A Manhattan Walk from Inwood’s fields to the harbor’s edge — one perfect Friday, two pairs of tired feet
We were in New York for a wedding and had an extra three days. We knew we wanted to venture into the City, but wasn’t sure what to do. Then Justin remembered an episode of Broad City titled Stories (season 5, episode 1), where Abbi and Ilana had walked Manhattan tip to tip. We watched the episode, looked at each other, and decided: sure why not, let’s do that tomorrow. No elaborate planning. Just a blue-sky day, layers, and comfortable shoes.
Table of Contents
Part One: The North: Inwood to Harlem
We got a car to Inwood and began at the Columbia Sports Complex on 218th Street and Broadway — as far north as Manhattan goes before the island surrenders to the Bronx across the Harlem River Ship Canal. A few blocks south, we ducked into Buunni Coffee, a beloved neighborhood spot run by an Ethiopian couple that’s become a community anchor up here. Justin grabbed a latte and I used the restroom.
The Dyckman Farmhouse Museum — Manhattan’s only surviving Dutch colonial farmhouse, built around 1784 — merited a quick photo. It’s a strange and wonderful thing to see a two-story farmhouse wedged between apartment buildings on a busy Broadway block. There are restrooms here too, which you should know before you need to know.
Then Fort Tryon Park opened up beside us, and it was bigger than either of us expected — 67 acres of winding paths, dramatic Hudson River overlooks, and the Heather Garden, one of the largest publicly maintained gardens in the Northeast. The park is also home to The Cloisters, the Metropolitan Museum’s medieval art branch, which we didn’t have time for but which deserves its own day entirely. We just kept walking down Broadway, and walked in the park parallel to Broadway just to be among the trees for a little while. Restrooms at both the north and south ends, right off Broadway. Justin used the more north one, not much to it, but when you got to go, you got to go.
Somewhere near the George Washington Bridge — the only 14-lane suspension bridge in the world, and the busiest motor vehicle bridge on the planet — we crossed over to St. Nicholas Avenue and turned south toward Harlem. We enjoyed walking on St. Nicholas Avenue, it was quieter both with cars and people. Some brownstones started to pop up and old time oil lamps gave us something to look at.
Lunch was at Amy Ruth’s on West 116th Street, a Harlem institution since 1999 named after the owner’s grandmother. Justin’s verdict on the honey fried chicken thigh: among the best he’s ever had, but he barely touched his grits and collard greens. My verdict: meh. The collard greens I ate from Justin’s leftovers were bland, the cornbread dry, the mac and cheese a $9.95 disappointment for the portion. The string beans were the unsung hero of my plate and really not that impressive. As a vegetarian my options were limited — but if you love Chicken I hear its good. If you’re craving soul food and know what you’re doing, Red Rooster a few blocks away on Lenox Avenue is the safer bet — Marcus Samuelsson’s place has never let us down. Or just stay on Broadway and trust whatever catches your eye.
Part Two: The Middle: Central Park to Hell’s Kitchen
A few blocks from Amy Ruth’s, the top of Central Park appeared — and we made the call to walk the full 2.5-mile length inside the park rather than along the traffic of Eighth Avenue. It was the right call. I’d never been to the northern section of the park before, and it’s markedly different from the tourist-heavy south end: wilder, hillier, with dense canopied paths.
We stopped for a photo at the Reservoir — the 106-acre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, to give it its full name — and helped some older ladies with their own photo, although was slightly annoyed when they asked me if the water and skyline were in their photo — of course I know how to take a picture and really, if you don’t like it, have someone else do a few more. We moved on. The Great Lawn had that particular perfect-Friday-afternoon energy: frisbees, dogs, people horizontal on blankets. The Lake had paddleboats. Somewhere in here I started thinking about ice cream carts and finding none.
We passed Tavern on the Green and did the thing where you calculate how many years ago you ate there (eight maybe), and exited at Columbus Circle, where I spent a lot of time in 2002–2004.
Down 9th Avenue we went, into the heart of Hell’s Kitchen. We stopped at Rudy’s Bar & Grill on 44th Street, one of New York’s great dive bars and a genuine institution since the 1930s. (Rudy’s is famous for giving out free hot dogs to anyone who orders a drink — a tradition going back decades). It was packed, but we lucked into the last two patio seats. My feet needed the break, I was starting to get tired, then again it was about 3pm. We used the restroom before we left and then headed across the street toSchmackary’s, for one chocolate chip cookie each.
Part Three: The South: The High Line to The Battery
Near West 30th Street, we climbed up to the High Line. The elevated park built on a former freight rail line is genuinely beautiful — planters, benches, art installations, Hudson views — but on a sunny Friday afternoon it is absolutely packed. We shuffled more than walked, and barely appreciated the landscaping since it was hard to see among the crowds. We took it to 14th Street, made a two-avenue/10 minute detour to visit my nephew at work then turned south on Hudson Street.
This was a revelation. Hudson Street through the West Village and into Tribeca is quieter, more human-scaled, lined with restaurants and independent shops in low-rise brick buildings. It has the quality of a neighborhood that hasn’t entirely been smoothed over. It was around this point that I knew that a blister was being created on the bottom of my left foot — just below the middle toe — and the mood of the walk shifted from “enjoyable adventure” to “I hope this ends soon, just focus on getting there.”
Hudson Street eventually feeds into Greenwich Street near Tribeca, and then you’re in the shadow of the World Trade Center. We paused. There’s something that happens in that plaza that’s hard to explain if you were alive on September 11, 2001 — a kind of gravitational pull toward stillness. We stood there for a few minutes just reflecting, and then talked about our last time here.
And then, just a few blocks ahead: trees. The Battery. We walked to the very southern tip of the island, to the ferry terminal for Liberty Island, and sat for ten minutes watching the harbor. We had done it. 218th Street to Battery Park.
We took the subway to Grand Central and headed home. As I was sitting on the subway & then the train, I was worried my legs would stop working entirely — a very specific fear inspired by that How I Met Your Mother episode where Barney runs a marathon. They held of course – and actually the next day my legs weren’t even sore, which was a pleasant surprise, especially since we had a wedding to attend that night.
The Manhattan Walk Route at a Glance
Fourteen miles sounds like a lot to walk in a day, and it is for most folks, but then I remembered back a few years when Justin was running, he’d run 10-15 miles just for fun. My daily walks on the other hand were only about 2 miles. This walk was a test of endurance for me, but I owed it to Justin to try, after all he accompanied me on the superlong Arctic Circle drive last year.
Google Maps will tell you it could be as little as 4.75 hours and 13 miles if you stick to mostly the Empire State Trail/Hudson River Greenway. So we estimated it would take us about 7 hours to do this, knowing we were going to walk down the interior of the island and stop a few times. We were pretty close, our Apps told us we walked 14.76 miles and 36,704 steps in about 7 hours 20 minutes. And really, that is faster than I thought since our 3 stops were fairly short, but then again I started to walk slower as time went on.
Before You Go: The Practical Stuff
Walking over 10 miles in a day isn’t for everyone. Know your comfort level. The season and the weather are also important considerations. It’s ok to start something and not finish it, maybe there is a better story there. There is no right/wrong way to walk around Manhattan – enjoy it however you like. Doing a long walk like this does not allow a lot of time for ‘other’ things like tours, museums, etc.
What to wear
- Dress in layers
- Consider the weather – wear appropriate clothing for the weather
- Comfortable, broken-in shoes are important. This is not the day to try new ones.
- Wool socks (SmartWool or Darn Tough) reduce blister risk
- Sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses, especially in warmer & sunny months
- Don’t pack a heavy bag, just carry the essentials for the day.
Restroom strategy
- If you are stopping for a drink or food, try to find a place with a restroom
- Dyckman Farmhouse Museum — just a few blocks south
- Fort Tryon Park — north and south ends, off Broadway
- Central Park — multiple comfort stations throughout
- The Battery — public restrooms near the ferry terminal
Time and pacing
- Budget 6–9 hours for the full walk with normal stops
- Start as early as you reasonably can — the north end is lovely in morning light, and you want daylight at The Battery
What We’d Do Differently
Stay on Broadway through Harlem rather than diverting to St. Nicholas Avenue — there’s more to see and you can pick your own lunch spot as it comes to you. If you want soul food, Red Rooster is the safer choice. The High Line is beautiful but crushingly crowded on a nice day; consider an early-morning or weekday visit when it actually breathes.
The north end — Inwood Hill Park and Fort Tryon — deserves its own separate day. We barely scratched it. Inwood Hill Park has old-growth forest, a salt marsh, and petroglyphs from the Lenape people who lived there long before anyone built a city on this island. The Cloisters alone is worth an afternoon.
One More Thing: The Great Saunter
After we got back, Justin found it: The Great Saunter, an annual event organized by the Shorewalkers organization, in which participants walk the entire perimeter of Manhattan — 32 miles along the shoreline. It took place the day after we did our walk. It got us thinking, is that something we would want to do in the future? We may never be ready. But it exists, for those who are.
*This is not a recommendation, just our story on how we spent our day.