Three floors suspended above Grand Central, mirrored walls that multiply the skyline endlessly, and two glass boxes jutting out over Madison Avenue: tickets for New York observation decks like Summit One Vanderbilt start at $48 for adults and give you access to floors 91, 92 and 93 of Midtown’s tallest skyscraper. This is not a standard viewing platform: it is an art installation you walk through.
Summit One Vanderbilt tickets at a glance
- Price: from $48 for adults, from $42 for children aged 6 to 12.
- What is included: access to all three floors, every indoor art installation, the Levitation glass skyboxes and the outdoor terrace.
- Not included: the Ascent exterior elevator and food or drinks at Après.
- Duration: one and a half to two hours.
- Hours: open daily from 8:00 AM to midnight, last entry at 10:30 PM.
- Where: One Vanderbilt, with three entrances: 45 East 42nd Street, the transit hall at Vanderbilt Avenue and 43rd Street, and the Grand Central Main Concourse.
- Entry: date and time slot are fixed and chosen at booking.
- Passes: Summit is not included in any New York pass.
- Guide: standard admission, self-guided visit, no Italian-speaking guide.
Below you will find everything you need before booking: how much the ticket costs and which version to choose, what admission covers, what you will see floor by floor, and the few practical details that make a difference once you reach the entrance.
Summit One Vanderbilt Tickets: Prices and Time Slots
Admission starts at $48 for adults and $42 for children aged 6 to 12. The price changes with the day and the time slot: weekend evenings and slots around sunset cost more than a weekday morning, which is why it pays to decide your time in advance rather than at the last minute.
Book Smartly
Every admission is tied to a fixed date and time, and the best slots sell out days ahead, especially between May and September. Booking online locks in your time slot before you leave home and saves you the queue at the ticket desk. With us you get customer support in Italian before and after your purchase, a physical office a short walk from Times Square at 324 West 47th Street, and your voucher by email within 24 hours of booking.
What Your Summit One Vanderbilt Ticket Includes
- Admission to all three floors of the Summit experience, from the 91st to the 93rd.
- Levitation: the two clear glass skyboxes extending from the building above Madison Avenue.
- Immersive indoor art installations, including the rooms designed by Kenzo Digital.
- Outdoor observation terrace on the 93rd floor.
- Cocktail or mocktail at Après, with the Signature Experience only.
- Guided tour of 90 minutes, priority access and a digital photo package, with the Premium version only.
Not included are the Ascent exterior glass elevator, which can be added separately, and food and drinks at the Après bar, apart from the cocktail bundled with the Signature version.
What to See with Tickets to Summit One Vanderbilt
The visit begins on level B1, where a team member gets you ready, and continues with the elevator up to the 91st floor. From there you step into AIR, Kenzo Digital’s multisensory work spread across two levels of mirrored walls and floors: reflections multiply the skyline in every direction and your sense of space disappears entirely. On the 91st floor you pass through Transcendence 1, then Reflect, the installation by Yayoi Kusama, and finally Affinity with its suspended silver orbs.
On the 92nd floor you see Transcendence 1 from above and reach Levitation, two fully glazed skyboxes, floor included, cantilevered from the building 1,100 feet above Madison Avenue. You look down and watch the traffic move beneath your feet. The floor closes with Unity, where you become the subject of the installation. The route then continues to the 93rd floor, with the Après bar and the outdoor terrace, facing the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and Central Park, with visibility reaching up to 80 miles on clear days. You can linger there before heading down.
If you want to know every room in advance and understand what you will recognise from up there, we have covered it all in our Summit One Vanderbilt guide. And if you are building a full day in Midtown, our New York tours in Italian let you pair the climb with the rest of the neighbourhood.
Which Summit Ticket to Choose
The available versions differ mainly in what they add to standard admission, not in what you see: the route through the three floors is the same for everyone.
- Experience: standard admission, with full access to the three floors and Levitation. The right choice if you simply want to go up and enjoy the route.
- Signature: admission plus a cocktail or mocktail at Après. Worth it if you already plan to stop at the bar.
- Premium: priority access, a 90-minute guided tour in English and a digital photo package. The option for those who want the installations explained rather than simply walked through.
- Ascent: the all-glass exterior elevator, the largest of its kind in the world, that climbs another 12 storeys along the facade. It is added to admission and is not part of the base ticket.
One simple rule applies to time slots: the sunset slot is the most requested and the most expensive, and internal queues are longer during those hours. If your goal is photographs without crowds, a weekday morning gives you the same view with far fewer people in front of the mirrors.
What to Know Before Booking
- Fixed entry time: the ticket requires a set date and time. If your chosen slot is unavailable we will assign the closest one, and if the date is sold out we will contact you to agree on an alternative.
- Three entrances, but not the lobby: use the street-level door at 45 East 42nd Street, the transit hall at the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and 43rd Street, or the Grand Central Main Concourse. The main One Vanderbilt lobby does not give access.
- What to wear: floors and walls are mirrored, so skirts and short dresses are best avoided. Comfortable closed shoes are the better choice.
- If Ascent is not running: this happens for maintenance or high winds. The three-floor route stays open, and it is worth emailing us beforehand to sort out how the supplement already paid is handled.
- Self-guided visit: standard admission does not include any Italian-language tour, you follow the route on your own and it runs one way.
- Accessibility: all four levels are wheelchair accessible. A limited number of wheelchairs is available on site on a first-come, first-served basis.
- No pass includes it: a dedicated ticket is always required to enter Summit.
- Cancellation: cancel by writing to info@ilmioviaggioanewyork.com. The window that applies to this ticket is the one stated in the Terms and Conditions on this page.
If you are still putting together your days in New York, Il Mio Viaggio a New York can support you from choosing tickets to organising the whole stay, with an office open in the city all year round.
Please Note
Installations, seasonal setups and opening hours may change, and the observatory is closed on a few public holidays. We recommend checking current hours on the official site summitov.com before your visit. The company accepts no liability for damage to or loss of personal belongings during the visit. By booking, you agree to the terms and conditions shown on this page.
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