Rockefeller Center

Midtown, New York – Sprawling from 48th to 51st Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, the world-famous Rockefeller Center is a bustling nerve center that welcomes millions of local and foreign visitors every year.

Weekdays see the area abuzz with everyone from business people and ad execs hurrying off to lunch meetings to the more leisurely visitors window shopping at stores like J. Crew, Anthropologie, and Movado, the nearby flagship Saks Fifth Avenue, or in the below-ground shops in the concourse level.

On warm summer days, tourists gravitate to the Rockefeller Center Farmers Market or to the beautifully manicured Channel Gardens with its exotic plants and series of reflecting pools, while summer nights bring both prominent locals and vacationers out to enjoy an evening of cocktails and lounging at patio tables at the outdoor Rink Bar or in one of the cabanas at Bar 30.

For some of the best panoramic views of the city, visitors will want to check out Top of the Rock Observation Deck on the 70th floor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, while those in search of some NYC-style showbiz glamour can take tours of NBC Studios and the fabled Radio City Music Hall – home of the Rockettes and the annual Christmas Spectacular – or watch The Today Show on the concourse and try their luck at getting into a taping of Saturday Night Live.

Although the plaza has much to offer year round, there’s no doubt that Rockefeller Center is truly at its best on cold winter nights when a festive air prevails as droves of city dwellers and travelers alike come together to promenade through the Channel Gardens twinkling with white lights, marvel at the celebrated Christmas tree, sip hot chocolate from Dean & Deluca, and take a few turns around the sunken ice rink beneath the golden statue of Prometheus.    ← read less