Central Park: Unveiling the Vistas of New York’s Greatest Work of Art

This walking tour, led by Emma Guest-Consales, focuses on the history, planning, and natural and man-made beauties of Central Park, New York’s greatest works of art.

Central Park is the largest surviving piece of open space in Manhattan, but its landscape and scenery are actually artificial, constructed from designs by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux starting in the late 1850s.

Upcoming dates:

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Book the Central Park Walking Tour now!

Central Park history tour highlights

  • The Literary Walk with its magnificent elm trees
  • Bethesda Terrace and Fountain
  • The Boat House
  • The Pond and Gapstow Bridge
  • The Dairy and Sheep Meadow

Emma leading a group in the Sheep Meadow.

These elements and many more were assembled to give the visitor a moment of ease and tranquility, far from the frenetic life of the city just outside the park walls.

Central Park is also a fine example of 19th-century ideas about the power of a city’s government and government officials to positively affect the lives of its citizens. We will see how Vaux and Olmsted designed a democratic space for all New Yorkers and visitors, no matter their social or economic status, an essential aspect of the park’s history that still applies today.


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A recent TripAdvisor review about the Central Park Tour:

Big fan of the podcast and now a fan of the Bowery Boys Tours. Our tour guide Emma did a wonderful job sharing the history of the park. Highly recommend for a family outing, while we’ve all spent lots of time in the park having someone who really knows the history of the park guide you is a joy! Looking forward to our next Bowery Boys Tour.

The first-ever Central Park tour kicking off on 59th Street.

Rates

Person – Walking Tour: $40.00
(All Ages Welcome!)

Please contact us to set up a private tour!

Duration

Walking Tour: 2 hours (we will send you the meeting place after you book)

Your Guides

Emma Guest-Consales, Ph.D. is an experienced guide, lecturer, and author who has taught art and architectural history in New York City for more than fifteen years. (read more)

Emma also leads the Cast-Iron Architecture Tour of Ladies’ Mile tour.