United Nations, New York City

The UN guided tour was way more interesting than I was expecting, and it made me realize I didn't know as much as I thought I did about it!

We got to sit in all three council's meeting rooms as well as in the general assembly room, which in itself is an experience. The building is filled with interesting and impressive works of art with particular meanings.

The visit takes about 45 minutes to an hour, and it's really worth it, trust me!

Apparently it is possible to take a tour of the facility but I didn't do this. The buildings exterior isn't all that special. It is basically a big glass structure. What is cool is that it refelcts some of the city and the blue sky on a sunny day. But what is going on inside is very important work as this is the headquarter of the UN.

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That's a very interesting tour around the United Nations building where you can find all the meeting rooms and world's famous spaces from many countries participants of the group.

If you like history and international relations I extremely recommend you to visit this place. Some rooms were gifts from countries (like Denmark and Norway's gifts room) and monuments like the Taihland boat, Brazilian's photos and American's sculture.

The whole tour takes around 2 hours and it's translated to 6 or 7 languages and the tour time depends on the demand. The ticket is not expensive, something from U$10 to U$20 and it includes the whole trip + guide tour. At the end of the tour there are some souvernirs to be bought (not cheap, but nice).

When you first get in you must have to leave your bags and belongs in the luggage claim and you get your stuff back at the end of the tour. Everybody needs to be inspected and wait in the line (try to go early to skip this long line).

This is an amazing building where leaders of the world congregrate every now and then to make decisions that goes down as world history. I joined a tour which takes you through the important rooms and walked through the hallways where deals of peace are made or last straws for wars. You can imagine that yourself as a language instructor or an important diplomat.

Also you can send out postcards using United Nations stamps. Send me one if your are doing so :)

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Tours are offered 7 days a week (so you could do this on a Sunday when some other places of interest might be closed) and admission in 2006 is $12 adult, $7 child. You get to see and learn about the General Assembly and Security Council halls and the general purpose and workings of the UN.

Additional Tip #1: Across the Street @ 42 St there is a small park with a large stone wall with words engraved from the Bible, book of Isaiah. So far the UN has not lived up to those words, but that's a whole different topic.

Additional Tip #2: In the basement you will find the UN Gift Shop. Besides UN-themed gifts, there are handicrafts offered from most of the individual member nations. So you could purchase a souvenier from a distant country without going there. Prices aren't exactly cheap but it's a lot cheaper than a plane ticket. And some of the items are very unique.

the united nations building is located at 1st ave and east 46th street . there are tours available of the u.n. complex. the united nations was formed after WWII in order to diplomatically solve conflicts between countries.

Visiting the U.N. is pretty easy. Just go to the main building, turn to the left, get up the stairs there and into the "Security Tent". Don't use your cellphone or camera, go through security, leave your big bag at the counter and go into the building.

There are guided tours every some 15 to 30 minutes which are not cheap but worth it. If you just want to get some souvenirs, go downstairs and you'll find the UN-shop.

There you also find a postoffice - and that's special: you can buy United Nations stamps there and put postcards or letters in a special UN-postbox (left when you leave the post office). So your friends at home get a real UN-greeting from you.

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The United Nations Headquarters is located in New York on First Avenue. Multilingual tours conducted by UN staff run throughout the day. For $12, you will be taken on a one-hour guided tour through the Security Council Chamber, Trustee Council Chamber, Economic and Social Chamber and the General Assembly.
Do not miss the magnificent ivory carving of a Chinese junk in the exhibition hall, a gift from the People's Republic of China.
In the UN post office, you can send postcards to your loved ones using special UN stamps. These UN stamps can only be used if posted within the UN and cannot be used in New York.