The Top Seven Things to Do in Central Park, New York City
Central Park is by far the most visited urban park in the United States. About 37.5 million visitors come to the park every year and there are truly a lot of things you can do here. From renting a boat to organizing a relaxing picnic, here are our top seven things to do in Central Park, New York City.
Organize a picnic with friends and family
With a little planning and prepping, you can’t beat a picnic with friends and family at one of the many lawns in Central Park. There are many scenic spots throughout the park and it is definitely on our to do list every summer.
Take a relaxing stroll through the park
One of our favorite things to do in Central Park is simply walking around the park and taking in all the sights. Some of our favorite sites include Strawberry Fields and the John Lennon Memorial, the Obelisk, Belvedere Castle and Bethesda Fountain. If you don’t feel like walking, you can also rent bikes!
Row, row, row your boat in Central Park Lake
You can also rent boats and gondolas at the Loeb Boathouse on the east side of the park between 74th and 75th St and take a peaceful and relaxing boat ride around Central Park Lake. Boats are available for $15 per hour and gondolas which seat six people are available for $30 per ½ hour.
Attend a SummerStage concert
After all these years, SummerStage is still the premier summer concert series in New York City and the best part is that most of the concerts are free! You should regularly check their calendar of events because you never know what band will be there next. All concerts take place in Rumsey Playfield located close to the 5th Ave and 69th St entrance.
Play chess in the park
The Chess & Checkers House located around the middle of the park, 64th St has chess, checkers, backgammon and dominoes games available to play. There are a lot of tables and it is usually very easy to find good competition. Your opponent may even be a Chess grandmaster!
Catch Pokemon!
At the moment, Pokemon Go is by far the most popular video game and in fact, it has more active users than Twitter! Central Park is a huge hotspot for catching Pokemon and some rare Pokemon have even been spotted there. There are a bunch of Poke stops and gyms no matter where you are in the park.
Check out the Central Park Zoo
After you caught all the Pokemon for the day (perhaps because your cell phone ran out of batteries), you can go visit the Central Park Zoo (64th St and 5th Ave) to see all cute penguins, red pandas, snow leopards and more!
