A unified complex of pale travertine, Lincoln Center (built 1962-68) is the largest performing arts center in the world -- so large it can seat nearly 18,000 spectators at one time in its various halls. Here maestro Lorin Maazel conducts Brahms and Beethoven, the American Ballet Theater performs Swan Lake, and Tony winner Audra McDonald sings solos and duets -- and that's just an average day. The complex's three principal venues are grouped around the central Fountain Plaza: to the left, as you face west, is Philip Johnson's New York State Theater, home to the New York City Ballet and the New York City Opera. In the center, brilliantly colored Chagall murals are visible through the arched lobby windows of Wallace Harrison's Metropolitan Opera House, home to the Metropolitan Opera. And to the right is Max Abramovitz's Avery Fisher Hall, host to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. A great time to visit the complex is on summer evenings, when hundreds of dancers trot and swing around the plaza during Midsummer Night Swing. One-hour guided tours, given daily, cover the center's history and wealth of artwork.

Lincoln Center encompasses much more than its three core theaters. Its major outdoor venue is Damrosch Park, on the south flank of the Met, where summer open-air festivals are often accompanied by free concerts at the Guggenheim Bandshell. In chillier months, the Big Apple Circus settles in. Accessible via the walk between the Metropolitan and Avery Fisher is the North Plaza -- the best of Lincoln Center's spaces -- with a massive Henry Moore sculpture reclining in a reflecting pool. The long lines and glass wall of Eero Saarinen's Lincoln Center Theater stand behind the pool. It is home to the Vivian Beaumont Theater, officially considered a Broadway house, despite its distance from the theater district. Below it is the smaller Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, where many award-winning plays originate. Next to the Lincoln Center Theater is the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (PHONE: 212/870-1600), with its extensive collection of books, records, videos, and scores on music, theater, and dance; head to one of the listening rooms to hear Caruso, Callas, or any one of 500,000 available recordings. An overpass leads from this plaza across West 65th Street to the world-renowned Juilliard School (PHONE: 212/769-7406) for music and theater; actors Kevin Spacey, Kevin Kline, Robin Williams, Bebe Neuwirth, Laura Linney, and Patti LuPone studied here. An elevator leads down to street level and Alice Tully Hall, home of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the New York Film Festival. Or turn left from the overpass and follow the walkway west to Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, one of the finest places in the city to watch films. COST: Tour $12.50. Subway: 1, 9 to 66th St./Lincoln Center.