This walking tour explores the art and architecture of Rockefeller Center. See sculptures of Isamu Noguchi, Michio Ihara and Paul Manship’s iconic bronze Prometheus, the most photographed sculpture in NYC. Heroic statue of Atlas just steps from St Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue. Learn the history of the exquisite, controversial murals painted by Jose Maria Sert and Sir Frank Brangwyn, as well as historic works by Lee Lawrie, Gaston Lachaise, Attilio Piccirilli, and Leo Lentelli. The Rock Center Tour Junior offers a guided experience of the sights and stories of Rockefeller Center for the whole family. On tour together with two guides, children (recommended ages 6-12) will enjoy an interactive adventure full of discovery while their accompanying adults learn about the rich history and architecture of the 12-acre campus.
So very informative! Loved hearing about the history of the building and the very beautiful art throughout. What a beautiful place! A must-do while visiting the property! Our guide was a pleasure, thank you!
Our guide Micah was great — friendly, informative and funny. Tip: when you arrive tell each employee you see you are there for the ART tour. Otherwise, someone will direct you to the Top of the Rock and you will waste time. Even if she ask if you have tickets.
Great experience great views
Our guide Matt was personable, knowledgeable and enthusiastic to share the history, beautiful art deco designs, and hidden gems of the Rockefeller Center buildings. Great experience!
Although we had only two days in Manhattan, we are so glad we too this tour. Our guide Micah was friendly and a wealth of knowledge. He gave us more that just information - he gave us appreciation for the people of New York. He revealed for us some fascinating art, architecture, and history which we would never have discovered on our own. I highly recommend the official walking tour.
Lee did an outstanding job with education and answering all questions. This tour was absolutely amazing! Lee gave us a full history of everything around us. I loved the small group atmosphere and we met some really amazing people!
Really interesting and informative. The art everywhere in Rockefeller center is something to see and even better to understand. We enjoyed it. Our tour guide Lisa was amazing.
This is Not the Top of the Rock! It is a tour inside the building seeing art and architecture. I was disappointed to find I also had to buy tix for top of the rock long after buying these tickets!
Very interesting tour of Rockefeller Center’s little known (at least by me) history. Guide was very well read and knowledgeable
Our family had a great time at the Rock and the ride to the top.
Very informative. Would do it again. Lisa is very well versed in her knowledge of The History of 30 Rock.
Our guide rushed through the whole tour. There were no opportunities to ask questions and we had to hurry the whole time to keep up with him. He talked very fast and the audio quality was poor, because he didn't put his headset on properly. Sometimes we couldn't hear him at all, but he didn't seem to care. The tour should be approximately 75 mins. Ours was done in 50 mins. We basically did the tour again afterwards to see all the places properly.
We purchased express top of the rock tickets, this meant that you skipped all the queues & could visited at any time on the selected day. We went first thing in the morning so it wasn’t very busy at all however, as we were leaving - the queues had started to form so I think the express passes would have been a god send. The tickets also got you close photo access to the Christmas tree. The views from the Deck are amazing, the Empire State Building is so special to see. Would highly recommend.
A spontaneous decision turned into an unforgettable experience at the Rockefeller Center’s Top of the Rock. We booked our tickets on-site normally you’ll need to book online and headed down to level -1 to purchase them. Before reaching the rooftop, you pass through security and watch a short film about the building’s history, which was a nice touch. The 360-degree views over NYC were absolutely breathtaking. The different levels offer various perspectives, and there’s even a small café at the top. A definite must-visit when in New York!
The guide shared interesting facts about the Rockefeller family, building and art deco, nothing extraordinary to report
Excellent tour of the history and art of Rockefeller Center with guide Tim. Loved the details he shared about the complex despite have passed them by so many times without ever taking a closer look. Recommend this tour to anyone spending time in the city.
Our guide Guillermo was very knowledgeable and passionate about the history of the Rockefeller story.
Our guide was very knowledgeable. We learned things we never would have on our own. It was worh taking the tour and would definitely recommend it to others.
We did not get to do the tour because we were led too the wrong line and sent up to top of the rock, which was not part of our tour. We did not have time to do the actual tour as a result
Stunning views of course! Great explanation about the building and its history. Thoroughly enjoyed my Beam experience!
The best Tour ever possible to make through the Rockefeller Center. Guide Tim has sooooo much knowledge and is telling all the stories about the history, the architecture and the design with such a passion and enthusiasm that you don´t recognize the time going by. Defintely an A+!!!!!! Thanks, Tim!
Liked this tour because of all the info and insights into the art and history of the buildings and the people who envisioned Rockefeller center. Our guide, Micah, kept things moving along and his commentary was fun and informative.
We did the Official Rockefeller center tour and also top of the rock. While our tour guide was very good and the tour contained interesting information, I do think that the tour could easily be self guided, with just a brochure/walking map or even a prerecorded audio tour. The area was actually smaller than I had anticipated. The headset given to use to hear the tour guide was subpar, the tour guide said they were getting new equipment any day now. We walked right by some art that wasn’t even mentioned. The guide was able to get us in to top of the rock 30 min before our scheduled time however, which was great. We went on a Monday morning and the line to top of the rock was very short. Good views at the top although it was somewhat hazy out. We only spent about 15-30 min at the top. I’ve been to Chicago’s sky deck and their queue is much better with lots of fun photo opps. Anyway, I can check this off the list, and if I ever come back to NYC, I don’t think I will bother with any of the observatories, but I would come back to wander Rockefeller plaza. We went to FAO Schwartz, it was small than I had anticipated. Don’t miss St Patrick’s Cathedral across the street from Rockefeller plaza.
It was very informative. There was so much more to see and do than anticipated. Matthew was extremely knowledgeable and passionate about the art and history of Rockefeller Center. A great tour.
Excellent tour guide. Very thoughtful and friendly. We got to see all the artwork that we were hoping too, and learned much of the history of Rockefeller Center.
Matthew was amazing. The tour included info about the Rockerfellers, the neighborhood, the architecture and the art inside and outside of the various buildings. This was the best guided tour I’ve ever had in NYC. I learned so much! Strongly recommend! I was lucky enough to have a private tour! I hope you do, too.
Get told one thing then a total different thing happens Young non trained staff with idea what they are doing. Then no customer service
Our guide was AMAZING. He was well informed, fun, and funny. I learned so much about the public art in Rockefeller Center.
Great tour guide, enjoyable experience. Fantastic place snd history. Felt at ease and not hurried throughout
Tim is an amazing tour guide. Not only we had a chance to see different parts of the Rockefeller Center, but we also learned a lot about Rockefeller family history as well as different architectural and artistic aspects of the buildings comprising the Center. Highly recommend.
Lots of good info. Professional and friendly guide. Very well done. Inside and outside during the tour.
Our tour guide Danny was absolutely amazing, he was so friendly, kind, funny and most of all so informative. He gave us the perfect tour and told us so many cool and important facts and history about the Rockerfellar centre and family. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Thank you Danny and thank you Rockerfeller for letting us experience such and amazing tour all about the art, creativity and history at the centre.
This walking tour is a mix of outside (60%) and inside (40%) throughout the various Rockefeller buildings. Bracing the winter weather temperatures was well worth it b/c the tour was so fun and interesting! Our tour guide shared interesting historical information while pointing out several art and architectural details on both the exteriors and interiors Rockefeller Plaza buildings that I've not noticed before, in past visits. If you're interested in art history, particularly art deco, this is the tour for you. Highly recommend!
It was a delight. Our guide knew his facts, could point out all sorts of hidden gems. He made it fun!
Our tour guide was excellent. She successfully navigated our group through the massive crowds in Rockefeller Center on Christmas Day. The tour was quite informative. The only draw back was the audio headsets sending screeching noise to our ears every time we went outside.
It was fun to see the inside and outside of some of the many buildings and concourses in the Center. Loved the history and photos of the early days. Would have appreciated more content, more art beyond the obvious examples that were pointed out. Guide was very enthusiastic. Headphone distribution took a long time and the guide’s system died half way through. Could have been more professional.
Tour run late due to headphone system not working and because of that the tour was difficult to follow as you can imagine on the streets of NY it also didn’t include the rock experience sadly it spoilt the day however up the rock was amazing but cost us more I didn’t mind the extra cost just disappointed
The tour of the Rockefeller Center campus is a must do! If you are fortunate, enjoy the tour led by Jonathan. He is a pro! You will be given an audio set for the duration of the tour and will be walking the "campus". My tour was led by Jonathan. He was fantastic. He is engaging with guests and highlights everything in detail. It made me want to research everthing discussed. Bravo, Jonathan! 20 points for you :)
Great tour - guide was very knowledgeable, interesting, and personable. Loved learning about the history of buildings & art.
The meeting point is inside the door immediately next to the Rainbow Room. The Viator instructs that it is between 5th and 6th Streets. This is way too vague! But once you finally find the starting point, the tour is extremely informative about stuff you didn't know that you wanted to know!
Tour guide was clearly going through the motions to get through the tour. I’ve taken the tour before and there was so much this guide skipped.
We thought it includes the visit the upper part of the building. They only tell you stories of the outside buildings
Somewhat rushed architectural and art tour of Rockefeller Center buildings and design. So much to see in the short time allotted. Good size group of under 25 people which was a bonus. A typical slightly surly NY tour guide who was able to put on his “shtick” with corny jokes etc. He seemed well cast for his role. Tour could have been listed as 45min-50 min. Or up to an hour. I travelled with an older woman who got tired and hot toward the end as so we left the tour before last segment. Great for families who want to do a lite overview at a fast pace. I would have enjoyed taking in all the treasures and commentary in less of a rush.
This was such an interesting tour, it gave so much insight into the area and the art installations. The hour long tour seemed to pass by so quickly, just so much to see! The headsets were not fantastic, the audio cut out any time our guide faced away from the group but he tried his best to face us when explaining something once he was aware of the issue.
View at roof. Was unable to find your rep at start of tour. No one on site knew anything about a tour.
Our experience was not good. We missed the guide, the ticket takers at Rockefeller had no idea what we were talking about and just sent us to the top, the last part of the tour. We never got anything that was described and no one reached out when 8 people didn’t show up. It was confusing. We meet at Rockefeller and each couple had the same experience- lost- confused and not directed. We were all over the building and never saw a guide.
This was one of my favourite things I experienced during my time in New York. There was a only short wait for the lift (which was interactive - a really nice touch) and the views from around the building were incredible!
We are so glad we did this tour. Our guide was fantastic and her knowledge was amazing. She taught us so many things we didn’t know and we saw so much more than we have when visiting the centre by ourselves. Can’t recommend this tour enough. Thank you!
Excellent one hour walking tour with a very engaging and clever guide. He pointed out many interesting sites that we never would have noticed on our own, and kept up a constant patter as we walked the streets. The headsets made it possible to hear him clearly. (English only). At the end of the tour we were able to buy tickets separately to go to the top of 30 rock, which was excellent as well. We highly recommend this tour.
The tour was nice but Viator representatives have sold me the tour including the top of the rock and when I walked in to the Rockefeller centre they told me it was not included. Extremely disappointed by the level of professionality of Viator staff members
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