Top 5 most beautiful towers in the United States2026 ranking

Even if the Empire State Building might not offer the best view of New York anymore, the view from the top is still incredible. The building is iconic regardless and has a history all its own. You can discover it for yourself once you are there. At the top, there is not a huge amount of space, but the panorama will not disappoint you.

The roof of the Chrysler Building, on the island of Manhattan in New York, stands out from any viewpoint in the city. Just like the Empire State Building, its crystal-shaped roof is very recognizable. This elegant building was the headquarters of the Chrysler Corporation for a long time before shops moved into the ground floor. Good to know: you cannot climb up the spire of the Chrysler Building, you can only go into the lobby.

The Flatiron Building is an office building located on the island of Manhattan in New York. It gets its name from its shape like a... clothes iron. Do not go there just to see it, walk through the neighborhood from or toward Times Square, it is about thirty minutes away. In the area, I recommend having a drink at the beautiful 230 Fifth rooftop. In the early evening, you can go without a reservation because the bar is huge.

As soon as I arrived in New York, I wanted to go up to the top of the Empire State Building. Of course, there are more modern observation decks today that are better designed, but the Empire State Building is just so iconic. Plus, while you wait on the way up, you see all the posters from movies that were filmed there. I specifically remember Sleepless in Seattle. The outdoor area is narrow, so you can walk around it pretty quickly. It is also caged in. But that doesn't ruin the view at all.

The observation deck on the top floor (or pretty much the top floor) is open to the public. From there, you can gaze out over the city from an altitude of nearly 440m :) Very, very impressive! Even the skyscrapers that seemed tall from the ground look tiny. You see the city as a whole, Lake Michigan... As a fun fact, I also remember we could see the field at the stadium (an American football one, I imagine). With a good telescope, you could almost watch the games happening there live.

As you can tell from my title, I am not really a fan of the look of this building. Because of that, I do not understand why it is so famous. New York travel guides list it as a point of interest to visit, and I was pretty disappointed when I finally saw the "iron." More recently, you see this building a lot in the show "The Boys," as if it were a symbol of the city.

The most famous skyscraper in the world, often representing the emblem of New York, or even the USA. I was a little disappointed when seeing it in person. Aesthetically speaking, I prefer the Chrysler Building.

I saw this tower for the first time on my TV screen while playing GTA San Andreas, a medium that is only somewhat faithful to the original. But, I liked being able to discover this building that I only knew in pixels. This 1930s tower, which must be about 30 meters tall, contains some pretty striking murals. A good number of them have the Great Depression as their theme. The economic crisis is a theme that is actually very contemporary. For $9, you can also access the top observation deck, where you will have an incredible view of the Golden Gate and Alcatraz.

The building itself is a New York icon, even if it is no longer the tallest skyscraper in the Big Apple. However, I invite you to go up to its observation deck at the top. The view of Manhattan, its skyscrapers, its grid-pattern streets, and Central Park is breathtaking.

During the 1920s, many skyscrapers were built in Manhattan before the crisis of the 1930s put a serious brake on real estate projects. From that era, the Empire State Building is undoubtedly the most well-known construction, because it was the tallest. However, in my opinion, the Chrysler Building deserves more recognition than its competitor. I find this tower much more elegant, especially thanks to its top, which is very intricate and shiny. Although smaller, it still reaches 319 meters, which made it the tallest habitable construction in the world before the Empire State was completed a few months later.