Skip to content 
Free Fan Guide
Home Alone 2 Filming Locations in New York
Every place from the film you can actually stand in, with the scene that happens there and the address to put in your phone. Plus the four locations every list repeats that were never in New York at all.
Where to begin
The corner where Kevin arrives
Most guides send you straight to The Plaza. Start one block earlier — the south-east corner of the park is itself in the film, and everything else is within a fifteen-minute walk of it.
Grand Army Plaza
E 58th Street & Fifth Avenue
The open plaza with the gold statue and the Pulitzer Fountain, in front of The Plaza Hotel. This is where the New York half of the film establishes itself, and it is the natural first stop.
Central Park South & Sixth Avenue
By the José de San Martín monument
The park entrance Kevin passes on foot. Two minutes west of Grand Army Plaza, and the point where the Midtown locations and the Central Park ones meet.
Inside the park
The Central Park Cluster
Three real locations, all in the southern end of the park, all within about a mile of each other. This is the part of the film you can see in one go.
Wollman Rink
Central Park, near the 59th Street entrance
The rink Kevin skates past in the winter montage. It opens for the season in late October and runs through March, which is the only time of year it looks the way it does on screen.
The Pond & Gapstow Bridge
Central Park, north of Grand Army Plaza
The little stone arch with the Midtown towers stacked up behind it. Kevin walks through here, and it is the single most photographed frame of the film that you can reproduce exactly.
Bethesda Terrace & Fountain
Central Park, mid-park at 72nd Street
The tiled arcade and the Angel of the Waters fountain, where the pigeons and the Bird Lady belong. Twenty minutes on foot from The Pond, or a few minutes by pedicab.
A few blocks south
The Midtown Locations
All five sit within a short walk of the park’s south-east corner. Two of them carry the film’s best-known scenes.
The Plaza Hotel
768 Fifth Avenue
Where Kevin checks in with his father’s credit card. The lobby and the Fifth Avenue facade are both in the film, and the hotel leans into it every December.
Rockefeller Plaza
Between Fifth and Sixth Avenue at 49th Street
The tree, and the reunion at the end of the film. The tree goes up in late November and is lit until early January — outside those weeks the square looks nothing like the closing scene.
Radio City Music Hall
1260 Sixth Avenue
The neon marquee Kevin passes. Two minutes from Rockefeller Plaza, and worth timing for after dark when the sign is lit.
Carnegie Hall
881 Seventh Avenue
The exterior of the concert hall — and only the exterior. The scene inside, where Kevin sits with the Pigeon Lady above the orchestra, was shot two states away. See the section below.
Bergdorf Goodman
754 Fifth Avenue
The department store front on the Fifth Avenue stretch, opposite the Plaza. Its Christmas windows are a reason to come back in December regardless of the film.
For completists
Further Out
These are real film locations too, but they are scattered across the city. Worth it only if you are chasing every frame.
Empire Diner
210 Tenth Avenue, Chelsea
A brief appearance, and a long way from the rest of the map.
Battery Park
Lower Manhattan
Southern tip of the island, with the harbour behind it.
South Street Seaport
156 Beekman Street
Downtown by the water, an hour from the park by subway and foot.
Central Park West at 95th Street
Upper West Side
The brownstone used as the exterior of Kevin’s uncle’s house. It is a private home — look from the pavement and leave it at that.
Set the record straight
Four Places That Are Not What Every List Says
These turn up on almost every Home Alone 2 itinerary online, including some sold as tours. None of them are what they are claimed to be.
Duncan’s Toy Chest does not exist
The toy shop is invented. Its exterior was The Rookery at 209 South LaSalle Street in Chicago, and the interior was Chicago’s Uptown Theater. There is no address in New York to visit.
FAO Schwarz is not a filming location
The famous Fifth Avenue toy shop inspired Duncan’s Toy Chest, and nothing more. No scene was shot there. Worth visiting on its own merits, not as a film stop.
The concert hall interior is not Carnegie Hall
The outside is Carnegie Hall at 881 Seventh Avenue. The scene inside, above the orchestra, was filmed at the Chicago Symphony Center. You can stand outside the building you saw, but the room you remember is in Illinois.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral is widely listed and we could not confirm it
It appears on many operators’ location lists, including ours until recently. We checked four location guides and none of them place a Home Alone 2 scene there, so we stopped claiming it. It is a magnificent building on the route between the park and Rockefeller Plaza — just not, as far as we can tell, in the film.
Timing
Why December Is a Different Trip
Two of the film’s three most recognisable settings only look like the film for about six weeks a year.
The tree goes up in late November
Rockefeller Plaza without it is a plaza. With it, the closing scene is right in front of you. Lit from the end of November until early January.
Wollman Rink opens in late October
Out of season it is a lawn used for concerts. In winter it is the rink from the film, skaters and skyline included.
The park itself is bare
Leafless trees mean you can actually see the Midtown skyline from Gapstow Bridge and across The Pond — the exact framing the film uses. In summer the foliage hides it.
If you would rather not walk it
The Park Cluster in Ninety Minutes
Wollman Rink, The Pond and Gapstow Bridge, Bethesda Terrace, then out to The Plaza, Rockefeller Plaza and Radio City. On foot that is most of a day. We run it as a private pedicab tour in an hour and a half, $70 an adult and $65 a child, with a driver who knows which scene happened where.
Locations checked against NYC in Film, Newsweek, My Christmas in New York and Ready To Go Trips. Where sources disagreed we left the location out rather than guess. Last checked September 2026.
Want this as a printable map?
Leave your email and we will send the location list as a one-page map you can carry, plus a code for 10% off any TruRide tour. One email, no newsletter.
What Riders Say About TruRide NYC
What Riders Say About TruRide NYC
Rated 5.0 out of 5 across verified reviews from Google, Facebook and GetYourGuide. You can also read our reviews on GetYourGuide, Viator and Yelp.
- ★★★★★
“Tim and Dylan provided a great tour of the Park. They were knowledgeable and friendly. I would book again!”
Erin Potts · August 16, 2026 · Google Review - ★★★★★
“Great experience. Dil was our guide and we got to see Central Park in 1 hour. Dil was very kind and friendly, took our pictures, and I would 100% recommend.”
Daniel Cullen · August 8, 2026 · Google Review - ★★★★★
“It was a great experience with Vali, very knowledgeable!”
Divit Vasu · August 12, 2026 · Google Review - ★★★★★
“Good info and relaxing ride with lots of photo opps.”
Alexa Jocic · August 14, 2026 · Google Review - ★★★★☆
“We did enjoy our tour with Vali. He showed us nice places, took good pictures, and told a lot of stuff about New York.”
Romy Luijte · August 10, 2026 · Google Review - ★★★★★
“Best tour guide!!”
Julia Lewis · August 15, 2026 · Google Review