If you are visiting New York City and are looking for free activity that is a little different, consider walking the High Line! Built on a historic elevated rail line, this beautiful park will allow for fabulous views of Manhattan’s West Side! Opened in 2009, it will allow you to experience nature, art, and more in a very unusual urban setting!

The Logistics

Destination: The High Line
Route: Gansevoort St. & Washington St. to 11th Ave. and West 30th St., with many entry/exit points in-between

The Walk

We chose to take an evening walk on the High Line after an afternoon Harbor Cruise. If your travels happen to take you to the Chelsea Piers, Chelsea Market, the Vessel, or the Whitney Museum of American Art, consider adding the High Line to your itinerary!

Our walk started at the Gansevoort St. entrance. While Jeremy and James had visited this park on a previous trip, this was my first experience with the High Line. I was delighted by the lush walkway!

The crowds were lower than I expected, and the views of the city were quite nice.

Just be warned that since this is built on an elevated railway, you will have a direct view into quite a few apartments and some people are less averse to drawing their blinds than others. The boys saw a bit more than I would have liked…

But the views of the city were totally worth it! If you are into contemporary art, you will find a variety of exhibits along the way.

Eventually we made it to the Vessel, located at the end of the High Line. We would have loved to climb the spiral staircase, but it is temporarily closed due to some unfortunate events (jumpers) that had happened. Hopefully they can figure out a way to prevent people from using this amazing looking building for purposes like that. In any case, you should explore the base of the Vessel and enjoy the atmosphere.

Consider walking the High Line on your next trip to New York City!

Keep reading our travel blog to hear about our experiences with New York City!

Here are some more posts from this trip to NYC: