The complex itself is free to wander and genuinely handsome — limestone Deco towers, Prometheus over the sunken plaza. But the honest fit read: for most visitors it's a 20-minute photo stop, and the gilded Prometheus plaza is best seen looking down from the Fifth Avenue side over the Channel Gardens. It's truly worth more only if you're committing to something paid — Top of the Rock for the view that puts the Empire State in your photo, or the December rink. Skip the tree in peak December unless you'll brave a dense, slow, shoulder-to-shoulder crush; an early weekday morning gives you the Deco architecture nearly to yourself.
Price
Free (rink ~$20–55 seasonal; Top of the Rock separate)