PatrimoineEntrée gratuite

Central Park

#9sur 10 lieux à visiter à New York CityNew York City, New York State, United States

L'essentiel

Horaires d'ouverture : 06:00–01:00. L'entrée est gratuite. Comptez 2.5 hrs. Meilleure période : Early morning.

Mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026 · Rédigé par Traveliac, avec assistance IA · 5 min de lecture

ItinéraireSite officiel

Photo: Anthony Quintano from Hillsborough, NJ, United States / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Horaires d'ouverture: 06:00–01:00
Prix d'entrée: Gratuit
Durée nécessaire: 2.5 hrs
Meilleur moment de la journée: Early morning
Meilleurs mois: Apr – May, Sep – Oct
Adresse: Central Park, bounded by 59th Street (south), 110th Street (north), Fifth Avenue (east), and Central Park West (west), New York, NY

À propos de Central Park

Central Park covers 341 hectares (843 acres) at the center of Manhattan, a rectangle of landscaped terrain running from 59th to 110th Streets that was, at its 1858 opening, the first major landscaped public park built in the United States. Designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won the 1857 design competition with a plan called the 'Greensward Plan,' which used sunken transverse roads to keep cross-town traffic separated from pedestrian park users - an engineering solution still functioning as designed more than 165 years later. The park's terrain, including its rock outcrops of Manhattan schist, is largely artificial: roughly 10 million cartloads of soil, stone, and topsoil were moved to shape the landscape from what had been swampy, rocky, and largely unusable terrain.

Meilleur moment de la journée : Early morning. 06:00-09:00 for the quietest paths and best light on the Lake and the Mall's elm allée; weekday visits are markedly calmer than weekends, when the park fills with local recreational use.

Horaires de Central Park

Central Park ouvre à 06:00 et ferme à 01:00. Les horaires sont les mêmes le samedi et le dimanche.

Horaires d'ouverture: 06:00–01:00; Mon–Sun 06:00–01:00
Fermé le: Ouvert tous les jours

Mon–Sun	06:00–01:00

Horaires d'ouverture établis à partir de centralparknyc.org et de sources publiques, mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides

Prix d'entrée de Central Park

Entry fees for Central Park
Billet	Prix
Billet standard	Gratuit
Tarif réduit (étudiant / senior)	Gratuit
Enfants	Gratuit

The park itself is free with no admission gates, 365 days a year, as of 2026. Individual attractions inside the park charge separately: Central Park Zoo (adult tickets from roughly $19-$21), boat rentals at Loeb Boathouse, and some guided walking tours.

Tarifs établis à partir de centralparknyc.org et de sources publiques, mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides

Meilleure période pour visiter Central Park

Quiet
Moderate
Busy

06:00 - 08:00
Early MorningBest time to go
Runners, dog walkers, and few tourists; the calmest window for photographing the Lake, the Mall, and Bethesda Terrace without crowds.
Quiet
11:00 - 16:00
Midday/Afternoon Peak
Heaviest tourist and local recreational use, especially around Bethesda Terrace, Strawberry Fields, and the zoo; the Great Lawn fills with picnickers and sports on warm weekends.
Busy
16:00 - 19:00
Late Afternoon
Crowds ease from midday peak; a good window for the park's quieter northern woodlands (North Woods, Harlem Meer) which see far less foot traffic year-round.
Moderate
After sunset
Evening
Well-lit main paths and drives remain active with joggers and cyclists; interior wooded sections like the Ramble thin out and are best avoided alone after dark.
Quiet

Histoire de Central Park

New York's rapid population growth in the mid-19th century, combined with the example of London's and Paris's grand public parks, drove a civic campaign led by figures including poet and newspaper editor William Cullen Bryant for a large public green space; the state legislature authorized land acquisition in 1853, eventually assembling roughly 300 hectares through eminent domain, including the displacement of Seneca Village, a predominantly African American landowning community that had existed on the site since 1825.

Olmsted and Vaux's Greensward Plan won an 1857 design competition against more than 30 entries, and construction ran through the Civil War era into the early 1870s, employing thousands of laborers to reshape the terrain, plant hundreds of thousands of trees and shrubs, and build the park's bridges, the Bethesda Terrace, and the Mall. The park suffered serious decline through the mid-20th century amid city fiscal crises, reaching a low point in the 1970s with widespread vandalism and deferred maintenance; the nonprofit Central Park Conservancy, founded in 1980, has since led the park's restoration and now manages the majority of its day-to-day maintenance under contract with NYC Parks.

Règles et étiquette à Central Park

Alcohol is technically prohibited in city parks outside of licensed venues, though open containers are commonly seen and rarely enforced away from event areas; drinking discreetly on the Great Lawn is a long-standing informal norm rather than a legal one. Cycling is permitted on the park's main drives and designated paths but not on pedestrian walkways branching off them.

The park is generally safe and well-patrolled during daylight and evening hours when other visitors are present, but isolated interior sections (the Ramble at night, in particular) are best avoided after dark by solo visitors, consistent with general city-park caution rather than any specific current danger. Street vendors and pedicab operators cluster near the main entrances (Grand Army Plaza, Columbus Circle); pedicab rides are not metered by the city and prices should be confirmed before boarding, since overcharging complaints are common.

Conseils pour visiter Central Park

1
Rent a rowboat at Loeb Boathouse on the Lake (roughly $20-$25 for the first hour, cash or card, first-come first-served, no reservations) for a different, quieter vantage on Bethesda Terrace and Bow Bridge than the paths give. Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial near West 72nd Street, and the Alice in Wonderland statue near the Conservatory Water are two of the most-visited specific spots and both get crowded by mid-morning on weekends.
2
The Central Park Conservancy runs free, donation-based walking tours departing from several visitor centers - worth checking the schedule for a guided introduction to the park's design history rather than wandering without context on a first visit. Belvedere Castle, near the park's midpoint, houses a small free nature-observation exhibit and gives one of the best elevated views over the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, with markedly shorter lines than the paid attractions elsewhere in the park.

Comment se rendre à Central Park

Central Park, bounded by 59th Street (south), 110th Street (north), Fifth Avenue (east), and Central Park West (west), New York, NYItinéraire sur Google Maps

Depuis 59th Street-Columbus Circle subway station
0.1 km · 1-2 min
$2.90 subway (OMNY/MetroCard); park entry free
Depuis 5th Avenue-59th Street subway station
0.1 km · 1-2 min
$2.90 subway (OMNY/MetroCard); park entry free
Depuis LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
13 km · 35-50 min
$2.90 (single OMNY/MetroCard fare)

Aéroport le plus proche

Depuis LaGuardia Airport (LGA)

approximately 13 km, 30-45 minutes by road depending on traffic.

Gare la plus proche

Depuis Multiple stations ring the park, including 59th Street-Columbus Circle (A, B, C, D, 1) at the southwest corner and 110th Street stations at the north end.

FAQ — Central Park

Is Central Park free to enter?

Yes, the park has no admission gates or entry fee and is open 06:00-01:00 daily, as of 2026. Only specific attractions inside it, like the Central Park Zoo or boat rentals, charge separately.

How big is Central Park and how long does it take to see?

341 hectares (843 acres), roughly 4 km long and 0.8 km wide. A focused walk through the main southern landmarks (Mall, Bethesda Terrace, Strawberry Fields) takes about 2-2.5 hours; seeing the full park end to end takes most of a day.

Is Central Park safe at night?

The main paths and drives remain active with joggers and cyclists and are generally fine, but isolated wooded interior sections like the Ramble are best avoided alone after dark, consistent with standard city-park caution rather than any specific current risk.

Can you rent boats in Central Park?

Yes, at Loeb Boathouse on the Lake, for roughly $20-$25 for the first hour, first-come first-served with no reservations required, as of 2026. It's a quieter way to see Bethesda Terrace and Bow Bridge than the surrounding paths.

Rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA à partir de sources officielles et de registres publics, et publié seulement après les vérifications décrites dans Comment nous rédigeons ces guides. Personne chez Traveliac ne s'est rendu sur place. Mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Comment nous classons et vérifions les lieux