Covers the big American cities at night: monuments, skylines, night buses and how to get back to the hotel.
Updated
This page carries dated prices, start times or seasonal openings checked on the date above, and that window has now passed. Re-check the sources at the foot of the page before you book.
There is no Empire State Building night tour. Not really.
What gets sold as one is the building's ordinary timed ticket, booked for an evening slot. That's fine. It's also the whole product, and once you know it, you can skip most of the resellers and buy straight from the building.
The official site listed the observatory as open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on the day we checked, with doors closing at 10 p.m. The tower's floodlights come on at sunset and stay on until 2 a.m., according to the building. So there's a long window in which you can stand on the open-air 86th-floor deck with Manhattan lit up below you.
Our ranking found two products with a night angle, and neither clears the scores we'd call a strong pick. Read on for when to go, which ticket, and what to skip.
At a glance
Official night access
Ordinary timed ticket, evening slot; 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on October 26, doors close 10 p.m.
Cheapest way up
86th Floor Observation Deck, from $46 (€41) on esbnyc.com
Day and night in one
AM/PM Experience, from $67 (€60)
Best time
After the sunset rush, in the last couple of hours before doors close
Skip
Bundles that pad the ticket with things you didn't want
On this page
2 tours that passed our bar, ranked
Every tour we scored that includes this sight, in Night Score order. Night Score = 30% rating, 10% review count, 20% price per hour, 40% how much the night is the point. How we score
This is the official timed ticket, sold by the building through Viator: the 80th-floor exhibits and the open-air 86th-floor deck. It ranks first only because it's the real thing. A 4.5 from 7,825 reviews and about $50 (€45) for an hour or so give it a weak score on rating and value. The building's own site lists the same deck from $46 (€41). The 102nd floor and skip-the-line cost extra; under-6s go free. No refunds for weather or queues, and reviewers say sunset slots get very crowded.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%1.8
Review countData · 10%10.0
Price per hourData · 20%4.4
After darkEditors · 40%6.0
What it is: The official Empire State Building timed ticket for the 80th-floor exhibits and the open-air 86th-floor deck, sold by the building on Viator.
Good to know: 102nd floor and skip-the-line are paid upgrades; under-6s free. No refunds for weather or queues, and reviewers say sunset slots are very crowded. A GetYourGuide version (t1029649) shows 4.7 from 29,259 reviews, but its page would not load for us today.
After dark: The 86th-floor open-air deck over a lit Manhattan is the classic night view, and evening slots are far calmer than sunset.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on Viator on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
Big Bus's package: a 48-hour hop-on hop-off pass, a two-hour live-guided open-top night tour from Times Square at 7:00 or 8:00 p.m., and observatory entry. It costs $105 (€94) and has only 83 reviews, so it scores low on review count and value. The page lists both 86th and 102nd floor entry without saying which you get, so confirm before paying. Worth it only if you wanted the bus pass anyway. Under-3s free.
How the score breaks down, and the fine print
Rated by travelersData · 30%1.8
Review countData · 10%3.8
Price per hourData · 20%4.2
After darkEditors · 40%6.0
What it is: Big Bus Tours' bundle of a 48-hour hop-on hop-off pass, a two-hour guided open-top night tour and Empire State Building observatory entry.
Good to know: Under-3s free. The page lists both 86th and 102nd floor entry without saying which applies, so confirm before booking. The hop-on loops can stop early on event days.
After dark: It pairs a live-guided open-top night tour with an observatory ticket you can use after dark on another evening.
Rating, review count and from-price as shown on GetYourGuide on October 26, 2026. The price changes with the date.
Reserve links go to GetYourGuide or Viator. Booking through them can earn us a commission at no cost to you; it never changes a score or a rank. How we make money
The official after-dark access
Buy a normal ticket. Pick a late time. That's it.
On October 26, 2026 the building's site showed opening hours of 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and said doors close at 10 p.m. Its FAQ says the building is open 365 days a year, rain, shine or snow, and that hours vary by season, so check the date you want before you book.
Starting prices listed on esbnyc.com the same day:
86th Floor Observation Deck: from $46 (€41)
Flex Ticket, 86th floor with rescheduling: from $66 (€59)
AM/PM Experience, two visits in one day: from $67 (€60)
86th and 102nd Floor Observation Decks: from $81 (€72)
86th Floor Express Pass: from $87 (€78)
Express 102nd Floor (Top Deck): from $122 (€109)
There's no separate night price. A 9:30 p.m. slot costs what a noon slot costs.
Which ticket for a night visit
The basic 86th-floor ticket, for most people. The deck is open-air, which is what you want at night: no glass reflections in your photos, the noise of the city coming up from the street.
The AM/PM Experience is the clever one. The building pitches it as day plus night views, two visits in one day. For $21 (€18.80) more than the basic deck you see the grid by daylight and come back to see it lit. If you're a first-timer, I think it's the best ticket they sell.
The Flex Ticket makes sense in winter, when a foggy night means you see nothing. You can reschedule instead of losing the visit, which matters because the Viator ticket has no refunds for weather.
The Express passes cut the queue. Worth it at sunset. Pointless at 9:30 on a Tuesday in February.
When to go: after the sunset crush
Everyone wants sunset. Reviewers of the official ticket say sunset slots are very crowded, and the building itself puts the day's sunset time on its homepage, which tells you how many people plan around it.
Go later. The tower lights come on at sunset, and by the time it's fully dark the sunset crowd is heading back down.
In October it's dark by 6:44 p.m. In December by 5:00 p.m., which leaves you hours of night before doors close. June is the hard month: not dark until 9:01 p.m., so you need a late slot for any real night view.
Dress for it. That deck is high and exposed. Night lows at street level run around 27°F (-3°C) in January and 31°F (-1°C) in December, and it's windier up top.
How the tours compare with just buying the ticket
Badly, mostly.
The Viator listing ranked here is the building's own ticket, priced from about $50 (€45) against $46 (€41) direct. The Big Bus bundle adds a night bus tour and a two-day pass for $105 (€94), and it doesn't clearly say which floor you get.
The night bus tours on our New York night tours page drive past the building and use it as a photo backdrop. None of them take you up. If what you want is a guided evening, book one of those separately and buy the observatory ticket yourself for another night.
Seeing the building itself lit up
Free, and you can do it any night. The building says the tower lights shine from sunset to 2 a.m. daily, run through over 1,000 LED zones, with an hourly sparkle.
The colors change for holidays and events, and the official site posts each day's lighting. On the day we checked, it was Signature White.
The irony: from the 86th floor you can't see the Empire State Building. For the classic shot of it lit, you need to be somewhere else, on the street or across the river. The harbor cruises and the New Jersey skyline tour on our New York page give you that view.
Frequently asked questions
How late is the Empire State Building open?
On October 26, 2026 the official site listed 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., with doors closing at 10 p.m. The building says hours vary by season, so check esbnyc.com for your date.
Is the Empire State Building better at night or during the day?
Night, if you only go once and want the lit city. Day, if you want to pick out landmarks. The AM/PM Experience, from $67 (€60), gets you both on the same day.
How much is an Empire State Building ticket at night?
The same as by day. The 86th Floor Observation Deck starts at $46 (€41) on the official site, and the 86th plus 102nd floors at $81 (€72). There's no night surcharge.
What time do the Empire State Building lights turn on?
At sunset. The building says the tower lights shine from sunset to 2 a.m. every day.
Is there an Empire State Building night tour?
Not as a separate product. Night visits use the standard timed ticket with an evening slot. Bundles like Big Bus's add a bus tour around it, but the observatory part is the same.
Further reading
Official sources
Empire State Building: official site– Open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., doors close 10 p.m., hours vary seasonally, today's light Signature White, checked October 26, 2026
