Museum Mile and Central Park's east side: a walk in New York City

Fifth Avenue's museums between 70th and 89th St with Central Park alongside: the Frick's Old Masters, the Met, and the Guggenheim spiral, with an option to cut through the park to the Natural History Museum.

Best time: Friday or Saturday (the Met is open until 9pm); avoid Wednesdays when the Met is closed

The route, stop by stop

1
The Frick Collection
Vermeers and Holbeins in a mansion. 75 min.
Old Masters in Henry Clay Frick's Gilded Age mansion: three Vermeers, Holbein's Thomas More, Rembrandt self-portrait; the renovation opened the upstairs private rooms for the…
2
Bemelmans Bar (The Carlyle)
Two blocks east on 76th St. 5 min.
Art deco hotel bar with murals painted by 'Madeline' author Ludwig Bemelmans; live piano, white-jacketed bartenders, and one of the most classic martinis in the city.
3
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Pick 3-4 wings; 2-3 hours.
One of the world's largest art museums: the Temple of Dendur, the European paintings galleries (Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh) and the American Wing's period rooms, all in one…
4
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Walk down the ramp. 60 min.
Frank Lloyd Wright's spiral building (opened 1959) is the main exhibit; the ramp is walked top-down or bottom-up through rotating shows, plus a Thannhauser collection of…
5
American Museum of Natural History
Optional: about 15-20 minutes on foot across Central Park. 2 hours.
Dinosaur fossil halls on the fourth floor, the 94-foot blue whale in the Hall of Ocean Life, and the Gilder Center (opened May 2023) with its insectarium and butterfly vivarium.

Walking directions

Museum Mile and Central Park's east side

The route, stop by stop

More walks in New York City