57th Street to 72nd Street
Madison Avenue's shopping runs from East 57th Street up to East 86th Street, on the avenue and the side streets just off it. The fashion flagships sit at the south end, the middle blocks mix fragrance houses, home stores and galleries, and the 80s turn quieter, with food shops and linens. This walk goes north the whole way, about 30 blocks, and the street numbers climb as you go: 635 is at 59th Street, 1097 is at 84th.
Most boutiques open at 10am or 11am and close at 6pm or 7pm Monday to Saturday, with noon starts on Sunday. Several galleries close at 5pm. Hermès is closed Sundays, and Lobel's and Schweitzer Linens at the top of the walk are open weekdays only, so a weekday is the best day for the full route.
Our Madison Avenue district page lists every shop we have checked here, with hours. If you also want the department stores and jewelry houses farther south, the Fifth Avenue guide covers Fifth from 49th to 60th Street.
57th to 63rd Street: Fendi to Hermès
Start at Fendi (595 Madison Avenue), at 57th Street, then walk up to Montblanc (635 Madison Avenue), between 59th and 60th Streets. Beyond the pens, it has a lounge with drinks, an ink table for testing pens, and engraving.
Celine (650 Madison Avenue) is done in lava stone and black granite, with furniture designed by Hedi Slimane. Jimmy Choo (667 Madison Avenue) displays its shoes like art among vintage furniture, and Oscar de la Renta (686 Madison Avenue) is built around an ivory central staircase. Watch buyers should stop at Jaeger-LeCoultre (701 Madison Avenue), which has a strap wall and runs watchmaking workshops.
This stretch ends at Hermès (706 Madison Avenue), between 62nd and 63rd Streets. The store holds five floors, with a rooftop garden, a cocktail bar and an in-house atelier. It is open 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and closed Sundays.
63rd to 72nd Street: Diamonds, Chanel and Armani
Graff (710 Madison Avenue) has its New York flagship on the corner of 63rd Street. A few doors up, De Beers (716 Madison Avenue), between 63rd and 64th Streets, lets you handle an uncut diamond or design a solitaire ring, and you rarely wait long for an expert. Manolo Blahnik (717 Madison Avenue) joins its men's and women's rooms through an archway lined with sketches, and it has a working bar.
Chanel (737 Madison Avenue) is the stop for jewelry, watches, sunglasses and bags. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Bottega Veneta (740 Madison Avenue) combines three 19th-century townhouses into five floors, with a home section called the Apartment. Giorgio Armani (760 Madison Avenue) fills a 12-story building with clothing, Armani/Casa furniture, Armani/Ristorante and a champagne bar.
Peserico (783 Madison Avenue) carries the Italian label's Women's, Aurea and Men's collections over two floors, and Creed (794 Madison Avenue) is the fragrance stop on this stretch. Just off the avenue, Matouk (20 East 67th Street) shows home furnishings; during Madison Avenue Design Week its design team offered consultations, including customization. Finish at Prada (841 Madison Avenue), Prada's first US flagship, dating from the 1980s, where some displays look more like an art gallery than a store.
72nd Street: The Ralph Lauren Corner
At 72nd Street, Ralph Lauren takes over. Ralph Lauren (867 Madison Avenue) is the men's flagship, in the Rhinelander Mansion. Across Madison, the Ralph Lauren Women's & Home Flagship (888 Madison Avenue) has four floors of women's clothing, Polo Ralph Lauren and Ralph Lauren Home, plus Ralph's Coffee, a Parisian-style café for espresso, snacks and gifts. Parents can add Ralph Lauren Baby (872 Madison Avenue) and Ralph Lauren Children (878 Madison Avenue).
At the same corner, The RealReal (870 Madison Avenue) sells resale, a lower-cost way into the labels sold new up and down the avenue. Just off Madison, Arader Galleries (29 East 72nd Street) sells antique paintings, maps and prints, and is open weekends too.
72nd Street to 86th Street
72nd to 78th Street: Fragrance, Jewelry and Sotheby's
Bond No. 9 New York (897 Madison Avenue) makes New York-themed perfumes. Look for the 22-foot giraffe in the window of Irene Neuwirth (937 Madison Avenue), a two-story flagship with a jungle theme and a spiral staircase.
The next few doors are close together. Apple Upper East Side (940 Madison Avenue) handles Genius Bar appointments and order pickup, and stays open to 8pm Monday to Saturday. Kirna Zabête (943 Madison Avenue) is an independent fashion boutique open seven days a week. Sotheby's (945 Madison Avenue) gives estimates and insurance valuations and takes consignments; it closes at 5pm. L'Objet (950 Madison Avenue) sells home and tabletop pieces.
Shoe buyers continue to Christian Louboutin (967 Madison Avenue), where wrought-iron gates separate the men's and women's sides. It is the first US Louboutin flagship to carry the kids' collection. Zitomer Dept. Store (969 Madison Avenue) is a neighborhood department store and pharmacy that opens at 9am on weekdays, and Diptyque (971 Madison Avenue) sells candles and fragrance.
980 Madison holds several stops under one roof: Gagosian (980 Madison Avenue), Nahmad Contemporary and Me & Em, plus Tanya Taylor (980 Madison Avenue), where the designer is often in the store. Next, Gabriela Hearst (985 Madison Avenue) adjoins the Carlyle Hotel and is built with reclaimed oak. Book lovers should turn onto East 77th Street for Assouline (25 East 77th Street), the publisher's shop at The Mark hotel's address.
Take a break at Sant Ambroeus (1000 Madison Avenue), between 77th and 78th Streets, a café and restaurant that opens at 8am on weekdays.
North to 86th Street: Chocolate, Linens and Resale
La Maison du Chocolat (1018 Madison Avenue) makes ganaches, pralines and truffles; check its Sunday hours before you go. Above it, the avenue shifts to brands you may know from downtown. Le Labo and Sézane both list 1045 Madison Avenue, Reformation and GANNI share 1055, and Aesop is at 1070. Our SoHo walk covers their downtown stores.
Between 84th and 85th Streets are two weekday-only shops. Lobel's of New York (1096 Madison Avenue) is a meat and food shop, and Schweitzer Linens (1097 Madison Avenue) sells linens, Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm.
End at Michael's Luxury Consignment (1125 Madison Avenue), open since 1954 and family-run. Every piece is checked for authenticity, and it sells designer clothing, handbags, shoes and jewelry from labels such as Chanel, Hermès and Prada. It is open 11am to 6pm Monday to Saturday.
Subway In, Walk North
Take the subway. The 5 Av/59 St station (N, R, W) and 59 St/Lexington Av (4, 5, 6, N, Q, R) serve the south end of the walk. For the middle and the top, the 6 stops at 68 St-Hunter College and 77 St on Lexington Avenue, two blocks east of Madison.
If you drive, the Madison Avenue BID lists garages at G.M.C. Parking Garage (30 East 65th Street), Quick Park (51-53 East 76th Street) and Alert Parking (30 East 85th Street).
Short on time? Start at Ralph Lauren at 72nd Street and walk north past Bond No. 9, Kirna Zabête, L'Objet and Diptyque to Sant Ambroeus for coffee. For dinner after a full day, Daniel (60 E. 65th St.) is Daniel Boulud's formal French dining room, with multicourse menus.
Tip: Check the BID calendar. The free Gallery Walk on spring and fall Saturdays opens more than 40 galleries between 57th and 86th Streets, and on Miracle on Madison, a Saturday in early December, 20% of participating stores' sales go to MSK Kids.
