Buckingham Fountain is a real time commitment — fit it in only if it's a priority.
Allow 20–40 min.
A handsome 1927 Beaux-Arts landmark and one of the world's largest fountains — and, for a certain generation, instantly familiar as the fountain in the opening credits of 'Married... with Children.' The real move is timing: stay for the major water display on the hour (jets to ~150 feet) and, after dusk in season, the synchronized water-and-light show. The honest catch is it's a one-shot stop — lovely for ten or twenty minutes, with nothing to do beyond watch it — and it's drained and switched off all winter.