Who has never thought about visiting the Empire State Building before? Watching all those movies showing nice shots of this monstrous building has always made me hope I would get the chance to take the elevator up to the top and look out over the island of Manhattan.

We were in NYC, so we certainly wouldn’t miss this opportunity.

We weren’t in New York for very long though, so we had to include this visit on one of our busy days of sightseeing – and that would not be an easy task.

But we made it! After a fantastic day taking a ferry trip to Staten Island, enjoying the night lights of Times Square and visiting the new World Trade Center and its memorial, our day came to an end with the Empire State Building. In fact, our night did …

Taking the night tour of the Empire State Building

We had two choices: either squeeze the visit in during the day but risk not enjoying some other attractions that were only open in the daytime, or take the night tour but risk Noah being very tired.

We chose the second option, but making sure that we would be there while he could still enjoy it as well. But of course … he’s a child, and that’s not always possible 🙂

We purchased the ticket during the day, and the long queue also helped us to decide to go in the evening. But (and) in the end, it was the right choice.

Our day was longer than we thought, and we only got there at midnight! That’s right, midnight, and Noah was still not as tired as he could’ve been. At the end of the tour he was exhausted though, of course.

The building is completely adapted for visitors, and we were amazed at the organization and the kindness of the staff, even at that time.

Before getting into the elevator tourists already have an idea of how important the Empire State Building is, as you pass through a series of displays showing pics and statistics about the building, as well as a sustainability exhibit in the visitors’ center.

Because of the time, there was no queue and we took the elevator immediately.

First we visited the 80th floor, where we had an amazing view of almost the whole city.

After that we took the elevator again, this time to the 86th floor, where we had a 360° view of Manhattan at night, outside.

We were also lucky as, even at that altitude, it was not too cold apart from in one particular corner that was very windy.

There is also the option to go to the top deck on the 102^nd floor, but there’s an extra charge for that and, considering that it was very late for Noah, we decided not to go there.

He was already getting tired, but we stayed up there for at least an hour and the visit to the Empire State Building was worth every cent we paid.