Private NYC Christmas Movies Self Guided Audio Walking Tour

The walk starts on the sidewalk at Fifth Avenue and West 30th Street, with the Empire State Building ahead. You hear the story told of Elf's first day of shooting, in the Lincoln Tunnel, where cars honked at Buddy in his elf suit and people pointed, and when and where the two films were shot.(3 min)

Across Fifth Avenue you find the big gold loom on the front of 295 Fifth Avenue, the Textile Building, which stood in for Gimbels in Elf. You hear the director Jon Favreau's story of why the film built its own store instead of using Macy's, and how Buddy, run down by a cab on 30th Street, pops back up and heads inside.(3 min)

On Fifth Avenue you face the main entrance, three sets of metal doors between piers topped by eagles, with Empire State in golden letters above. You hear how Elf filmed Buddy here and in the lobby, and how his nap in a store window was really shot on this building's 34th Street ground floor. (Outside Tour)(3 min)

You look down at Prometheus, Paul Manship's gilded bronze of 1934, falling through a zodiac ring above the lower plaza and the rink. You hear how Elf shot most of Buddy and Jovie's skate here, and how Home Alone 2 emptied the plaza for Kevin and his mother at the tree.(3 min)

Across the five arches of Carnegie Hall's main entrance on Seventh Avenue runs the inscription "Music Hall Founded by Andrew Carnegie." You hear how Home Alone 2 has Kevin and the Pigeon Lady listen from a secret attic here on Christmas Eve, a scene filmed in Chicago's Symphony Center, and her advice on good deeds.(3 min)

At the park entrance on Central Park South at Sixth Avenue, statues of San Martin, Bolivar and Marti ride on horseback. You hear how Jovie led the crowd here in song to lift Santa's sleigh in Elf, and where Kevin stood by San Martin in Home Alone 2 as Harry and Marv passed.(3 min)

From Grand Army Plaza you look at the Plaza Hotel's front door, facing the Pulitzer Fountain. You hear how Kevin checks in on his dad's credit card in Home Alone 2, and how Harry and Marv slip on his loose beads at the corner of 58th Street and Fifth Avenue.(3 min)

You look at the vine-covered stone of Gapstow Bridge, built in 1896 over the Pond's narrow neck. You hear how Kevin first ran from the Pigeon Lady on the rocks here in Home Alone 2, and how on Christmas morning he found her by this bridge and gave her a turtle dove ornament, one of a pair.(3 min)

From the edge of Wollman Rink, in Central Park's southeast corner, you see the park and the city skyline together. You hear of Kate Wollman, whose 1949 gift built the rink though she didn't skate herself, and how Home Alone 2's thieves, Harry and Marv, plan their toy store job here. (Outside Tour Only)(3 min)

On the upper terrace, which carries a carriage road on the line of 72nd Street, central stairs lead down to the arcade beneath. You hear how Kevin hid in a horse-drawn carriage here to lose Harry and Marv in Home Alone 2, and how Buddy and Santa's sleigh only just cleared Bethesda Arcade in Elf.(3 min)

You look at Pine Bank Arch, a white cast-iron bridge put up in 1861 between two long, sloping rock outcrops, its lacy details drawn from natural forms. You hear how Buddy and his half-brother Michael hid behind a big rock here in Elf's snowball fight, and which rock in the shot was fake.(3 min)

You look up the brick front of 55 Central Park West as it shades from deep purple at the street to pale yellow-white at the top, planned so the sun would always seem to shine on it. In Elf it's Walter Hobbs's home, where Buddy eats spaghetti in maple syrup.(3 min)