The top 10 must see places in NYC in autumn
It’s autumn and I love it!!!! The leaves are stunning, the temperatures are cooler. Ah! I just love being outside this time of year taking in all the beauty.
I’m telling you, it’s a must to come visit NYC in the autumn season. Being in New York in autumn feels like you are in one of those magical NYC movie moments. The colorful leaves, the crisp temperatures, pumpkins and fall decor in your favorite cafes and store windows. It’s beautiful. Autumn in NYC is my favorite (ok, I know I’ve already said several times, but it’s true!). Since I love it so much, I wanted to pass along some of my favorite spots to see and enjoy the autumn beauty. I hope one day you get to experience the beauty of autumn in this amazing city, and when you do, you will have this list of places to go!
First of all, if you want come at the peak of the leaves changing, I always recommend that people come around Halloween. The leaves can vary every year depending on the weather, but the past several years (in my opinion) it seems like Halloween is consistently beautiful and the leaves are at their peak.
You really could spend all day just walking around taking in the beauty, but if you are planning a visit around this time of year you want to make sure you make the most of it. So, here are my 10 must see places for you to experience in New York City in the fall. Be sure to click on each name below and it will link you to each location in Google Maps so you can know exactly where to go!
Also – I wanted to add that personally took all these photos on my IPHONE 🙂 So if you go to these places you can get stunning photos, it really is THAT beautiful!
Ok, so here they are in no particular order;
Bow Bridge, Central Park – this beautiful spot is featured in so many movies and TV shows. It’s stunningly beautiful in any season, but autumn is definitely a must! Thanks to that pano feature on my iphone, I was able to catch this wide angle.
Prospect Park – head over to Brooklyn to see this famous park. It’s a big park with lots of space to walk around and enjoy the beauty, or maybe just sit on a bench taking in the beauty. So many beautiful trees everywhere, you will have so many great photo ops!
Wollman Ice rink, Central Park – this rink in Central Park is surrounded by beautiful trees. If you climb up the rocks across the rink you get this stunning view! Looking toward the skyline you get the beauty of both nature and the concrete jungle. I’ve sat at this spot many times taking in beautiful sunsets and beautiful seasons. This is one you will definitely enjoy!
West Village – Ok, this exact google link is going to send you to the “Sex and the City” brownstone Carrie Bradshaw lived in, in the TV show. It’s a really beautiful area! The streets are filled with the beautiful brownstones and huge magnificent trees. This area is a great place to just walk and dream and take in the beauty. Autumn is a great time of year to do this, all the leaves are so dreamy!
The Mall, Central Park – Probably the most famous pictures you see of Central Park are of this, what’s called the mall. It’s a long walkway lined with benches and the huge magnificent trees make this canopy you walk under. One autumn we sat on these benches for probably 3 hours just watching the leaves fall. It’s amazing. The colors are stunning and it’s so peaceful. Not to mention the amazing photo’s you’ll get!
Central Park South, The Plaza Hotel & Gapstow Bridge – This is one of those famous NYC spots from the movies. In this spot you are in Central Park looking towards the Plaza Hotel, it’s a really beautiful photo any time of year, but if you come around autumn, the leaves are stunning. It’s a very peaceful spot to just take it all in.
Brooklyn Heights – This historic area of Brooklyn is absolutely stunning. Beautiful brownstones and treelined streets. It’s not as busy as Manhattan, walking around these streets you will never want to leave. This google map link will take you about a block away from the famous Brooklyn Promenade where you walk and look at the Manhattan skyline. This is a beautiful area to take in the fall foliage and the stunning character Brooklyn offers.
Bethesda Fountain, Central Park – A lot of this list is in Central Park for a reason….it’s simply stunning! Head over to Bethesda Fountain (it’s very close to the Bow Bridge). This fountain is beautiful with a beautiful backdrop of water and trees. Wow! Row boats are always out in the water, and so many people sit here and enjoy the view.
Upper East Side – This is a large area to check out, specifically (in this photo) I would tell you to just walk along the outside of Central Park on 5th avenue. The beautiful trees of Central Park make a canopy over the sidewalk. You get some of the NYC taxi’s mixed in your photos. If you want to wander down some other streets there are plenty of options.
Bryant Park – this beautiful park in the middle of Manhattan is always a great stop anytime of year. This park has lots of tables and chairs and huge trees. They even have free public ping pong tables to use. In the autumn season the park always looks so pretty with colorful leaves. This park faces the iconic New York public library. You can see the Empire State Building from here as well. This will be a beautiful stop on your autumn leaves tour around the city.
I hope you enjoyed this post! I hope it left you feeling more in love with NYC and inspired to come visit this amazing city I love so much. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions about this post or want additional recommendations! Oh, and if you have some recommendations of great spots to see the autumn leaves in NYC that I didn’t mention, please let me know too!!!
Oh, and just because these are AMAZING, I thought I’d add a couple more from one of my favorite NYC Photographers, Vivenne Gucwa aka Traveling Lens. She shares AMAZING photos of NYC, but she especially seems to love autumn and winter seasons (which I love!!!). Here are a couple of my favorites from her Instagram the past few weeks.
That Autumn feeling… 🍁 (Central Park, New York City)
A photo posted by Vivienne Gucwa (@travelinglens) on
Thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you again soon for more NYC inspiration 🙂
