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Many visitors to New York City are surprised to learn of its fascinating history. Our private walking and subway program of the city’s most interesting and lively neighborhoods are led by Licensed New York City Tour Guides who know the area inside and out. We work around your schedule, go at your pace, and pay special attention to the unique interests of your group. We cover all of New York City. Click here to see the excursions you can enjoy with Beyond Times Square. Click to read why you should take a walking tour with Beyond Times Square.
Two Hour Walking Itineraries
Lower East Side
Discover how the Lower East Side evolved as it welcomed wave after wave of immigrants, including the Irish, Germans, Eastern Europeans, Italians, Chinese and Latin Americans. Learn about life in the tenements in the late 19th and early 20th century. You will see what people endured to come to America and learn how they lived, worked and made the best of what they had. Every culture that passed through the Lower East Side left its mark- discover an intact synagogue from 1887, and another synagogue that is now a Buddhist temple. Before the arrival of the immigrants, the area was farmland. In fact, Orchard Street on the Lower East Side was named for what it once ran through: Mr. de Lancy's orchard. Several stops will be made along the way to illustrate the area's rich history.
Lower Manhattan Walking Tours: The Birth of a City and a Country
New York traces its rich history to Lower Manhattan, the meeting point of the Hudson River and the East River. Originally named Nieuw (New) Amsterdam, New York City began as a small Dutch settlement in what is now known as Lower Manhattan. Broadway, which was then called Heere Straat (Gentleman Street), was nothing but a small road. Wall Street actually had a wall back in 1653 to protect the settlers from attacks. As the city grew, so did the nation. New York was the first capital of the United States and the spot where George Washington was inaugurated is marked by his statue. Over the years, Lower Manhattan has become the financial capital of the world. Today, the streets are teeming with people and filled with stories of New York's past, present and future. As you explore Lower Manhattan with your guide, you'll see the World Trade Center site, St. Paul's Chapel, Battery Park, and Trinity Church and the history of the Native American, Dutch, and the English.
The Quaint Streets of Greenwich Village
Shunning street grids, societal conventions and commercial developers for centuries, the West Village proudly displays its hard-won heritage. We lead you to some of the neighborhood's most enchanting sites, revealing extraordinary histories, architectural delights and secrets unknown even to many new Yorkers. Stroll along genteel Commerce Street, with its restored Federal-style residences and historic Cherry Lane Theater. Around the corner on Bedford Street, Chumley's Ale House discreetly plied its boozy trade during the 1920s Prohibition era. Pass by one of the narrowest pieces of real estate on the island of Manhattan on Grove Street. Your tour includes sights of historical significance and your guide has stories to share with you about each.
SoHo Walking Tour: From Trendy to Trashy and Back Again
Like most of the developing city in the early years, SoHo (which stands for South of Houston Street-and by the way, it's pronounced How-ston), started as a small village. Over time, the neighborhood went from the wealthiest, to the most industrial, to a slum called "Hell's 100 acres." Now it is back to trendy again. SoHo is one of the most stylish neighborhoods in NYC, with clues of its past around every corner. Several of its cast iron buildings built in the mid 1800's still stand. As you explore the area, you will get the feel of its many cobblestone streets. When artists arrived in SoHo in the 1970s, they began the revival of the neighborhood. You'll visit two of SoHo's famed art galleries, including the Earth Room. Next to SoHo is NoLIta-which is Northern Little Italy. The area is home to the old St. Patrick's Cathedral. One story in particular your guide will impart is the 1799 murder of Elma Sands, the "Ghost of Spring Street."
Central Park Walking Tour: New York's Backyard
Where else can you see a castle, a sled dog, Alice in Wonderland, a pair of hawks and a 4,000-year-old obelisk from Egypt in one place? You guessed it. Central Park is more than just a green space in the middle of Manhattan Island. It is an 843-acre oasis, 150 years in the making and a favorite retreat for New Yorkers of all walks of life. An essential part of the urban landscape, Central Park is something that no New Yorker could live without. It fits into the Manhattan environment so naturally, that many people never realize it is entirely man-made. Follow your guide on the winding paths and over the bridges and through the tunnels, and learn how the architects Olmsted and Vaux created New York's "backyard."
Chinatown: A City within a City
Although it's called Chinatown, this eclectic neighborhood is home to people from around the world. You'll discover the oldest Jewish cemetery in the country dating back to 1683, as well as a piece of Revolutionary War history. The infamous Five Points, back in notoriety thanks to the movie Gangs of New York, was located in what is Chinatown today. People from all across China, along with Malaysians, Burmese, Vietnamese, Filipinos and many other nationalities reside in Chinatown. As you explore this unique neighborhood with your guide, you'll see how Chinese life and culture have completely enveloped the area. The Chinese first arrived in New York in the 1820s and 1830s. Immigration slowed at the end of the 1800s due to anti-Chinese laws. Today, new waves of immigrants from China and many other Asian nations continue to arrive and settle in Chinatown.
Harlem Walking Tour: Yesterday and Today
Almost a city onto itself, Harlem is one of the most famous neighborhoods in the world. Founded by the Dutch in 1658, Harlem was once farmland and the first U.S. home of hundreds of thousands of European immigrants. The center of New York City’s African American culture, Harlem is a diverse neighborhood with a vibrant and influential history. Your fully guided tour explores the changing face of Harlem, with a special focus on the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s. A literary, music, drama, and art revival in Harlem, the Renaissance period cultivated and nurtured the talents of great Jazz musicians like Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway, and authors such as Zora Neale Hurston and W.E.B. Du Bois. Home to the famed Apollo Theater and Cotton Club, the effect of the Harlem Renaissance can still be felt in America’s artistic and cultural life today.
Brooklyn Heights Tour: A Neighborhood of History
One of the best-kept secrets of the City of New York is Brooklyn Heights, a beautiful district in Brooklyn. Some historians call it one of the first suburbs in the United States. Brooklyn Heights is unique as it radiates a hometown atmosphere while situated right next door to one of the most recognizable cityscapes in the world. In 1965, Brooklyn Heights was the first area designated as a New York City Historic District and you will understand why as you see Federal style homes built in the 1820s, brick and brownstone homes from the 1830s and 1840s, and two Italianate mansions that overlook Pierrepont Street.
Brooklyn Bridge: Two Cities and a Bridge
Opened in 1883 after thirteen years of construction, the Brooklyn Bridge was built across the East River to connect Manhattan with the then-rural city of Brooklyn. From the beginning, the bridge’s designer John A. Roebling planned not just a structure of convenience, but a great work of art that would stand the test of time. The Brooklyn Bridge is a fully accessible bridge, with a center lane above traffic open to bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Your fully guided tour takes you on a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge; a walk taken every day by commuters, tourists, and during times of crisis, such as after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11.
The tour also includes an exploration around City Hall Park and DUMBO neighborhood in Brooklyn
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Rates for all of the above program are as follows:
- 2 guests $100.00 per person
- 3 or 4 guests $70.00 per person
- 5 guests $60.00 per person
- 6 guests $50.00 per person
- 7 – 10 guests $45.00 per person
- 11 – 14 guests $30.00 per person
- 15 – 18 guests $23.00 per person
All tours start at a designated starting point. If you would like the tour to being at your hotel (Manhattan only), there is a $75.00 flat rate to have the guide come to your hotel.
If you would like to book any of the above itineraries below please click here and complete the form. We will then contact you for your credit card to book the program.
Four Hour Walking and Subway Itineraries
Leap Tall Buildings in a Single Bound: The Skyscrapers of Midtown (walking and subway)
Few city skylines are as recognizable as that of New York City. The Empire State building, the Met Life Building, Chrysler Building, and other iconic structures have featured prominently in film and television, have become part of America’s national identity.
On this fully guided tour you will visit skyscrapers of every style, shape and size. Learn why there are skyscrapers in some area and not others and why the Empire State Building used to be called the Empty State Building. The tour ends at Rockefeller Center where you can take a trip to the top of the Rock, the 70th floor Observation deck if you wish.
Manhattan Walking Tour: From Park to Park (walking and subway)
This walking tour includes many of Manhattan’s popular landmarks and neighborhoods. Start with the history of New York in Lower Manhattan, and visit Battery Park, which offers vistas of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Walk by the Woolworth building one of the tallest in New York City. Jump on the subway to Greenwich Village, and explore one of New York City’s first suburbs. Continue north via subway to experience the hustle and bustle of Times Square. Of course, we have to go Beyond Times Square—and we do as you take a short walk to the grandeur of Rockefeller Center. Conclude your tour with a stroll to Central Park, Manhattan’s backyard.
Gateway to America: The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
America’s symbol of freedom, the Statue of Liberty, is one of the most recognizable structures in the world. For the best views of Lady Liberty, your guide will take you on ferry ride to Ellis Island. Opened in 1892, Ellis Island was the entry point for European immigrants for more than sixty years. Twelve million passed through the halls that are now the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.
Walk through the Great Hall as the new Americans once did — ancestors of more than half of the U.S. population. Search for your family surname on the American Immigrant wall of Honor®, the longest wall of names in the world with over 600,000 names. Tour the American Family Immigration History Center®, with its many exhibits detailing the immigrant experience in the New York and the United States.
The cost is $17.00 per adult and $12.00 per child. This will be added to your invoice
Rates for all of the above program are as follows:
- 2 guests $135.00 per person
- 3 or 4 guests $90.00 per person
- 5 guests $70.00 per person
- 6 guests $60.00 per person
- 7 – 10 guests $55.00 per person
- 11 – 14 guests $40.00 per person
- 15 – 18 guests $33.00 per person
All tours start at a designated starting point. If you would like the tour to being at your hotel (Manhattan only), there is a $75.00 flat rate.
If you would like to book any of the above itineraries below please click here and complete the form. We will then contact you for your credit card to book the program.
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