Central Park

Enter at 72nd Street on the west side and go, roughly, in this order:

1. Strawberry Fields — the Imagine mosaic, small, always has someone playing guitar.
2. The Lake and Bow Bridge — the cast-iron bridge in every film ever set here.
3. The Ramble — 36 acres of deliberately confusing woodland paths. Get lost on purpose; it's designed for it and it's the best birding in the city.
4. Bethesda Terrace and Fountain — the architectural heart of the park. Go down the stairs and look up at the tiled arcade ceiling.
5. The Mall — the elm allée, the only straight line Olmsted allowed himself.
6. Exit at 59th Street or carry on north to the Reservoir.

That's about three hours at a real pace and it covers the park's best half.

Above 96th Street the crowds vanish almost completely and the landscape gets wilder and steeper — the North Woods, the Ravine with a genuine stream, the Conservatory Garden at 105th and Fifth (formal, walled, and the most underrated corner of the park), and the Harlem Meer.

Most visitors never go above the Reservoir. That's their loss and your gain.

Shakespeare in the Park at the open-air Delacorte Theater runs in summer and is completely free. Tickets are distributed on the day — traditionally a midday queue, with a digital lottery as well. Check the Public Theater's current method before you plan around it.

SummerStage puts on free concerts at Rumsey Playfield through the summer across a wide range of genres.

Both are free, both are excellent, and both are worth structuring a day around.