chloedickensonLast Updated on 17th March 2026
The Friends Experience NYC review contains affiliate links and mentions of previously gifted collaborations. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own, please see my disclaimer for more.
Are you thinking about adding The Friends Experience to your NYC itinerary, but you’re not sure if it’s worth it? My ultimate guide and review covers everything you need to know!
As a lifelong Friends fanatic, it’s pretty shocking that it took me four whole years to visit The Friends Experience: The One in New York City after it opened in 2021. However, when I visited for the first time in November 2025 with my mum and sister, it’s safe to say that it exceeded my expectations and then some!
In my review of The Friends Experience NYC below, I’ve covered everything you need to know, including ticket prices, opening hours, location, what you can expect from the experience, and whether it’s even worth visiting in the first place!
Looking for more NYC travel tips and recommendations? Get a copy of my Ultimate New York City Travel Guide ebook and join my FREE NYC Facebook Group!
NEW YORK ESSENTIALS
🏩 Accommodation: Booking.com
🚇 Transport: NY Subway
🗽 Activities/tours: Get Your Guide
🎟️ New York Passes: Go City Pass
📱 USA eSIM: Airalo / Sim Local
💜 The Friends Experience NYC: Get tickets
☕️ Love my FREE guides? Support my NYC content by buying me a coffee!
Check out more of my NYC attraction guides here!
- Is Edge NYC Worth Visiting?
- Famous Filming Locations in New York City
- Empire State Building Observation Deck – Is It Worth It?
- Circle Line Harbor Lights Cruise
- 10 Best Ways To See The Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island
Is The Friends Experience NYC worth it?
You may have already gathered from my introduction that I personally think that The Friends Experience in NYC is 100% worth visiting!
I have been obsessed with Friends for as long as I can remember, and as a diehard fan of the show, it was absolutely incredible to see various props, costumes, and completely realistic replicas of the sets at The Friends Experience in New York City.
Of course, I’m sure it’s not quite the same as seeing the studio set in real life in Hollywood (I remember being absolutely devastated when I realised that none of the TV show was actually filmed in NYC!), but it’s still an incredible like-for-like experience which makes you feel like you’ve literally stepped inside Monica’s apartment, or that you’re having an authentic coffee at Central Perk with the whole gang!
If you’re a Friends fan, I would say that The Friends Experience in NYC is definitely worth visiting, and even if you’re not and you’re just tagging along with a friend, partner, or relative who is a fan, you’ll still have a great time seeing how excited they get by everything! My sister has never been a fan of Friends, but she still enjoyed accompanying my mum and I and seeing how much we enjoyed it.
What can you expect from The Friends Experience NYC?
Spread across two substantial floors, The Friends Experience NYC encompasses dozens of props, costumes, and set recreations. From Monica’s living room to the Las Vegas wedding chapel to Joey and Chandler’s foosball table to an iconic replica of the infamous “PIVOT” sofa scene, there is so much to enjoy at The Friends Experience in New York.
There’s also plenty of immersive experiences too, including a “ride” on Pat the dog, and the chance to enjoy an actual cup of coffee on the famous couch at Central Perk.
You can also see some of the show’s most iconic costumes, such as Joey’s “Could I BE wearing anymore clothes?!”, Rachel’s hideous bridesmaid dress, the holiday armadillo, and so much more!
How long does The Friends Experience take?
We spent just over one hour at The Friends Experience NYC on our visit in November 2025, and it was relatively quiet when we visited, so I would definitely recommend allocating at least 60-90 minutes of your NYC itinerary to the experience if you plan on visiting.
- Opening hours: Monday, Wednesday – Sunday: 10 AM to 7 PM. Closed Tuesday.
- Address: 130 E 23rd St, New York City (on the corner of Lexington Ave. and 23rd St.).
Costumes and props
The costumes and props at The Friends Experience New York City are mightily impressive and so much fun to see! Of course, Joey’s legendary layers of clothes is part of the experience, as well as Rachel’s bridesmaid dress, Phoebe’s Superwoman outfit, Monica’s Thanksgiving turkey head, the holiday armadillo, as well as dozens more of the characters’ most famous outfits throughout the years.
The use of authentic props throughout The Friends Experience NYC is also incredible, and as you can see, there’s a giant Hugsy, as well as Phoebe’s yellow taxi and the terrifying portraits of “Gladys” and “Glynnis”!
Monica and Rachel’s apartment
One of my absolute favourite parts of the entire experience was seeing a super-realistic replica of Monica’s apartment; after watching the show so many times and seeing the apartment in dozens of scenes across hundreds of episodes, it was so fascinating to see it in “real life”!
The set designers have done a truly incredible job, and there are so many little details that make the whole thing feel so real and authentic.
Of course, the renowned purple colour of the apartment is also visible throughout, and so is the iconic photo framed peep hole.
As I’m sure you can see from the photos featured throughout my review of The Friends Experience NYC, the entire place was decorated for the holidays, so we got to enjoy the full Friends Christmas experience!
I would definitely say that it’s worth visiting at any time of year, but if you do have a Christmas trip planned to NYC, it’s a good idea to add The Friends Experience to your itinerary to enjoy the holiday festivities!
Joey and Chandler’s apartment
Joey and Chandler’s apartment was also incredibly cool to see, and while I never loved the apartment as much Monica’s (naturally!), it was awesome to see a remake of the set where so many famous scenes where filmed!
I’m not entirely sure how to-scale the sets are, but it certainly feels like you’re walking into the actual TV show set when you enter both Monica and Joey’s apartments.
Of course, one of the best parts about being in Joey and Chandler’s apartment was chilling in the famous La-Z-Boy chairs! We also had a go on the foosball table which was an awesome and fun addition to the experience!
Trivia and Fun Facts
Throughout The Friends Experience, you’ll also find plenty of fun facts and interactive trivia where you can test your knowledge and see just how well you know the TV show and its characters!
I particularly loved some of the trivia boards, which included dozens of facts that I didn’t know, despite being a huge fan of the show for so many years! For example, there’s a section about who spoke the most lines throughout the show, who had the most storylines with each other, and how many times the show’s most famous lines were spoken!
Central Perk Café
Undoubtedly one of the coolest parts of the entire Friends Experience is the Central Perk coffee shop at the very end of the experience, which operates as an actual, working coffee shop, not just a set!
If you don’t have time on your New York itinerary to do the entire Friends Experience, you can still visit Central Perk for a drink, or just the gift shop.
To be completely transparent, the gift shop was my least favourite part of the experience as there wasn’t nearly as many items in there as I was expecting and what they did have, I didn’t think was all that good. However, I’m personally not much of a shopper anyway, so this didn’t bother me in the slightest; the rest of the Friends Experience was absolutely brilliant!
The Friends Experience New York tickets
Standard general admission tickets for The Friends Experience: The One in New York City start at $48pp, but they can cost up to $60+pp at peak times (such as holidays and weekends).
You can also purchase flexible admission tickets for $68pp, which allows you to arrive at anytime on your chosen day, up to one hour before closing.
They also offer an “Ultimate Ticket Package” for $87.50, which includes anytime admission on your chosen day, a photo ops package (including 6 prints and digital photos), a Central Perk coffee mug, one free drink at the Central Perk Café, and 20% off the gift shop!
The Friends Experience NYC review – is it worth it?
If you’re on the fence about visiting the New York City Friends Experience, I hope my raving review has convinced you to book tickets and add it to your NYC itinerary!
As a lifelong Friends fan, it was so much fun to see some of my favourite props, costumes, and replica sets from one of my favourite TV shows, and if you visit during your time in NYC, I promise you won’t regret it!
Will you be adding The Friends Experience to your New York City itinerary after reading my review? Let me know in the comments or in my New York Facebook Group!
