Central Park is not a park dropped into Manhattan; it's a landscape Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux built — every rock outcrop kept, every vista composed, eight hundred and forty acres pretending to be wilderness. The southern half is the most-walked stretch for a reason, and four kilometres covers the best of it.
Come in from Columbus Circle and find the Mall — the one straight line in a park that otherwise refuses them. Walk north under the elms to Bethesda Terrace, which is the heart of the whole design; take the stairs down and the tiled arcade through, not around. From the fountain, follow the Lake west to Bow Bridge, then climb up into the Ramble and let yourself get lost, because that's exactly what Olmsted wanted you to do.
Belvedere Castle is the high point, literally — the view south is worth the few steps up. Then west to Strawberry Fields and the Imagine mosaic, and down to the Sheep Meadow, where the city comes to lie flat. Out at 72nd Street, the B/C takes you on.
