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Free Guided Walking Tours of Central Park

Free Tours Offered by the Central Park Conservancy

The Central Park Conservancy regularly offers free guided walking tours of Central Park. No pre-registration is required for the free tours, just show up in the specified meet-up location at the specified start time.

The Central Park Conservancy is the organization responsible for keeping Central Park the beautiful place to visit that it is today. They’re a not-for-profit organization that has contracted with New York City since the 1980s to manage the park. That’s a big job, because Central Park in huge, as in 843 acres huge!

Because the park is so large, it’s fairly easy to get yourself turned around and a little lost without a guide. The folks with Central Park Conservancy probably know the park better than anyone else, making them a great choice for guided tours. Conservancy tour guides give both free and paid tours. To see the full list of tours available, please visit the Central Park Conservancy website.

Free Central Park Tours

The Southern Welcome Tour – An introductory tour of the southern portion of the park including Grand Army Plaza, the Chess and Checkers House, Wollman Rink, Gapstow Bridge, The Pond, and the Dairy Visitor Center.

Mid-Park Welcome Tour – An introductory tour of the middle portion of the park including the Lake, Belvadere Castle, the Ramble, Oak Bridge at Bank Rock Bay, and Balcony Bridge.

Northern Welcome Tour – An Introductory tour of the northern portion of the park including Harlem Meer, the Conservatory Garden, and the North Woods.

Secrets of the Southwest Park – Explore and learn little-known facts about one of the most-visited sections of the park. Highlights include the Maine Monument, the Children’s District, Sheep Meadow, Tavern on the Green, and Strawberry Fields.

Heart of the Park Tour – This tour through the middle of the park includes Bethesda Fountain, Cherry Hill, The Lake, Bethesda Terrace, Bow Bridge, Conservatory Water, Loeb Boathouse, and Strawberry Fields.

Visit the tours section of the Central Park Conservancy’s website for a current list of available tours.

The free tours last 60 to 90 minutes and start at various meeting places throughout the park. Check the individual tour descriptions and schedule for tour length and meeting places.

Tours take place rain or shine, except in extreme weather conditions (heavy rain, sustained winds of 30 mph or more, heavy snowstorms, wind chill below 25 degrees F, or heat index above 95 degrees F. Cancellations will be noted on the online calendar at the Conservancy’s website, so if the weather seems iffy, check there.

Free Self-Guided Tours

If you’d rather explore on your own, the Conservancy has a nice selection of self-guided walking tours available for free download in PDF format. Tours available for download include a North End Tour, Mid-Park Tour, South End Tour, and Woodland Tour, plus a Monthly Mile Tour that covers a different mile-long walk in the park each month, and a series of Tree Walks that help you learn about the many types of trees in Central Park while you explore the Great Lawn, the Bethesda Terrace area, 59th Street, the East Meadow, or the Upper West Side. Download self-guided walking tours of Central Park here.

The Free Official Central Park App is also useful for self-guided explorations. The GPS-enabled app provides an interactive map that will show you where you are located with in the park and what is nearby. The app also includes the Celebrity Audio Guide.

There’s also a free audio guide that provides celebrity commentary of some of the park’s most famous locations. You can access the audio guide with the Official Central Park App or via a special phone number. Lean more about the audio guide here.

Paid Tours

The Central Park Conservancy pays for 75% of the park’s annual operating budget plus all maintenance and capital improvement costs, so if you enjoy Central Park and want to help support its continued maintenance, you might consider taking one of the paid tours or becoming a Central Park Conservancy member.

Paid tours provide in-depth explorations of specific areas of the park or about specific topics. See a full list of available tours here.

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January 8, 2017
Free Concerts at Trinity Church’s Time’s Arrow Festival

Interior of St. Paul’s Chapel
By Jean-Christophe BENOIST (Own work) CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Time’s Arrow Festival is Trinity Church Wall Street’s annual festival of January concerts.

The 2017 Festival takes place January 1st – 12th and celebrates the 250th anniversary of the opening of St. Paul’s Chapel, the oldest church building in Manhattan.

The festival features free concerts held at St. Paul’s Chapel. The 2017 concert calendar includes music heard in Lower Manhattan from the days before the construction of St. Paul’s Chapel to the present day. The concerts provide an opportunity to enjoy first-class musical performances free of charge in a beautiful historic church setting.

Concerts are held daily throughout the festival. See the full concert schedule.

St. Paul’s Chapel, located at Broadway and Fulton Street is part of the Trinity Wall Street Parish and is where many of the festival’s concert events are held. St. Paul’s Chapel was constructed in 1766 and is the oldest public building in continuous use in New York City. The Chapel survived the World Trade Center attack of September 11, 2001 without even a broken window, despite the fact that the rear of the church is located opposite the east side of the World Trade Center. The Chapel served as a place of rest and refuge for rescue workers in the months following the attack.

Trinity Church Wall Street is located at Broadway and Wall Street, a few blocks south of St. Paul’s Chapel. The current building was constructed in 1846 and is the third constructed on the site. The church contains some of the oldest stained glass in the United States. The church’s set of 12 change-ringing bells rotate 360 degrees and produce a shimming, complex combination of tones. The church hosts a variety of free musical performances throughout the year. Alexander Hamilton’s grave is located in the churches cemetery.

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January 7, 2017
El Museo del Barrio’s Three Kings Day Parade

Copyright: ngwozdeva / 123RF Stock Photo

Celebrate the 12th Day of Christmas and NYC’s Latino community at the annual Three Kings Day Parade. On January 6th of each year, El Museo del Barrio hosts this community parade, which is lead by giant Three King puppets and features lively music, elaborate costumes, floats, camels, and costumed students.

Three Kings Day marks the end of the twelve days of Christmas and commemorates the story of the Three Wise Kings who followed the Star of Bethlehem to bring gifts to the infant Jesus. Three Kings Day is a religious holiday in Spanish-speaking countries such as Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. El Museo del Barrio’s celebrates the tradition of Three Kings Day with this annual event.

The parade starts at 11:00 a.m. and winds through the streets of East Harlem, beginning at 106th Street and Lexington Avenue and ending at 115th Street and Park Avenue.

Following the parade there’s La Marqueta with traditional Puerto Rican music and food, and there’s music at the El Museo del Barrio, where Las Galerias are open free of charge from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

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January 6, 2017
Free NY Museum Admissions with Bank of America Card

Thanks to the Bank of America’s “Museums on Us” program, your Bank of America card or Merrill Lynch card can score you free admission the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, American Museum of Natural History, Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum, and several other NYC museums on the first full weekend of each month (Saturday & Sunday).

To get your free admission, you’ll need to present your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card and a photo ID. Free admission is limited to the cardholder and excludes special exhibitions, ticketed shows, and fundraising events.

2017 participating NYC museums include the American Museum of Natural History, Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Met Cloisters, The Met Breuer, the Museum of Arts and Design, Museum of the Moving Image, and Brooklyn Historical Society, and Staten Island Zoo.

The list of participating museums changes annually, so please visit the Bank of American website to confirm the current list of participating museums.

See details of the Bank of America “Museums on Us” program.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art always operates on a suggested admission policy. The suggest admission is $25 for adults, $17 for seniors, and $12 for students. You can pay less if you wish.

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January 5, 2017
Free Days at the Morgan Library and Museum

Morgan Library Interior

The Morgan Library and Museum is a complex of buildings that serve as both a research facility and a museum. The library was originally founded to house the private collection of J.P. Morgan. Mr. Morgan’s initial collection includes rare books, prints, and drawings, and has been expanded over time to include important music manuscripts, early children’s books, Americana, and materials from the 20th Century.

The McKim Building, named for it’s architect, is the oldest portion of the complex and houses the original library, study, and rotunda. The rooms are beautifully designed, with ornate ceilings and finely crafted woodwork and bookshelves.

The complex has experienced some recent changes. A large expansion, designed by award-winning architect Renzo Piano, was completed in 2006, and the McKim building interiors were restored in 2010 (at a cost of $4.5 million).

The Morgan Library and Museum is located at Madison Avenue and 36th Street.

Modern Morgan Library Addition

Free Admission Days & Times

Admission to the museum is free on Fridays from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

Admission to the McKim Rooms only (which include Mr. Morgan’s Library, Study, Rotunda, and Librarian’s Office) is free on Tuesdays from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm, Fridays from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, and Sundays from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.

You can always visit the Morgan Shop, Morgan Dining Room, and Morgan Cafe without paying museum admission.

Regular admission for the Morgan Library and Museum is $20 for adults, $13 for seniors age 65 and over, and $13 for students with a current ID. Admission is free for children age 12 and under (must be accompanied by an adult).

Please visit the Morgan Library and Museum website to confirm admission costs and hours of operation.

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January 4, 2017
The Museum of Modern Art Free Fridays

Free Admission:

Water Lilies triptych by Claude Monet at the Museum of Modern Art
Admission to the Museum of Modern Art is free for all visitors on Fridays from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Admission is always free for children age 16 and under and for active members of the US Military and military families (with valid ID/dependent card).

Regular admission to the Museum of Modern Art is $25 for adults, $18 for Seniors (65+), $14 for Students (full-time with ID).

Please visit the museum website for details regarding admission and discounts .

About the Museum:

The Museum of Modern Art (also known as MoMA) houses a world-renowned collection of modern art. The museum’s collection includes modern works of many types and features pieces by great artists such as Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Vincent van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Henri Rousseau, and Jackson Pollock.

While you’re there, you can learn more about the exhibits with free MoMA audio recordings. You can use one of the museum’s audio devices free of charge or download the files in advance onto our own mobile device.

MoMA is located on 53rd Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues.

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January 3, 2017
Free Lower Manhattan Transit with the Downtown Connection

The Downtown Alliance provides a free bus service called the Downtown Connection to help you get around Lower Manhattan.

The Downtown Connection travels between South Street Seaport and and Battery Park City, making 38 stops along the way. You can hop on and off as you please. Seven buses serve the route. Look for the red shuttle-sized buses with the Downtown Connection labeling on the side.

The buses are set up for GPS tracking, so you check online to see where the buses are and when they’ll arrive at a stop. The Downtown Alliance website has directions on how to use your cell phone to check on bus locations.

The bus service runs seven days a week (except Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day) from 10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Buses arrive at the stops on about 10 minute intervals during the week and 15 minute intervals on the weekend.

There are many things to do in Lower Manhattan that are either free or inexpensive. You can walk the Brooklyn Bridge, visit the 9/11 Memorial, see the famous Wall Street Bull, explore Battery Park and South Street Seaport, or take the Staten Island Ferry (for views of the Statue of Liberty), all free of charge. A ferry ride to Governors Island costs just $2 for adults, $1 for seniors, and is free for kids under 13, and the official ferry out to visit the Statue of Liberty is just $18 for adults, $14 for seniors and $9 for kids. Combine these activities with the Downtown Connection’s free bus service and you can spend days seeing NYC attractions while spending very little money.

See a map of the Downtown Connection bus route.

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January 2, 2017
New York Public Library Stephen A. Schwarzman Building Tours

New York Public Library

Enjoy free guided or self-guided tours the New York Public Library’s famous flagship building.

The building’s architecture is beautiful, both inside and out. The impressive marble exterior includes a series of columns and arches marking the entrance which is “guarded” on either side by the library’s famous stone lions. The equally impressive interior has vaulted ceilings, lots of huge arched windows, marble, chandeliers, and beautiful woodwork. The library is open to the public, and free guided and self-guided tours are available.

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building is located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. It’s next to Bryant Park and two long blocks from Times Square.

Note: While visiting the library, please be considerate and keep in mind that it is a working research library. Do not bring food or drink into the library. Turn off the ringer on your phone. Be quite when visiting the reading rooms. Turn off the flash on your camera.

Tours:

Guided Tours: The library offers free one-hour tours twice daily (11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.) Monday – Saturday, and once on Sundays (11:00 a.m.). The tours meet at the reception desk in Astor Hall (the main 5th Avenue entry hall), have a 25 person limit, and are available on a first-come basis.

Rose Reading Room

Audio Tour: A free (a donation is requested) audio tour of the library is available from the visitor’s desk in Astor Hall (the main 5th Avenue entrance hall). The audio tour takes about 45 minutes and is very informative and will help you find your way around to various things to see.

Visitor Film: The film Inside The New York Public Library is shown on the hour and half hour. If you’d like to watch the film ahead of time, it’s available for viewing on the library’s website.

Exhibits:

Exhibitions: The library features a changing selection of exhibitions and special displays. An exhibition on display until October 9, 2016 is entitled “Preserving a Masterpiece: From Soaring Ceiling to Subterranean Storage” and features documents the Schwarzman Building’s history and ongoing preservation efforts. Visit the library’s exhibitions page for more information on current displays.

Winnie the Pooh: The original Winnie the Pooh that belonged to the real Christopher Robin Milne is on display at the library. Pooh, Eeyore, Kanga, Tigger, and Piglet were donated to the New York Public Library in 1987. Pooh and friends recently spent some time away for professional conservation treatment but returned to the library August 3, 2016. The Winnie the Pooh exhibit is in the library’s Children’s Room.

Shopping:

Gift Shop: The library has a great gift shop with lots of interesting NYC and book and library-related items available for sale.

Additional Information:

Bryant Park – Not part of the library, but located right next door, making a library/park visit a good combination. Bryant Park information.

More Information – Visit the New York Public Library website for additional information about visiting the library.

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January 1, 2017
Merry Tuba Christmas at Rockefeller Center – Free Concert

Christmas music sounds really nice played on low brass instruments. Each year tuba players gather in cities around the country to spread holiday cheer with Merry Tuba Christmas concerts.

The Tuba Christmas tradition started right here in New York City, with a 1974 concert held at Rockefeller Center. The 2016 event is the 43rd annual Merry Tuba Christmas concert held at Rockefeller Center.

The concert takes place on the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. Come out, enjoy the music, and sing along with holiday favorites. The free concert begins at 3:30 pm on Sunday, December 11th, 2016. NYC Tuba Christmas Concert Details.

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Christmas in New York City 2016 – Our annual round-up of holiday activities and entertainment, with an emphasis on free and inexpensive things to do.

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December 5, 2016
Global Citizen Free Concert in Central Park Sept 24, 2016

Rihanna, Kendrick Lamar, Selena Gomex, Major Lazer, and Metalica will perform at a free ticketed festival on the Great Lawn in Central Park on September 24, 2016.

The concert is part of a movement to encourage people to take action to end extreme poverty.

Sets of tickets will be given away to people who sign up for the Global Citizen Movement and earn entries to the ticket drawing by taking certain actions to help end poverty.

It’s all spelled out at the Global Citizen website.

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August 8, 2016