Handicapped Accessible Tours of New York

One of the highlights of a New York vacation is the variety of sightseeing tours available. If this is your first New York vacation, it is a good idea to take one of the guided tours and get information that you would not be able to get on your own. And there are several available that are handicapped accessible. You must call them ahead, in some cases, and let them know that you need a handicapped accessible bus. You can feel at ease knowing that you will be seeing New York with the experts and they will go all out to make sure your experience is A-1

On Location Tours is famous for their tours of the places in New York that have been made famous on TV. They have tours for sites from the Sopranos, Sex in the City, Central Park movie sits and general sites around the city. Depending on the tour you choose, you will
stop at a bar used on Sex and the City, take a peek inside Bada Bing's, go on location to the high school where A.J. dumped pizza boxes into the pool, visit The Boathouse Café used in When Harry Met Sally and take photos at Tavern on the Green, used in Ghostbusters. Contact them before you buy your tickets and let them know you will need a handicapped accessible bus to be used on the tour. You can contact them at (212) 209-3370 or e-mail `service@zerve.com.

The same situation is with the different companies under the Grey Line Tours, Couch USA banner. Call in advance and let them know you need a special bus and they will make sure one is available. These are the people who operate the famous double decker sightseeing busses that you see all over Manhattan. They have literally dozens of different tours available such as 3-Day Super Saver Combo. This is a three consecutive day deal where you will get to see The New York City Official Heritage Tour, All Loops Tour (3 consecutive days of hop-on, hop-off double decker fun)
Lady Liberty Harbor Cruise( the ferries are handicapped accessible) Ticket to the Empire State Building Observatory
Ticket to the South Street Seaport Museum (closed Mondays) and Uptown Loop / Fort Tryon Park / Heather Garden / The Cloisters Tour (seasonal). They also have many one day tours, each one focusing on a different part of Manhattan. Contact them at newyorksightseeing@coachusa.com or call 800-669-0051 (toll free) or 212-445-0848. They will see to it that there is a handicapped accessible bus available. They are located at Gray Line New York Sightseeing,49 W. 45th Street, New York, New York 10036.

There are several tours of the most famous New York park, Central Park and some, but not all of them are handicapped accessible. There are parts of the park where there are stairs where it will not be able to use a wheelchair, but here are the ones, conducted by the park's volunteers and they are free. Cental Park has so much to see, it is almost a vacation in itself.

The Views from the Past tour is one of the easiest handicapped accessible tours to navigate and you get to learn about the early history of Central Park. The meeting place is at the Dairy Visitor Center & Gift Shop at Mid-Park at 65th Street. This was once the site of a real dairy that processed the milk for New York City, which at that time was mostly in lower Manhattan. Let the Games Begin - History of Sports in the Park and Waterways and Vistas tours also start at the Dairy.

Another one is the Cross Park Promenade Tour is another one that is handicapped accessible. Meet inside the Park at Fifth Avenue and East 72nd Street in front of the statue of Samuel F. B. Morse. You spend about an hour going east to west and get to see some things you would probably miss if you went out to explore the park on your own.

A Road Once Traveled meets at The Charles A. Dana Discovery Center inside the Park at 110th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues. This tour focuses on the part that this part of Manhattan played in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. All of these tours are listed as handicapped accessible. Each one of them has a different phone number for you to call for information. Make sure you call and let them know you need a handicapped accessible tour. Also get the information from them about how easy it is for you to reach the meeting place. For instance, how close can you drive a car to it etc.