Whether you’re interested in theater, opera, dance, music or film, few names are as synonymous with high culture as Lincoln Center. Originally built in the late ‘50s with financial backing from John D. Rockefeller III, the 16-acre complex, made up of 30 separate venues, is a dream for performance art lovers. On any given night visitors sitting by the Josie Robertson Plaza enjoying the glowing lights of the fountain might see Metropolitan Opera patrons in full gowns, classical musicians with instruments on their backs and young children pirouetting, inspired by the latest from the New York City Ballet. In recent years the Lincoln Center Theater’s Broadway productions have included Tony Award-winning revivals of golden-age favorites like The King and I and South Pacific, while Film Society Lincoln Center remains a favorite among film buffs for its selection of small, but powerful indie and foreign films. If you’ve always wanted to know more about the design, acoustics, and the internationally renowned performers, take a guided tour ($20, students $18). And if you’re young and hoping you’ll one day tread upon those storied boards, then the Juilliard School, also at Lincoln Center, is a good bet for training, but be forewarned the conservatory has one of the lowest college acceptance rates in the country–but ticket prices to their phenomenal performances are very attainable (average price $20).
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