Nate Archibald, played by Chace Crawford, is the Upper East Side golden boy the show keeps testing. His storyline runs from family scandal to newspaper ownership, and his locations are some of the most photogenic on the whole route.
Who Nate is
Heir to an old New York family, best friend to Chuck Bass and the most decent member of the main group, Nate spends the series working out what he wants once the family name stops paying for it. He is the one character whose problems are inherited rather than self-made.
The Archibald townhouse
The family home is filmed on the Upper East Side, and the exterior is the show's picture of old money: stone steps, tall windows, and the kind of block where nothing looks new. It reads instantly as the world Nate is trying to escape.
Central Park
Some of Nate's most memorable scenes are staged in the park — the paths near Bethesda Terrace and the Bow Bridge appear again and again for the conversations that matter.
The Palace and Midtown
The Palace Hotel on Madison Avenue at 50th Street, the hotel bars and the Midtown lobbies form the backdrop for the Archibald and Bass business storylines in the later seasons.
The Empire Hotel
Nate's friendship with Chuck keeps returning to the Empire at 44 West 63rd Street, beside Lincoln Center — the address most fans recognise from the rooftop sign.
Why his arc holds up
Nate is written as the group's conscience without ever being dull: the scandals happen to him, and his choices are about what to do afterwards. That makes him the easiest character for new viewers to follow.
See Nate's locations
The townhouse block, Central Park and the Midtown hotels all sit on our Gossip Girl tours in New York route, with the scenes cued up at each stop.