good place to pick up a picnic lunch? When to the leaves usually change color? When does the ice rink usually open.

Jen

Oh, yes, it certainly is possible to spendthe day in Central park. Don't miss the lovely formal gardens on the east side near 104th Street. Central Park isright on a major bird-migration flyway, and gets an amazing array of migrant birds (and butterflies!) in the fall and srping. Here's their web site, which has links to some ofthe special features, plus a list of upcoming special events.

http://www.centralparknyc.org/

And here's a private nonprofit organization's site. Don't overlook the poster ad that will pop up when you open the site -- the poster is a very special item, and it's a fundraiser for the park.

http://www.centralpark.org/home.html

NYC visitor

Jen, thank you for the info. I will take a look at the sites.

Philip

You can definitely spend the entire day in the Park. There are so many things to do. In addition to the websites listed, you may want to consult a copy of Time Out magazine. They usually list things like concerts and events going on in the park.

There are really no unsafe places during the day. I wouldn't be hanging around at 11pm but it is quite safe into the early evening. You may want to try Zabars on the west side for a picnic lunch (West 80th Street and Broadway).

The leaves are usually at their peak in mid-October. I think the ice rink doesn't open until the last week in Oct.

Some nice places to go: the Zoo, the Carousel, Bethesda Fountain, a boat ride on the Lake (they have rowboats as well as gondolas), Belvedere Castle, a walk through the Ramble, or take a walking tour.

sandi

We returned last night from 4 days in NYC. It rained off and on the first 2 but the last two was in the 70's. We spent an entire day (Saturday) in the park and it was glorious. I don't know if you'll have kids with you but there are so many rock outcroppings that the kids love to climb on. We entered the park at the zoo and walked down the mall to the bandshell. There was an SPCA event going on so there were lots of people and dogs everywhere. We then strolled to the Bethesda terrace which is a beautiful lake where you can rent rowboats at the boathouse or just sit on the lawn and watch people. On to the Conservatory Water which is a smaller pond where people sail their remote-control miniature sailboats. It was so fun to watch the kids. There's street musicians all over- wonderful to sit and listen. We left the park at Madison and 76th/77th to a grabs some sandiwches for a picnic. Found a place called Serafina's where we got some great things for lunch-back to the park.

...more to follow

sandi

...cont'd....We walked to the turtle pond and sat under a huge tree and had a picnic lunch before going to the Met. After the Met we found the obelisk (cleopatra's needle). It's a huge obelisk with egyptian writing that is over 2,000 years old. Incredible. We then walk thru the ramble which is a densely wooded area, pretty hilly with lots of trails and rocks to climb on and made our way to Strawberry fields/Imagine circle dedicated to John Lennon. We barely scratched the surface of what the park had to offer but spent hours there and enjoyed every second of it. Get a good map so you can keep up with where you want to go.

Have fun!!!

Lois

Re: picnic lunch in Central Park. My favorite sandwich shop, It's a Wrap, on B'way bet. 67-68th, will deliver to several locations in the park. Check out their website--they have great smoothies, soup, salad, are open till late at night Itsawrap.com

NYC visitor

Everyone thanks for the help. Sandi you should post a trip report for your whole trip. The CP part was very good.

xx

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