Lower Manhattan--Walking Tours of This Historic Neighborhood

Lower Manhattan was really where the city started and it grew up and outward to the other burroughs from the very tip of this great city. Lower Manhattan is home to some of the city's most beautiful churches, to the boatyards and the docks that were in the film "On the Wterfront." The financial structure of the city literally began here, centered in the Wall Street Business District, with the New York Stock Exchange located here. Grammercy Park and Grenwich Village spread up from this area as well. This part of Manhattan is characterized by its lovely and historic old architecture, dating back to the 1700s and even before then. Famous taverns and homes where historical figures slept, planned campaigns and led movements dot the area. In some ways, lower Manhattan is an anomaly, grounded in the international commerce of the twenty-first century, but displaying the historical past that helped bring our country to where it is today. Also located here is the empty and stunning vacancy that was Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center Buildings were brought down. This is a central feature of many of the lower Manhattan walking tours, naturally. Some tours are city-sponsored and many are private, led by guides who have phenomenal historic knowledge and first-hand stories to tell about the places the tours visit.

http://www.nycvp.com/ground_zero1.html
This tour is led by Tony di Sante, who is a walking history lesson in and of himself. He guides visitors around Ground Zero, describing events and pointing out features of surrounding buildings. This is a three-hour tour that costs $19 for adults and $122 for children ages 2-12. Tours start off in midtown in front of Cosi's Restaurant at 51st and Broadway, then proceed to lower Manhattan on the subway. St. Paul's Chapel, the only surviving pre-revolutionary church ramaining in the city, and Trinity Church are featured. The Woolworth Building and the stock exchange are naturally points of great interest, too. Book online at the web site and also look around at getting deals for booking other things like hotel stays here too. His tours are all led by licensed tour guides and have been called a "must see" and they run rain or shine.

http://www.nycvisit.com/content/index.cfm?pagePkey=442
This is a great tour which tracks past Battery Park, the South Street Seaport area, and into the financial district on over to Ground Zero. There is a service call the Downtown Connection which operates between the Seaport and Battery Park that's free for visitors and workers to ride small buses around the very southern part of Manhattan. There are links of special interest cameoing individual neighborhoods like the South Street Seaport Area, Washington Square and the West Village, Battery Park and its view of The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. New York is so very big that I wouldn't even attempt to see a smattering of the whole of Manhattan in one visit. Once somewhat acclimated to the downtown area from the tour, they can continue to explore and walk on their own for free using the convenient Downtown Connection bus service. A week exploring just downtown would be filled with incredibly rich experiences.

http://www.theinsider.com/nyc/attractions/2LowerManhattan2.htm
The Insider's guide is just that--an online guide to print out and take with you for a self-guided walking tour around the lower end of Manhattan. It highlights a lot of commissioned municipal sculpture that a lot of other tours may not explain in detail. There are three parts to their tour routes, each focusing heavily on monuments, sculptures and buildings. There are also lots of links for money-saving trips to the city here.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/destinations/New_York_City/Lower_Manhattan.html#batterypark
National Geographic has put together a very interesting tour for people who want to do it on their own with a printed out copy of their route and its attractions. They tell how to ride a free ferry to Statan Island to see the landmarks there, and advising other ferries and what to see from them. This is probably one of the best self-guided tour I found since it does take visitors past some truly historic places like Fraunces Tavern where George Washington said farewell to his officers in 1783. This should definitely be printed out and taken on any trip to New York