The arched and frescoed walkways of Bethesda Terrace, crowned by the magnificent Bethesda Fountain, have long been a gathering area for New Yorkers of all stripes. To the south is the Mall (featured in countless movies), a promenade shrouded in mature North American elms. The southern stretch, known as Literary Walk, is flanked by statues of famous authors.
©Mikki Brammer/Lonely Planet
Bethesda Terrace
Upper West Side & Central Park
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.56 MILES
What started with a handful of paintings brought over from Europe or donated by a coterie of philanthropically minded robber barons in the 19th century…
0.65 MILES
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6.28 MILES
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1.92 MILES
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4.74 MILES
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0.9 MILES
A New York icon, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, more commonly known as the Guggenheim, is an internationally-renowned art museum and one of the most…
7 MILES
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National September 11 Memorial Museum
4.83 MILES
When the twin towers of the World Trade Center toppled during the awful events of 11 September 2001, it led to years of soul-searching about what would be…
Nearby Upper West Side & Central Park attractions
0.03 MILES
This neoclassical fountain is one of New York’s largest. It’s capped by the Angel of the Waters, who is supported by four cherubim. The fountain, created…
0.22 MILES
In Central Park, between 73rd and 78th Sts, the leafy 38-acre Ramble is a wooded thicket that’s popular with bird-watchers. It's easy to lose your way in…
0.25 MILES
This Parisian-style promenade – allegedly the only straight line in Central Park – lined with rare North American elms, is flanked by statues of literati…
0.25 MILES
Standing inside the park across from the famous Dakota Building, where John Lennon was fatally shot in 1980, is this poignant, tear-shaped garden – a…
0.26 MILES
This spectacular art collection sits in a mansion built by steel magnate Henry Clay Frick, one of the many such residences lining the section of Fifth Ave…
0.32 MILES
A turreted, gabled building described in 1884 as so far uptown it was in 'the Dakotas,' this sand-colored gem quickly became the epitome of cool, housing…
0.37 MILES
The newest branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in the landmark former Whitney Museum building (designed by Marcel Breuer; there's an…
0.4 MILES
Founded in 1845 as the first Reform synagogue in New York, this temple, completed in 1929, is now one of the largest Jewish houses of worship in the world…