Circle Line has run harbor sightseeing since 1945, and its full-island cruise follows a route around Manhattan that opened up only after the Harlem River Ship Canal was cut through Marble Hill in 1895.
Much of the ride is on an open outdoor deck, so dress for the weather and river wind regardless of the forecast on land.
Circle Line was formed in June 1945 from a merger of several small sightseeing operators and worked out of the Battery until 1955, when it moved to Pier 83 at the western end of 42nd Street, where it still ties up. It is now part of New York Cruise Lines, which reunited the downtown half of the business in 2017 by buying New York Water Taxi. Eight decades in one trade is unusual on a waterfront that has otherwise changed beyond recognition.
The full-island trip takes about two and a half hours and is the only one of the company's routes that goes the whole way around Manhattan. It runs north on the Hudson under the Palisades, turns east at Spuyten Duyvil into the Harlem River Ship Canal, the cut driven through Marble Hill that opened in 1895 and was enlarged over the following years, which is what made a full circuit of the island possible, then works down the Harlem River beneath a run of low swing and lift bridges past Inwood, the High Bridge and the Bronx shoreline before rejoining the East River and coming back into the Upper Bay. The shorter harbor and half-island runs stay south of Midtown.
The northern leg is the honest reason to take the long version. No commuter or transit ferry serves the Harlem River, so it is a stretch of the city's edge that most visitors never see from the water, while the southern half of the loop covers water that NYC Ferry routes and the free Staten Island Ferry already cross. Commentary is live rather than recorded, which means it varies with the guide you get.
Dress for the water rather than the street. A good deal of the seating is on open deck, the wind on the Hudson is colder than the pavement outside the pier, and there is limited shelter once you are underway. The trip suits a visitor who wants the shape of the island explained; anyone after a single Liberty photograph has cheaper ways to get one.
Pier 83, W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036 · Official site ↗
Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises is a boat-based sightseeing and entertainment company in Manhattan, New York. Its principal business is operating guided tours of New York City from its base at Pier 83 in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood.
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