“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride” – John F Kennedy

Biking can totally rejuvenate you and if the day is abounding in sunshine it just adds more fun to the ride! It has one other advantage when visiting a busy city like NYC – you can go at your own pace and leisure without having to deal with infuriating traffic or coordinating for public transport.

If you don’t have your own bike you can either rent from 1 of the many bike rental shops in the city or better yet rent Citi Bike.

Here are 3 of our best bike paths that we often ride on.

1) Hudson Bike Path – Battery Park to George Washington Bridge

By the lighthouse – underneath George Washington Bridge

Starting from Battery Park going all the way upto George Washington bridge, this 11 mile bike path is the busiest yet our most favorite. This path is for pedestrians, bicyclists and skateboarders. If you are a tourist in NYC you can see a few attractions on this stretch like Battery park, Chelsea pier, Intrepid museum and the High Line (a block off the bike path starting at the intersection of 12th street). Make sure to lock your bike if you plan to check out any of these attractions coz its only a matter of few minutes before you realize your bike is stolen!

There are several restrooms on this path and a few stretches have garden area where you can take a break, catch up on a book and chill by the river. There’s a sprinkler between 48th – 50th street where we took a break once and got ourselves totally soaked – what a way to cool off in that 90+ degree weather! Also a few cool bars along the river if you must catch up on some food or a chilled beer! One such place is the Frying Pan – bar on a vintage boat with beautiful views of the city.

2) World Trade Center to Prospect Park via Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn bridge

NYC bike paths – Brooklyn neighborhood

A better way to see the Brooklyn bridge is on a bike versus walking the whole stretch of 1.1 mile and back which could get a little tiring! The only con of biking on this bridge – hoards of tourists hogging the bridge could involve a little maneuvering from you. Once you are off the bridge you ride another 10 minutes to get to Prospect park (known as the Central Park of Brooklyn). We did 1 loop of the park before enjoying some refreshing Italian ice aka “Indian Gola” if you know what I am saying 🙂

3) Central Park

Right in the heart of New York city, Central Park is an urban landscape planned with utmost detail surrounded with architectural buildings.
Central Park attracts a lot of tourists in addition to the locals who go there to unravel, to bask in the sun, to picnic or to bike 🙂 There are several entrances to the park – we usually take the one at corner of 59th street and 6th avenue, a block away from Columbus Circle. The entire loop of Central Park is a little over 6 miles and is pretty flat and easy to bike except for a couple of stretches of higher gradient. You could take a shorter route too by crossing through the park at a few locations. You may even be lucky to catch seasonal “Shakespeare in the Park” play or cultural events that take place very often in the Summers.

NYC bike paths – Central Park

Happy biking and let us know which bike path you enjoy the most!!