Empire State Building Private Tour With Driver: How to Get to the Empire State Building by Car

Of all the observation decks in Manhattan, the Empire State Building is the one that shows you the others. From its upper floors you can pick out the glass slab of One Vanderbilt, the spire of One World Trade Center, the Hudson Yards towers and the green rectangle of Central Park, all in one slow turn. It has done this since 1931, and it is still the deck that most first-time visitors choose.

The building's entrance, though, sits on one of the most congested blocks in the city. An Empire State Building private tour with driver is mostly an exercise in choosing the right hour and the right curb. This guide covers both.

Where does a car drop you for the Empire State Building?

Curb space around the building is short. The block is full of delivery trucks, buses stopping at the midtown stops and cars queuing for Penn Station two avenues west. The best technique is a quick drop with luggage-free guests, then a pickup at a quieter agreed point once you are on your way down. Your driver monitors your arrival by message so the car arrives when you do, rather than sitting in a lane.

The Penn Station chauffeur page is a useful companion if you arrive by Amtrak or NJ Transit: the station is a short drive or a ten-minute walk from the building.

Choose your deck before you go

The official site lists two observation experiences.

• The 86th floor deck is the open-air main deck with views in all four directions. It is the classic one, and the right choice for most visitors.
• The top deck adds the 102nd floor, an enclosed level with floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as the 86th floor.

Beyond the decks, the building runs exhibits on the second and 80th floors that are open to all ticket holders. They cover the 1920s site, construction, the Otis elevators, the building's film appearances including King Kong, and the work of the artist Stephen Wiltshire. None of this is filler: the second-floor exhibit is genuinely good at explaining how a building of this scale went up in just over a year.

For up-to-date options and hours, use the official Empire State Building site. At the time of writing it listed daily opening from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., with a link to a full hours page. Check the ticket page for timed-entry or express options on your date, and book before you travel.

Reserve your chauffeur

The best time of day

There is no single best time. There are three, and which one you choose depends on what you want.

Opening hour. The first slot has the shortest queue and the clearest air. Photographs from the 86th floor at 9 a.m. are crisp and free of the late-day haze. It is also the easiest hour to get a car to the door.

Golden hour into dusk. The most popular choice, and the one that carries the highest crowd levels. Arrive 30 to 40 minutes before sunset, watch the light change, and stay for the first lights. If you can only do one visit, an early-evening slot on a clear weekday is the classic New York view.

Late evening. The building keeps long hours, and the last part of the evening is usually calmer than sunset. Streets around the building are quieter too, which makes a late pickup easy. Check the closing time and last-entry rule on the official hours page.

Avoid midday on weekends and school holidays, when queues peak, and be prepared to wait if the weather is clear on a Saturday. When clouds are low the 86th floor can sit inside them. Check the live conditions before you go, and consider swapping the day with something indoors, such as a museum, if the cloud base is under the deck.

Airports, stations and the drive in

Details on terminals and meet-and-greet are on our JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airport pages. For a wider overview of what we book across the city, see the New York chauffeur service page.

The tower stands well inside the Congestion Relief Zone, so a trip here carries the per-trip charge the MTA applies to black cars and other licensed for-hire vehicles. It is passed to the passenger, and the MTA page sets out the rules. The online booker shows the fare for your exact addresses before you confirm.

How long the visit really takes

For the 86th floor alone, count on 60 to 90 minutes from the street to the street, longer if you stop at the exhibits. With the 102nd floor and the exhibits, allow two to two-and-a-half hours. Add a margin of 30 minutes in peak season for the security check and the elevators.

If you are traveling with children, factor in a stop at the second-floor exhibits on the way in: it breaks up the wait and gives them something to look at before the climb.

Guests who dislike heights or crowds can split the visit. The exhibits on the second and 80th floors are open to all ticket holders and are the calmer part of the building, and the open-air 86th floor can be treated as a short stop for a few photographs rather than the main event. The car can wait a block away through all of it, so nobody needs to rush off the deck to free a curb.

Security, accessibility and what to bring

Visitors pass through a security screening on entry, so travel light. The official site has a safety page and an accessibility page, and wheelchair users should read the latter before arriving. Tell your chauffeur at booking if anyone needs step-free access or has limited mobility. A Luxury SUV offers an easier step-in, and a driver can arrange a closer drop.

The 86th floor deck is open-air and exposed. Wind can be strong even on mild days, so bring a layer in autumn and winter. A hat or loose scarf may not survive the breeze. Lightweight gloves are useful for photographs in cold weather. Tripods are generally not welcome on busy decks, so check the official guidance before packing one.

A chauffeured day in Midtown

The Empire State Building sits in the center of a dense cluster of sights. A day built around it can be done in a single loop with very little driving.

1. Morning: Fifth Avenue. Start with a coffee near Bryant Park and the New York Public Library, a short drive of about 1 km (0.6 mile) north.
2. Empire State Building at opening. Go up early for clear views and low queues.
3. Midday: the shopping avenues. Fifth Avenue between 34th and 59th Streets is a 25-block walk. Your chauffeur can follow the pace with the car.
4. Afternoon: a second view. Top of the Rock is 2 km (1.2 miles) north and shows the Empire State Building itself. Summit One Vanderbilt is a short ride east. Choose one rather than all three.
5. Evening: Times Square and theatre. The Times Square guide explains why the plaza is best approached on foot, and the Broadway Theatre District guide covers curtain-time logistics.

For longer programs with a vehicle at your disposal all day, the private tours with driver booking covers a car held by the hour or for the full day. The North America directory shows the other cities where the same service is available.

Reading the view once you are up there

Orientation saves time on a busy deck, so take a minute before you start photographing. Looking north, Midtown's towers run up toward the dark rectangle of Central Park, with the Chrysler Building's silver crown close at hand. Looking south, the skyline thins out and the spire of One World Trade Center marks the Financial District; on a clear day the harbor and the Statue of Liberty are visible beyond it, and our Statue of Liberty guide explains how to reach them. To the west, the Hudson River, the new towers of Hudson Yards and the New Jersey shore. To the east, the East River, Long Island City and the long flat line of Queens.

Most visitors circle the deck once, anti-clockwise, and stop at whichever side has the clearest light. If you are visiting at sunset, the western side fills first, so claim a spot there ten minutes early and let the rest of the party take turns around the corner. Photography through the open-air barriers is easier with a phone than with a large camera, and a small lens cloth is worth carrying for fingerprints on the glass of the enclosed floor.

For planning around events and seasonal programming across the city, the official visitor resource NYC Tourism + Conventions is a reliable place to look, and tourist offices and visitor bureaus can book chauffeur services for their visitors with LimousineWorldwideDirectory.com through a trade account.

Ways to reach the Empire State Building compared

If you are staying near the building, walking is better and quicker than any vehicle. A car earns its place when you are coming from the airport, arriving after a long day, traveling with children or elderly relatives, or visiting after dark.

What the building is

The tower rises 102 floors and, with its antenna, stands about 443 m (1,454 feet) high. It was completed in 1931 and has remained one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. Its spire is lit in changing colors for holidays and causes, and the building publishes its lighting plans.

That lighting is worth building into a visit. If a color scheme is announced for the evening of your trip, drive past it on the way back from dinner rather than watching from the deck. From a few blocks away the whole tower reads as a single lit object.

Etiquette

The elevators and the deck are shared by large numbers of people, so be patient at the bottleneck points. Keep the volume down in the exhibits, give photographers a clear shot and do not hold a place in line for large groups. Drivers keep the trip to themselves, with no photographs or social posts, and an alias board can meet you at arrivals if you would rather not use your own name.

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