To make exploring NYC easier, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 places to explore on a scavenger hunt in NYC. All these locations are within a short driving distance from each other, so you can jump from one place to another without wasting time in transit.
If you’re struggling to come up with places to visit, think of clues, or map out routes, let us take care of the planning for you. For over 20 years, cityHUNT has been creating custom scavenger hunts across New York City and beyond. The locations listed below are just a sneak peek of what to expect when you work with a team that knows the city inside and out!
1. Manhattan – The Museum of Modern Art
Located at 11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, The Museum of Modern Art is one of the world’s first museums dedicated to modern art with over 200,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures, and more over the last 150 years.
It isn’t the largest art museum in the world—that title goes to The Louvre in Paris, followed by the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg—but it’ll still take you no less than three to four hours to explore the museum’s entire art collection. This is what makes it a prime location for a scavenger hunt; there are so many things to see and do.
For a scavenger hunt, you can challenge your team to imitate the pose or facial expression of a statue or artwork, or solve clues that lead them to famous artists and artworks. Other scavenger hunt ideas can include:
- Find a painting with a hidden animal or object
- Locate the oldest item in the museum and write down its age.
- Locate the newest or most recent piece added to the museum’s collection.
- Find an art piece that tells a story about a famous historical event.
Since the MoMA is quite large and spans six floors, focus your scavenger hunt in one area at a time so participants won’t get overwhelmed or lost during the hunt. Also, be sure to check out our guide on how to do your own museum scavenger hunt to make the event fun and engaging!
2. Rockefeller Center – Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is a five-minute walk from The Museum of Modern Art, northwest on West 53rd Street toward 6th Avenue. You won’t miss it—you’ll spot the 90-foot-tall signs displaying the theater’s name from miles away.
Radio City Music Hall is the world’s largest indoor theater, known for hosting global events like the MTV Music Awards, the Grammy Awards, and the NFL draft. It also served as the stage for well-known artists like Mariah Carey, Lady Gaga, The Rolling Stones, and Ella Fitzgerald.
Ask your team what show or theme they’re most interested in, and surprise them with a visit to the Radio City Music Hall. The hall hosts a show multiple times a week, so make sure to check out Radio City’s official website for the full event schedule.
After the event, have your team answer questions related to what they just saw. Alternatively, you can book a guided walking tour to learn the history of the Great Stage and get exclusive access to areas typically off-limits to the public, such as the rehearsal halls and the celebrity guest rooms.
Scavenger hunt ideas include finding an object or location for each letter of the alphabet within the theater complex, a clues-based exploration that guides participants to various theater landmarks, or a photo challenge like imitating famous stage poses.
3. Rockefeller Center – Atlas Statue
After spending time at the Radio City Music Hall, visit the Atlas Statue just a minute away. The
Atlas Statue is a large, 45 feet (14 meters) tall bronze sculpture of the ancient Greek Titan Atlas holding a celestial sphere on his shoulders. It’s the largest Art Deco piece within the Rockefeller Center complex, and a popular photo op spot due to its sheer enormity.
Challenge your team to snap creative pictures with Atlas in the background; the wackier the picture, the better!
You can also use the statue as a clue for your scavenger hunt. For example: “I carry the world on my shoulders for days on end. I have turned bronze from years in the open air.”
4. Times Square – Madame Tussauds
Madame Tussauds is about a 15 to 20 minute walk from the Atlas Statue, located on 42nd Street in Times Square. The NYC branch is one of the largest Madame Tussauds museums and features over 200 lifelike wax figures of celebrities, historical icons, and pop culture legends.
Here are some scavenger hunts you can do in Madame Tussauds:
- Take a picture with five rock legends, five Grammy Award winners, and five sports legends.
- Pose with groups of wax figures at themed areas such as Hollywood parties or halls of fame.
- Answer trivia questions about the historical and pop culture figures you encounter throughout the museum.
- Blend in with the wax figures by striking poses that make you look like part of the display.
Tickets are a bit pricey at around $44 per person, with VIP experiences like the Behind the Scenes Tour costing extra. Still, it’s worth visiting at least once for the photo opportunities. Plus, the museum offers discounts for groups of 10+ and non-profit groups.
Be sure to book in advance as tours can fill up quickly, especially during tourist seasons or around major performances.
5. Midtown Manhattan – Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal is one of NYC’s most famous landmarks. Though it’s primarily a transit hub, people often visit it for its architecture, guided tours, and shopping + dining opportunities.
It also has lots of hidden secrets that only those with insider knowledge know to look for.
For example, there’s the Whispering Gallery near the Oyster Bar, where sound travels across the domed ceiling from one end to another. Whisper a sentence on the wall, and the person on the other end will hear it, no matter how soft the sound.
Then there’s the hidden staircase inside the main information booth clock, as well as the secret track 61 beneath the Waldorf-Astoria hotel allegedly used to transport presidents and celebrities.
And let’s not forget the strange backwards constellations on the Main Concourse—was it painted by mistake, or was there a hidden purpose to it?
You can visit all these locations and more for free!
These hidden gems make the terminal the prime location for a scavenger hunt. You can challenge your team to locate secret areas without using the internet and instead rely on the word-of-mouth of employees.
After the hunt, treat the team to a feast in the Dining Concourse (lower level) or the Grand Brasserie (Vanderbilt Hall). The Grand Central Market is also a must-visit for take-away treats and artisanal products.
6. Washington Square Park – Washington Square Arch
The Washington Square Arch is a 77-foot (23-meter) marble monument located at the northern entrance of Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.
The arch was designed by architect Stanford White in 1891 to commemorate the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration as the first US president. A closer look reveals elaborate carvings and sculptures symbolizing war and peace.
The Washington Square Arch makes for a grand backdrop for a team photoshoot, one which you can display in your office or share on social media as a keepsake from your NYC scavenger hunt.
While there, task your group with finding specific architectural details, like the laurel wreaths or the inscription above the keystone. You can also include clues that lead participants to nearby features in Washington Square Park, such as the central fountain, street performers, or the famous chess tables.
7. Central Park – New York Marathon
The New York Marathon is one of the most popular marathons in the world, with upwards of 50,000 participants signing up for the race each year. The race spans 26.2 miles (42.2 km), weaving through all five boroughs of New York City and ending in Central Park.
Unless your scavenger hunt happens on the day of the marathon, it would be a big ask to challenge the team to recreate the 26.2-mile race without months of preparation beforehand. After all, participants of the marathon build he endurance and strength needed to complete the race months before the actual race!
Instead, you can challenge team members to recreate the excitement of the marathon through photo challenges.
Encourage them to capture victory poses like jumping in the air, crossing an imaginary finish line, or high-fiving teammates near Bethesda Terrace or the Central Park Carousel. They can also pretend to be exhausted after a race, slumping on a bench or drinking water. Let them get creative with their poses!
8. Central Park – Central Park Zoo
The Central Park Zoo houses over 1,400 animals across 130 species, including endangered and critically endangered animals like Baer’s pochard, red pandas, thick-billed parrots, and cotton-top tamarins.
For a scavenger hunt, consider these ideas:
- Take a picture with an animal starting with the first letter of the alphabet. Allow the names given by the caretakers to encourage teams to speak with the zoo staff.
- Search for animals with specific characteristics, such as “find an animal with stripes,” “find an animal with horns,” or “find an animal that swims.”
- Look for animals that match a list of colors.
- Take a selfie with an animal doing something funny in the background.
- Find the loudest animal you hear and describe its call or sound.
- Strike your fiercest animal pose in front of a predator exhibit.
You can also think of clues or riddles that lead team members from one animal exhibit to another. The team that has the most correct guesses wins!
After a day of scavenger hunting, invite your team to a meal at the Dancing Crane Cafe. The Dancing Crane Cafe sells a good selection of meals, snacks, and desserts, including hot dogs, burgers, salads, and pizzas.
9. Central Park – Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, also known as the Met, is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest in the United States. It hosts over 2 million works of art spanning 5,000 years of history.
The building measures 2.2 million square feet, so it’ll take hours and multiple visits to explore the museum’s entire collection. For comparison, the White House is around 55,000 square feet.
Scavenger hunting is a fun way to explore the Metropolitan Museum of Art and discover facts you wouldn’t have otherwise. It challenges participants to take a closer look at hidden details in world-famous paintings or decipher clues that lead to lesser-known collections.
Here are some ideas:
- Search for the oldest artifact you can find.
- Mimic the pose of a statue.
- Find a portrait where the subject is holding a book or scroll.
- Find an art piece with a fruit or animal as a background detail.
- Look for something that looks like it doesn’t belong in its time period.
- Locate an artwork that uses specific colors, for example black and white, blue and green, pink and yellow, etc.
- Pretend to be the artist of an artwork and make up a story of what inspired you to make it. The crazier the story, the better.
Since the museum is so large, keep the scavenger hunt in one area at a time. One can take place in the American Wing, another in Arms and Armor, and yet another at The Costume Institute. That way, the team can appreciate each piece of art before moving to another section of the museum.
If you’re struggling to find ideas or questions for a scavenger hunt, book a guided tour and jot down interesting facts, stories, or details provided by the guide. Then, ask team members to answer questions related to the facts shared during the tour.
10. The Bronx – New York Botanical Garden
The New York Botanical Garden is a 250-acre botanical museum consisting of over 1 million living plants across 12,000 species. It’s one of the most colorful museums in the world, featuring lush botanical gardens, fields of flowers, and towering trees reaching 160 feet tall.
The garden regularly hosts seasonal exhibitions, educational programs, horticulture classes, and events like Van Gogh’s Flowers and Starry Nights. You’ll find a full list of upcoming events on NYBG’s official website.
To get the most out of the experience, we recommend booking a guided tour so you and the team can learn about the history, botanical properties, and fun facts about the plants you encounter from an expert.
While on the tour, challenge your teams to name plants with a certain color, feature, purpose, or texture. You can also ask them to take a picture of their favorite plant, the tallest tree in the garden, a plant they’ve never known existed, and a plant with massive leaves. Be creative with your hunts!
Tips for a Great NYC Scavenger Hunt
Here are some tips to make the most out of your NYC scavenger hunt:
- Plan your route in advance. NYC is a massive city, and you don’t want your team to be running around aimlessly without a map to fall back to! Ideally, you want your scavenger hunt locations to be a walking distance of each other so you don’t have to worry about finding transportation.
- Be creative with your photo challenges! Scavenger hunts are a great opportunity to take fun and wacky photos. Challenge teams to recreate famous art poses, pretend to be doing something silly, or react with an exaggerated surprise to something happening off-camera.
- Come up with scavenger hunt clues at least a day before the event. Make sure the clues are easily solvable but challenging enough to keep teams engaged. Get creative with poems, riddles, and puzzles.
- Create backup plans just in case! You never know when a location runs out of tickets, unexpectedly closes down due to repairs, or the weather takes a sudden turn for the worse. Always have a few indoor or alternate-location options ready.
- Lay out ground rules before participants set off to complete challenges. For example, one rule could be not using the internet to solve puzzles. It wouldn’t be fun if they figure out the answers to your clues without the legwork!
- Make the rewards enticing to keep participants engaged and motivated throughout the hunt. For corporate scavenger hunts, reward ideas include an all-inclusive trip to a location of their choice, concert tickets, gift cards, or a bonus to their salaries. For children, reward them with toys, candies, cinema tickets, stickers, or gift vouchers.
