Visiting New York’s Top Of The Rock is easily one of the best places for views whilst exploring Manhattan. Yeah, you’ve got loads of viewing points across the city, but there’s something really special about New York’s Top Of The Rock.
For me, it’s a little bit of history, the location of Top Of The Rock and the views down beyond the Empire State Building and the Financial District. There are so many incredible places in New York to visit and this is certainly one of the best on a first trip!
With that in mind, I wanted to share a few top tips to get the most out of your visit to New York’s Top Of The Rock. It’s one of the best things to do in Midtown Manhattan, for sure!
You see, with a little bit of planning, you can get to see some of the best views across New York and really lap up the energy of the city (whilst high up in the sky).
Take a look, below, at some of the best ways to explore and plan your visit to New York’s Top Of The Rock.
Have the best time exploring.
How to get tickets for New York’s Top Of The Rock?
Okay, so the first thing to think about before planning your trip up the Top Of The Rock is getting those tickets. Now, entry is pretty easy; be sure to book these tickets in advance to ensure you get to the Top Of The Rock at your chosen time.
Now, just like lots of attractions in New York, there’s a range of tickets you can get for your visit.
For instance, you can buy general admission tickets (at an allocated time slot) to visit. These are typically the cheapest tickets to purchase and tend to have you waiting in line for a little bit extra.
For us, it was very minimal and probably only added an extra 10 minutes to the queue time. This made these (cheapest) tickets the most suitable option.
That being said, if you don’t want to risk a line, go for VIP access.
This is a more premium ticket (reflected in the cost) that more or less includes a ‘fast track’ queue. If you’re very short of time, this might be the best option for you.
Finally, you can also go on the Rockefeller Tour, too. This includes a little more information and a tour than just the viewing platform itself. It’s easily one of the best tickets to get if you’re interested more in the building’s history.
Oh, also, you can look at visiting New York’s Top of the Rock, with your NYC Go pass that’s partners tickets with various attractions across the city.
By booking these tickets is a great way to save some dollars if you’re definitely visiting a few of the places.
Best times to visit New York’s Top Of The Rock?
Okay, so one of my favourite times to visit New York’s Top Of The Rock is about an hour before sunset. This way, you can get to see the whole of New York transform from day into night.
That being said, these are typically the most popular tickets so make sure to book yours ahead of your visit and as soon as possible to guarantee the sunset time slot.
The porters outside the door can be pretty stern and curt if you try to rock up at the wrong time, so be warned!
Our visit to New York’s Top Of The Rock
Despite having booked the slot hours and hours before, we ended up losing track of time over lunch and hot-footed it to the Rockefeller Center with minutes to spare.
Thankfully we arrived at the golden hour and New York was looking might fine!
Now, truth be told, I may or may not have taken far too many photos of New York.
I mean, it’s kind of a given in reality, especially when you’ere blessed with some great weather whilst visiting New York’s Top Of The Rock.
Oh, and whilst we were up there, we witnessed a couple getting engaged! Like, she had no idea beforehand and it was so cute to see.
For a second there, I wasn’t sure what was going on.
It wasn’t until I heard a squeal and saw the lady with tears of joy that I got what was going on.
It was all so lovely to witness and everyone gave the happy couple a big round of applause and cheers!
It set the perfect tone for an evening watching the sunset from New York’s Top Of The Rock.
Slowly, the lights in the building started flickering on in bits and pieces across the city…
By now, there was a pretty big crowd at the Top Of The Rock and it was quite lovely to be watching it altogether.
Finally, after around 30-minutes, dusk really began to set in.
The lights of New York started coming on in their droves and the city was transformed.
If you thought Manhattan during the day was an amazing city to visit, at night it becomes truly spectacular and you get a sense of how ginormous Manhattan truly is.
The whole area is massive and it was at this moment that you realise how many people actually live in this place.
As per usual, I ended up taking way too many photos. 🙂
Finally, we decided it was time to head to our hotel and get ready for dinner.
Thankfully, our hotel was just behind the building so it wasn’t much of a schlep back.
The whole experience at New York’s Top Of The Rock was incredible and the perfect place to watch the sunset over the city. Just make sure to grab your tickets online before you visit and secure the correct timeslot for sunset.
It really is a special view in New York and the perfect spot to visit on your first-ever trip to the city.
Actually, what am I saying; I’ve gone up on nearly every trip to New York… it’s great to visit even if you’ve visited the city more than once.
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