• Van Cortlandt Park

  Broadway and 242nd St., the Bronx; 718-432-1492

  Two years in the making, the Bronx’s first outdoor ice rink is worth the trek north. Located less than a block from the 1 train, the 13,600-square-foot rink is inexpensive ($5 on weekdays, $8 on weekends, plus $5 skate rental), has a snack bar run by Riverdale’s legendary Lloyd’s Carrot Cake, and offers public skating hours every day of the week. But it’s even more desirable for what it doesn’t have: no spectator fee, long lines, tourists, or Olympic pretensions. It’s a family attraction through and through, which explains why you see just as many children gliding by as adults.

From the 2013 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine