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New York · Essentials

Midtown Must-Sees: From the Flatiron to Rockefeller Center

From the Flatiron to Rockefeller Center, this Midtown walk brings together the places everyone recognizes: the Empire State Building, Grand Central Terminal, the New York Public Library and Times Square. At each stop you'll learn how they were built, who saved them from the wrecking ball and which details you'd miss if no one pointed them out.

  • 6 stops
  • 4.2 km
  • 2 h 30 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
The 42nd Street facade of Grand Central Terminal with the clock and the Mercury sculpture

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Flatiron BuildingThe skyscraper shaped like a clothes iron that amazed New York in 1902.
  2. 2 Empire State BuildingBuilt in just over a year during the Great Depression, it was the world's tallest building for nearly four decades.
  3. 3 Grand Central TerminalThe station that nearly disappeared and was saved by a legal battle with Jacqueline Kennedy at the forefront.
  4. 4 New York Public LibraryA marble palace built on the site of an old reservoir and guarded by two lions with names of their own.
  5. 5 Times SquareThe square named after a newspaper, where the New Year's Eve ball has dropped since 1907.
  6. 6 Rockefeller CenterAn Art Deco city within the city, built in the depths of the Great Depression and guarded by a golden Prometheus.

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Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Midtown Must-Sees: From the Flatiron to Rockefeller Center

Skyscrapers with a story

From the Flatiron's triangle (1902) to the Empire State Building, raised in just over a year in the depths of the Great Depression.

Saved by New Yorkers

Grand Central nearly disappeared; a fight that went all the way to the Supreme Court saved it.

Details in plain sight

Lions with names, a stone Mercury and a golden Prometheus that almost everyone photographs without knowing their story.

Keep exploring

More routes in New York

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