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Photo: Stewart Yu/Flickr

New York City is full of treasures — historical sites, diverse architecture and picturesque slices of nature that somehow coexist with supertall skyscrapers. Travellers know that it’s impossible to see every spectacular bit of the Big Apple in a single trip.

Unless, of course, you’re a math and computer science genius. Michigan State University computer science PhD candidate Randy Olson has devised American and European road trips to traverse the areas in the shortest amount of time. He’s now used the same algorithmic process to help people explore Manhattan.

Olson’s Manhattan walking tour is about 14 miles long, but could be accomplished in 4.5 hours of walking — if you’re walking at New Yorker speed.

Olson used TripAdvisor’s top attractions and map data to create the path. Check out the map below:

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Map: RandalOlson.com

Here’s the complete list of attractions included:

  • American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 5th Avenue
  • The Frick Collection, East 70th Street
  • Central Park
  • The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), West 53rd Street
  • St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 5th Avenue
  • Rockefeller Center, 45 Rockefeller Plaza
  • Radio City Music Hall, Avenue of the Americas
  • Theater District
  • Times Square
  • Bryant Park
  • New York Public Library
  • Chrysler Building, Lexington Avenue
  • Grand Central Terminal
  • The Morgan Library & Museum, Madison Avenue
  • Empire State Building Observation Deck, 5th Avenue
  • Madison Square Garden, Pennsylvania Plaza
  • The High Line
  • Chelsea Market, 9th Avenue
  • Ground Zero Museum Workshop, West 14th Street
  • Greenwich Village
  • Washington Square Park
  • SoHo
  • Tenement Museum, Orchard Street
  • St. Paul’s Chapel, Broadway
  • The National September 11 Memorial & Museum
  • Statue of Liberty

You might notice some favorite attractions are left out, however. Pedestrians won’t make it to Lincoln Center, Columbus Circle or the Cloisters. What places are in your ultimate NYC walking tour?

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