Limo Service in Manhattan

Manhattan limo service, Battery Park to Harlem

In Manhattan, the hardest part of a limo booking is usually stopping, not driving. A stretch limousine can cross the island in twenty minutes on a quiet evening and then spend ten looking for a legal place to pull over. We plan Manhattan limo bookings around the stops: where the car loads, where it waits, and where it collects you at the end. The drive between them is the easy part.

For ordinary rides, such as a car to the airport or across town, see Manhattan taxi and car service. This page covers limousines: stretch, SUV and Sprinter, usually booked by the hour.

Typical Manhattan limo bookings

The quote confirms the seating of the stretch assigned to you. We don't run party buses, so groups above 14 travel in two vehicles.

Why most Manhattan limo trips are booked by the hour

Manhattan has almost nowhere for a car to wait. Kerbs are loading zones, bus stops, bike lanes or hydrants, and the city's anti-idling rule stops a car sitting with its engine running for more than three minutes. A one-way transfer works for a single drop. For an evening with dinner, a show and a ride home, an hourly booking keeps the same car and chauffeur with you. Between stops, the chauffeur circles or waits at a legal spot and comes back when you call.

City Hall weddings

Many Manhattan couples marry at the City Clerk's Office at 141 Worth Street, near Foley Square. Couples arrive in groups for timed appointments, and the pavement outside is busy all day. A sedan or stretch drops the couple on Worth or Centre Street, and collects them at an agreed corner afterwards.

Photographs usually follow nearby: City Hall Park, the Brooklyn Bridge walkway entrance, or the cobbled streets of Tribeca and DUMBO across the river. Add each photo stop to the booking, with time to walk to it. For the rest of the day, see the wedding limo page.

Central Park, sightseeing and the highways

Central Park's drives have been closed to cars since 2018. No limo can drive the loop through the park. The four transverse roads at 65th, 79th, 86th and 97th Streets stay open for crossing between the East and West Sides. For photographs at Bethesda Terrace or Bow Bridge, the car drops you at a park entrance on Fifth Avenue or Central Park West and collects you at another.

A sightseeing drive usually takes in Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, the edge of Times Square, the Flatiron Building, the Financial District and the Hudson River waterfront. The car can't stop in the Times Square plazas, but it can drop you on a side street to walk through. Three to four hours in an SUV or a Sprinter is the usual booking.

Highways and parkways. The FDR Drive and the Henry Hudson Parkway restrict commercial vehicles. Depending on its registration, a Sprinter may have to use the avenues or the West Side Highway instead, which takes longer. We plan the timing for the vehicle you are actually getting.

Midtown, Murray Hill, Chelsea and Downtown pickups

• Midtown North and South: large hotels and office towers often have a driveway or a side-street entrance that suits a long car better than the avenue front. Tell us the building. Midtown pickups has more.
• Murray Hill and Kips Bay: residential towers on Second and Third Avenues, often with a doorman who can tell you where cars pull in.
• Chelsea: galleries on the West 20s, events at Chelsea Piers, and the High Line. The far west avenues are wide and easy for loading.
• Downtown and the Financial District: the oldest streets are narrow and some, like Stone Street, are pedestrian. Give a pickup on Broadway, Water Street or the West Side Highway, and walk the last block.

Proms, galas and nights out

Prom cruises leave from piers on the Hudson. Agree the pier number and the boarding time, because the drop-off lanes at the piers are busy at boarding. See the prom limo page for the rest of the night.

Galas and black-tie events at museums and hotel ballrooms usually end with every guest leaving at once. We agree a pickup point a short walk from the main doors and a time, so you are not standing in the queue of cars.

Nights out in the Meatpacking District, the West Village or the Lower East Side are easiest in a Sprinter that stays with the group. The streets are narrow, and a stretch is harder to place there.

Manhattan limo costs and the congestion charge

There is no flat Manhattan limo rate. The quote depends on the vehicle, the date, the number of hours and the route. Two Manhattan-specific lines to look for:

• Congestion charge: trips into Manhattan south of 60th Street can carry the congestion charge. The quote shows it when it applies.
• Tunnel and bridge tolls, if the group comes in from New Jersey, Queens or Brooklyn.

For corporate days and roadshows, see corporate transportation. For how every line of a quote is built, see the pricing page.

Choosing a Manhattan limo company

The checklist on our limo service page applies here. Add one Manhattan question: ask how the chauffeur will handle the waits, where the car will be between stops, and how quickly it can come back to you. A company that knows Manhattan answers that straight away.

Book a Manhattan limo

Write out the evening as you picture it: where you start, the order of stops, the hotel, theatre, restaurant or venue names, how many people, and when you expect to finish. Send it through the form or call (888) 201-0419. You receive a written quote with the vehicle, the hours and any congestion charge or tolls before anything is booked. New customers can ask for the 10% first-ride offer.

Your questions, answered