Central Park to Grand Central: 3-Hour Walking Tour via Fifth Avenue

Three hours on foot, from the Upper West Side to the Main Concourse of Grand Central Terminal, with a licensed guide who fills in the history as you go. It is a good first day in New York: you cover a lot of the city's postcard sights in one morning or afternoon and come away knowing which ones you want to go back to. The walk starts at 72nd Street and Amsterdam Avenue, by the subway exit, and heads into Central Park. Inside the park the route passes Strawberry Fields, Bethesda Fountain and the Central Park Zoo before coming out onto Fifth Avenue. From there it is Midtown all the way down. The Plaza Hotel, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall are all on the route, and the guide explains how each one got there and a few of the stories the city would rather forget. If there is time, the group may step inside one or two of these buildings. The last stop is Grand Central Terminal, and the tour ends under the ceiling of the Main Concourse. The guide is licensed and leads the whole walk in person, in English. Bookings take up to 10 travelers. The pace suits all fitness levels, and the route works for wheelchairs and strollers. Tickets to attractions are not part of the tour. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is not on the route.