New York City

NEW YORK CITYSTARTER

Central Park, Under the Elms

≈ 900 steps0.4 mi · about 1.5 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

A slow loop through the middle of Central Park: down the Mall under the elm canopy, out onto Bethesda Terrace, then across the Lake on Bow Bridge. Ninety minutes, flat, all on park paths.

NEW YORK CITYSTARTER

Two Bridges at First Light

≈ 3,000 steps1.5 mi · about 2 hoursStarter · 3 stops · 500 credStart where you live.

Walk the Brooklyn Bridge promenade from Manhattan, drop down into Brooklyn Bridge Park, and finish on the Dumbo corner where the Manhattan Bridge frames the street. About two hours on foot, best before nine in the morning.

NEW YORK CITYSTANDARD

Midtown After Dark

≈ 3,500 steps1.7 mi · about 3 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

Five Midtown plazas in the hour after sunset, when the signs come on and the office crowds thin out: the red steps of Duffy Square, Bryant Park, the front of Grand Central, the Rockefeller plaza and the cathedral steps. Three hours on foot.

NEW YORK CITYSTANDARD

The Harbor End of Broadway

≈ 4,000 steps2.0 mi · about 3 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

Lower Manhattan on foot in about three hours: the bull at Bowling Green, Washington's steps on Wall Street, the cobbles of Stone Street, the memorial pools, and the harbor edge at the Battery where the Statue of Liberty stands off in the water.

NEW YORK CITYSTANDARD

Uptown Sunday Morning

≈ 11,000 steps5.2 mi · about 4 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

Harlem and Morningside Heights in a morning: the Apollo marquee, the row houses of Strivers' Row, the Meer at the top of Central Park, then west to Grant's Tomb and the cathedral. Four hours with a crosstown bus or two.

NEW YORK CITYSTANDARD

West Side, Above the Street

≈ 3,500 steps1.8 mi · about 3.5 hoursStandard · 5 stops · 600 credOne trip earns it.

The far West Side from the river up: Little Island's raised lawns, the rooftop park on Pier 57, then the whole High Line from Gansevoort Street to the plaza at Hudson Yards. About three and a half hours with stops.

NEW YORK CITYADVANCED

Brooklyn Heights to the Boardwalk

≈ 2,500 steps + 25 mi by car1.3 mi on foot · a full dayAdvanced · 7 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

Seven Brooklyn places from the skyline to the sea: the Heights Promenade, Domino Park, the Bushwick murals, the arch at Grand Army Plaza, the pier at Red Hook, then the Parachute Jump and Brighton Beach on the boardwalk. A full day on the subway and a bus to Red Hook.

NEW YORK CITYADVANCED

Five Boroughs, One Card

≈ 3,000 steps + 90 mi by car1.5 mi on foot · 2 days or moreAdvanced III · 10 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

Every borough on one transit card, two days if you are honest about it: Staten Island by the free ferry, the Bronx for the stadium, Arthur Avenue and the Lorelei, upper Manhattan's lighthouse and Fort Tryon, Roosevelt Island's granite room, the Rockaway boardwalk and the hill in Sunset Park. Fort Wadsworth and Four Freedoms Park keep daytime hours; Four Freedoms closes Tuesdays.

NEW YORK CITYADVANCED

Flatiron to the Bloody Angle

≈ 7,000 steps3.4 mi · about 6 hoursAdvanced · 7 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

A long walk down the spine of downtown: the Flatiron from Madison Square, Union Square, the arch at Washington Square, Christopher Park, then Chinatown's Columbus Park, the bend of Doyers Street and the bridge arch on Canal. Six hours, subway home from Canal Street.

NEW YORK CITYADVANCED

Queens by the 7 Train

≈ 4,500 steps + 10 mi by car2.1 mi on foot · about 7 hoursAdvanced · 6 stops · 800 credGetting there is not the hard part.

Six stops across Queens, waterfront to Flushing: the Pepsi sign at Gantry Plaza, the overlook at Hunters Point South, the sculpture park and Astoria Park up the river, then the Unisphere and the corner of Main and Roosevelt. A full day with the 7 train and a couple of buses.