Things to know and expect as a tourist in central park.
The park is big, bigger than you might imagine and you could easily spend a day or two just walking around beautiful and famous landmarks that you’d recognise from photos and films. New Yorkers often find new parts of the park they’ve never been to or heard of, so plan your visit to the park according to how much time you have.
Only a couple of hours to see Central Park
If you only have one afternoon to spend in the park, you’d probably want to enter the park on 72nd street.. Either from the east, at 5th ave. Or from the West at Central Park West. both these options will bring you close to the heart of the park where you can visit the boathouse, lake, Bethesda Fountain and Poet’s Walk… This route is a great way to maximize the time you have in Central Park without wandering too much, it’s easy to walk a very long distance in the park without even noticing.
Also, if you enter at Central Park West and 72nd street you’ll get to also see Strawberry Fields and the John Lennon (“IMAGINE”) memorial which is very close to the Dakota Hotel where he lived and was assassinated.
Useful Central Park links:
Downloadable Park Map
Central Park Bike Map
Conservatory Gardens on wikipedia (beautiful in the springtime!)
