Central Park is fabulous. You can't see everything unless you have a couple of days. It is 50 streets long and 5 blocks wide. With so many sights to see along the way, take your time or go back again. The zoo is a bit tiny for the price, but it's all for a good cause and cute, unusual animals are inside (and polar bears!).

Wear comfy shoes and stay close by so you can go back.

After a morning visit to the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, a visit to the Guggenheim, and lunch in the Guggenheim Café, I was ready to return to Central Park. My first visit to the best-known urban park in the country had occurred in February of the previous year. Today I returned, ready to experience the park on a glorious Sunday afternoon in May, and to meet some fellow IgoUgo members. With nearly 2 hours to kill in the park between leaving the Guggenheim and meeting the rest of the group at the Conservatory Water, I decided to embark on a meandering path through the park, starting north of the Reservoir and visiting the Great Lawn, Belvedere Castle, and Ramble as I slowly made my way to the Conservatory Water.

The Great Lawn, located near the park’s center, is the backyard for many of Manhattan’s residents. This large oblong open field is closed to visitors in the winter. But with the new spring grass, the lawn is reopened, and on a sunny spring weekend afternoon, the space is filled with thousands of New Yorkers relaxing on blankets and lawn chairs, playing Frisbee, and enjoying being outdoors. The number of people on the lawn was staggering; yet, the space is so immense that there was still plenty of room for those just arriving to stake out a space.

Just south of the Great Lawn, and across a small lake, stands the Belvedere Castle. This structure houses exhibits describing the wildlife found in the park and offers a rooftop lookout featuring great views of the entire park and surrounding neighborhoods. From this point at the top of the castle, most of the park is visible, and it’s a great vantage point for seeing just how big the park is.

Continuing south from Belvedere Castle, I entered one of my favorite areas of Central Park, the Ramble. The Ramble is a large wooded area with several large hills and rocky areas. Several creeks also cross this section of the park. This is a great place to relax in a shady area, or to enjoy the many birds and other wildlife that populate this section of the park. In some of the more dense areas of the woods, it’s almost possible to forget that you are in the middle of one of the largest cities on the planet here.

The time was quickly approaching for rendezvous at the Conservatory Water, so I headed that direction. Once part of the city’s water system, today the Conservatory Water provides a tranquil setting for children to play on the nearby statues of Alice in Wonderland and Hans Christian Andersen, and for park visitors to rent and sail model boats in the pond. Here I met several IgoUgo members, including Mr. Wonka, Jose Kevo, zabelle, and Idler, and enjoyed a relaxing chat in a nearby grassy area. It was the perfect opportunity to get to know people in person whom I’d only previously known online.

Central Park was a nice little oasis in the middle of the big city. The lush green landscaping was very nice, and it would be a great place for walking around and having a picnic. It would especially be recommended for people who live in New York City or visit frequently. It may not be as exciting for infrequent visitors, but even then, if you're going with your special somebody they have horse and carriage rides which would be very romantic.

Central Park amazes me, because the minute you step into it, the whole city is hushed. It is soooo peaceful. My last visit was in July, and it was so lush and green. My friend and I had the brilliant idea that we would cross the park from the Natural History Museum to the Met because they are pretty directly across from each other, divided by the park.

If you are in a hurry, don't take that advice. The paths are very curvy, and, yes, you do see some amazing sights, but by the time you are on the other side, you are about 20 blocks away. We walked around many sights that I've seen in movies, and it was very exciting. It’s just a beautiful way to relax and enjoy nature in a very crazy city.

It is almost unfair to describe Central Park as a park. It does it no justice. A park conjures up images of a few hectares of grass garden and a children’s playground. Central Park is so much more.

Stretching 3 blocks wide and over 50 blocks long, it is a patchwork of greenery, with over a dozen distinct areas, each of which is like a mini-park in themselves. The Rambles, in the centre of the park, is a cool wooded tangle of narrow paths. Belvedere castle rises above the lake of the same name like a 19th-century Victorian folly. Across the north meadow, a dozen baseball diamonds hold the promise of summer leagues.

And throughout all this, you are within sight of the New York City skyline, reminding you that this remarkable oasis is actually at the heart of one of the most important cities in the world.

Central Park is both a place to do things and a place to wander, doing not too much at all. It is fairly flat, making an ideal cycling, walking, or rollerblading area, and though there were invariably areas fenced off to allow the grass to grow back, there were also swathes of open green to run on and rocks to climb.