Walking Tours
If it's your first time in New York City, consider getting to know the city on the American Volkssport Midtown Year-Round Walking Tour. This 6-mile urban trek will take you to Time Square, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station and a host of other iconic NYC sites. For those who already know the city, just pick out a special field of interest and lace up your walking shoes. You'll find walking tours focusing on architecture, art, history, movies, chocolate, Bob Dylan and dozens of other subjects.
Central Park
Central Park's 843 acres offer an incredible bicycling or walking experience. Once around the park's perimeter is a 6-mile hike. Inside the park, 58 miles of pathways wind through a surprisingly hilly terrain filled with famous images like the Central Park Carousel, Strawberry Fields and the statues of Alice in Wonderland and Mother Goose. Joggers will enjoy the 1.58 mile track around the Central Park Reservoir.
Manhattan Waterfront Greenway
Hikers and bikers looking for a challenge can try this 32-mile loop that circles Manhattan Island. For some stretches, the walkways and bikeways are combined, for others they are segregated. Other than some steep bridge approaches, the relatively flat trail carries you past the United Nations, South Street Seaport, Battery Park, Chelsea Pier and the 79th Street Rotunda.
Ice Skating
Dates vary by location but generally, if you are in NYC from late fall to early spring, you can find an open skating rink. Almost everyone is familiar with the rink at Rockefeller Center. It can be both crowded and expensive. You're more likely to find real New Yorkers skating in Central Park or on the ice skating pond in Bryant Park (between 40th and 42nd streets and 5th and 6th avenues). For those who like to exercise their bodies and their minds, there is a skating rink at the American Museum of Natural History.
Hudson River Water Trail
In development for the past 15 years, this "blue trail" takes kayakers and canoeists 150 miles along the Hudson River, from New York Harbor to Adirondack Park. Passing through 11 New York counties, the water trail offers access points approximately every 10 miles and camping or lodging opportunities every 15 to 20 miles.
