Ice Skating at Rockefeller Center travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

Ice skating at Rockefeller Center is a quintessential New York City winter experience. The Ice Skating Rink at Rockefeller Center first opened on Christmas Day in 1936. The Ice Skating Rink at Rockefeller Center can accommodate approximately 150 skaters at a time and the rink is 122 feet long and 59 feet wide. Tree A state of Prometheus, the Greek god of fire, left, overlooks the Rockefeller Center ice skating rink under a 79-foot tall Christmas tree in New York. The Rockefeller Center, at 50th Street and 5th Avenue, is a spectacular mountain of branches covered with around 5 miles of lights. The Tree is picked out every year by helicopter search, then cut down and brought to its new home at Rockefeller Center in early November. It opens each October for the winter skating season, handling up to 150 skaters at a time, more than 250,000 of them each year.

While it’s a delight to watch kids and adults alike gliding (and tumbling) around the ice, it makes even more sense to get out on the slick stuff yourself, if only because you’ll have more space. Indeed, the crowds yearning to catch a glimpse of the happy scene can easily become so thick (especially in the evenings) that it can be a struggle to wrestle your way to a decent vantage point. So rather than remain a sardine-packed spectator, it’s far more relaxing to pull on a set of skates and become a peaceful participant.
Adult admission is $8.50 on weekdays, and $11 on Sundays and holidays. Child and senior admission costs $7 on weekdays, and $7.50 on Sundays and holidays. Skate rental is $6 per session. If you live in New York City and often return to skate at Rockefeller Center, you can purchase 10 tickets at once for $75 for adults and $60 for kids and seniors. If you want a chance to show your stuff on the ice, try stopping by the Rockefeller Center ice-skating rink on weekday afternoons or during the early morning hours. Otherwise, you’ll have to fight your way through crowds of tourists like this one just to get near the ice.