The island
Manhattan helicopter tour: the island from above, and which flights cross it
Manhattan is twenty-one and a half kilometres of island wedged between two rivers, and from the ground you cannot see that. From the air it is the first thing you notice and the thing people remember years later. Here is what a Manhattan helicopter tour shows you, and the one rule that decides whether you fly over the island or around it.
Quick answer
A Manhattan helicopter tour costs from $256 and the standard route runs down the East River, around the Statue of Liberty and north up the Hudson with the island on your right. Flights that lift off from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport follow that water route and do not cross over the island itself. Flights that lift off in New Jersey do cross it, which is the only way to look straight down at Central Park and the grid. The most-reviewed flight in the city is the Manhattan sightseeing loop, with 7,525 ratings at 4.8.
Manhattan from the air, at a glance
- Length of the island
- 21.5 kmend to end, from the Battery to Inwood
- Width at its widest
- About 3.7 kmwhich is why it reads as a wall from the river
- Tallest building
- 541 mOne World Trade Center, at the south end
- Empire State Building
- 443 mto the tip of the spire, in the middle of the island
- Central Park
- 843 acres4 km long, and only New Jersey routes cross it
- Most-reviewed flight
- $2567,525 ratings at 4.8
- Cheapest way over
- $25315–30 minutes, 7,394 ratings at 4.7
- Crossing the island
- $305from New Jersey, 25 minutes
- Typical air time
- 15–45 mindepending on the flight you book
- Free cancellation
- All twelve flightsup to 24 hours before
The shape of it
What Manhattan actually looks like from a helicopter
A narrow island, a wall of towers at eye level, and a grid you can only see from above it.
It is narrower than anybody expects. On a map Manhattan is a familiar shape. From eight hundred feet over the Hudson it is a strip: three and a half kilometres across at the widest point, packed to both shorelines, with two rivers holding it in place. People who have lived in the city for a decade say this is the moment it makes sense — that the geography they walk around every day is a small island with a great deal on it.
The towers read as a wall, not as a model. Sightseeing helicopters fly a few hundred metres up, which is roughly the height of the buildings rather than far above them. The Empire State Building at 443 metres goes past at eye level. That is a specific pleasure you do not get from an aircraft at cruising height or from an observation deck looking down.
The south end is the dramatic one. Lower Manhattan comes to a point at the Battery with One World Trade Center standing clear of everything around it at 541 metres, and the harbour opening out beyond. Coming back up the harbour at the end of a flight, with the whole island in one frame, is the view people wish they had photographed instead of the Statue.
The grid only appears from above. And only on a New Jersey departure. From the water you see the west face; from over the island you see the avenues running north in straight lines and the park cut into the middle of them like a missing rectangle.
Every trip, current fare
Flights that show you Manhattan, cheapest first
Every flight on this page reaches Manhattan. What differs is the angle: the water routes show you the island from beside it, the New Jersey routes show you the top of it, and the Westchester flights approach it down the Hudson from the north.
| Flight | Air time | Price | Departs from | Cost per minute | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYC Helicopter Tour: Statue of Liberty & SkylineThe cheapest way into the air over New York | 15-30 min | $253 | Downtown Manhattan | $12.65 | 4.7 · 7,394 |
| NYC: Manhattan Sightseeing Helicopter TourThe Manhattan loop, and the most-reviewed flight here | 15-30 min | $256 | Downtown Manhattan | $12.80 | 4.8 · 7,525 |
| New York City Night Skyline Tour by HelicopterThe skyline lit, twenty-five minutes after dark | 25 min | $259 | New Jersey | $10.36 | 4.8 · 122 |
| NYC: Sightseeing Helicopter TourEverything included, nothing to pay at the pad | 15-30 min | $300 | Downtown Manhattan | $15.00 | 4.8 · 2,335 |
| From New Jersey: New York City Skyline TourOver Manhattan itself, from the New Jersey side | 25 min | $305 | New Jersey | $12.20 | 4.8 · 481 |
| From New Jersey: New York City Sunset TourForty minutes timed to the golden hour | 40 min | $382 | New Jersey | $9.55 | 5.0 · 1 |
| From Westchester: New York City Scenic Helicopter TourFrom the county airport, longer in the air | 30-45 min | $391 | Westchester | $11.17 | 4.7 · 75 |
| From Westchester: New York Helicopter Piloting ExperienceNinety minutes with your hands on the controls | 1-1.5 h | $663 | Westchester | $8.84 | 5.0 · 9 |
| From Westchester: NYC Private Helicopter Tour for CouplesA private cabin for two, 295 reviews at 4.9 | 30-45 min | $937 | Westchester | $26.77 | 4.9 · 295 |
| From Westchester: Private NYC Helicopter Tour for 2-6 PeoplePrivate charter for up to six | 30-45 min | $1,610 | Westchester | $46.00 | 4.9 · 52 |
| New York City: Romantic Helicopter ProposalThe flight built around the question | 30-45 min | $3,558 | New York City | $101.66 | 5.0 · 5 |
| New York: Private Scenic Helicopter Charter with ChampagnePrivate charter with champagne, thirty minutes | 30 min | $4,415 | New York City | $147.17 | 4.9 · 5 |
Landmarks in order
What you pass, and roughly when
On a standard loop from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport, this is the sequence.
- The East River bridges, in the first minute
Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg in a row to the north as the helicopter swings out over the water. The Brooklyn Bridge opened in 1883 and from here you see why it was extraordinary.
- Governors Island and the Upper Bay, two minutes in
The harbour opens and the city drops behind. A hundred and seventy-two acres of former military island sitting in open water below you.
- The Statue of Liberty, three minutes in
Ninety-three metres from the pedestal base to the torch, alone on Liberty Island, passed at roughly her own height. Ellis Island just beyond, red brick against the water.
- The financial district, five minutes in
The turn north puts the west face of Lower Manhattan alongside, with One World Trade Center at 541 metres clear of everything else.
- The Midtown wall, seven minutes in
Tower by tower up the Hudson: the Empire State Building, the Chrysler spire behind it, and the thin new towers above the park.
- The George Washington Bridge, on the longer flights
A 1,067-metre span at the north end of the island, and the turning point on any flight of twenty-five minutes or more.
Only one kind of flight crosses over the island itself. Here is which, and what it costs you in travel time.
The routes that cross Manhattan→Common questions
Manhattan from the air, answered
Do helicopter tours fly over Manhattan?
The ones that lift off in New Jersey do. Sightseeing flights from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport follow water routes — the East River, the Upper Bay and the Hudson — rather than crossing the island.
What is the best Manhattan helicopter tour?
The Manhattan sightseeing loop at $256, which carries 7,525 reviews at 4.8 — more evidence than any other flight in the city — and lifts off twenty minutes from Midtown.
How high do the helicopters fly over Manhattan?
A few hundred metres, which is roughly the height of the towers rather than far above them. That is why the Empire State Building goes past at eye level rather than appearing as a model below you.
Can you see Central Park from a helicopter?
From the side on a water route, and from directly above only on a flight that departs from New Jersey. If the park is the picture you want, that is the departure point to book.
How long is a Manhattan helicopter tour?
Fifteen to thirty minutes in the air on the standard loop, up to forty-five on the longer flights from Westchester. Allow about ninety minutes for the whole visit.
Which side of the helicopter should I sit on?
You do not choose — the pilot assigns seats by weight so the aircraft balances. On a loop that runs anticlockwise around the island, both sides get the skyline at some point.
Go deeper
More on flying over New York
What it costs
From $253 to $4,415, and what a minute in the air is worth.
The verdictWhich flight is best
One recommendation for each kind of visitor, and why.
After darkFlying at night
The same city lit from the inside, and what it costs.
The heliportsWhere they depart
Three departure points, and how each one changes the flight.
New JerseyFrom New Jersey
The routes that fly over Manhattan instead of around it.
WestchesterFrom Westchester
Longer flights from the county airport, and how to get there.
