View our Safe Travels commitmentX

|||

Home>United States>New York

Rockefeller Center Observation Deck

This high vantage point gives an incredible vista of the Big Apple.

Adults: 4 Children: 0

TravelCurious Tip

Go an hour or two before sunset. That way you see New York’s spectacular transition from day to night

30 Rockefeller Center is an Art Deco skyscraper in midtown Manhattan. It forms part of the Rockefeller Center, one of the grandest plazas in New York. Rockefeller financed the Center personally as the country teetered on the verge of the Great Depression. At the time, it was the largest private building project in history.

Coming in at 260 metres tall, 30 Rockefeller Centre is the commanding centrepiece of the plaza. To appreciate the scale, you need only recall the famous, vertigo-inspiring photo “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper” of eleven men cheerfully eating lunch on a suspended iron girder — legs dangling over hundreds of metres of open air. Charles Ebbets took that photograph on the 69th floor of 30 Rockefeller Center.

In fact, you can enjoy the same panorama from somewhere even higher — and a little safer. The Rockefeller Center Observation Deck reopened to the public in 2005 after extensive renovations. The deck is built to resemble that of an ocean liner, and it offers an extraordinary view of the New York — perhaps even better than that from the Empire State Building. Although this may be because you can see the Empire State Building from here!

Nearby Attractions

See all attractions in New York

Greenwich Village

The bohemian capital of the world - and these days one of America's priciest neighbourhoods.

South of Houston Street is a historic district famed for its artistic atmosphere and cast-iron façades.

E. V. Haughwout Building

Created in 1856, this cast-iron landmark is home to the first passenger elevator.

Old Police Headquarters

Today a group of luxury apartments, the NYPD's former headquarters is one of the finest Beaux-Arts buildings in all New York.

A nostalgic area full of the legacies of Italian immigrant culture at the turn of the 20th century.

One of New York's most well known precincts. It polices Chinatown and Little Italy.

Related Tours

Private Full Day Highlights with Top of the Rock tickets

Explore the Big Apple - from the bustling streets of Downtown Manhattan to the serenity of Central Park. On this private tour you will:

See the best sights of Lower Manhattan, from the National 9/11 Memorial to St Paul’s Chapel
Walk around quirky, local Greenwich Village
Experience the bustle of Times Square
Enjoy the grandeur of St Patrick’s Cathedral
Stroll in both Grand Central Terminal and Central Park
Finish your tour gazing out on the city from the views from the Rockefeller Center

Your tour begins at the National 9/11 Memorial and visit Ground Zero— the original site of the The World Financial Center. Here your guide will share with you the history of the World Trade Center and discuss the tragic events of 9/11. You will also visit Saint Paul's Chapel, which was the base for rescue workers who heroically searched for survivors on that fateful day.

Next you will head towards trendy Greenwich Village, home to over a century's worth of bohemians, artists, musicians, novelists, poets and intellectuals of New York City. From here you will take the subway to Wall Street in lower Manhattan, arguably the most important financial center of the world. You will learn about some of the most important moments in US history, from the swearing in of George Washington as the first American President, to the signing of the Buttonwood Agreement—the foundation of the New York Stock Exchange.

Bright Lights

You will also have the opportunity to explore the gothic architecture of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, where writer F. Scott Fitzgerald was married. Then, you will walk to Grand Central Terminal, the most iconic transportation hub in the United States, with the beautiful celestial ceiling murals.

Your guide will take you to Times Square in the midtown area to view the news ticker on the One Times Square Building, the NASDAQ board, and all the fluorescent neon advertisements. You will then venture to another icon of NYC—the Rockefeller Center. Here, your guide will give you your tickets for the Rockefeller Observation deck and part with you. Cap off your tour with a breathtaking bird’s eye view of Manhattan and the rest of the Big Apple.