NYC 3hr Midtown scavenger hunt & self-guided walking tour

Are you looking for things to do in New York Midtown? There is a ton to see! If you plan on going anywhere near Times Square or Midtown, consider this walking tour scavenger hunt before visiting anything else!

It will take you around this neighborhood and let you discover not only the obvious “must-see” tourist attractions but also the particularities of what the locals call home. You will have challenges to solve every step of the way. Meanwhile, you will also be exposed to the area’s history and many local tips.

Buy $50

4.7km
2.9mi

38
Locations

25
Challenges

What You'll See

Grand Central Terminal
New York Public Library
Bryant Park
Times Square
MetLife Building
Madame Tussauds New York
Radio City Music Hall
Waldorf Astoria
Rockefeller Center
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
Saks Fifth Avenue
and much more!

We’ve visited New York and Midtown specifically almost every year since 2005. This scavenger hunt was finalized on our May 2018 trip and retested in August 2022.

Specifications & Requirements

Starting Location:
- in front of Grand Central Terminal, 89 E 42^nd St, New York, NY 10017, USA
Distance: 4.7 km / 2.9 mi
Time: 3 hours
Method: Walking
Required: Fully charged Smartphone with internet access (data plan, Wifi is not sufficient).
Suggested:
- Bottled water
- A local street map

History

Midtown is the central portion of the borough of Manhattan, in New York City. As a matter of fact, it is home to many corporate headquarters including Barns & Noble, Bloomberg, Ernst & Young, Calvin Klein, DC Comics, Six Flags, along with several media companies and advertising agencies.

Many landmarks are also located in Midtown. Some of the landmarks not seen in our scavenger hunt include the Empire State Building, United Nations, the Plaza Hotel, Madison Square Gardens, Carnegie Hall as well as Pennsylvania Station.

Midtown is broken down into several neighborhoods including Hell’s Kitchen, Chelsea, Murray Hill as well as Gramercy Park, to name but a few. Overlaid on top of these neighborhoods are several districts such as the business, theater, diamond, garment, and Meatpacking districts.

For the first 300 years, Lower Manhattan dominated New York’s economic life. However, that changed in the 1920s with the rebuilding of Grand Central Station into a Terminal, which ignited a capitalist revolution in Midtown. Finally, the construction and commercial boom transformed the area into an epicenter of American capitalism.