Tours of New York City

No matter what your passion may be there is a guided tour of New York to help you enjoy that passion to the fullest. Savor the food, hunt down those elusive specters or enjoy the view of that famous New York skyline from the water. Whether you want to be chauffeured around in a vintage convertible or use your feet to visit those special neighborhood you are bound to have the time of your life in the Big Apple.

Foods of New York Tours

Foodies unite. New York has some fantastic food and what better way to enjoy it then taking a tour to one of it's many neighborhoods centered around a food theme. One that my friends swear by is the Chelsea Market/Meatpacking District Food and Culture Walking Tour. Stopping at seven shops you will have a chance to sample the delicious specialties of the area. Tours are available year round Thur-Sun staring in the late morning and early afternoon. The gathering place for the tour will be announced once you purchase a ticket which costs $42. The tour lasts about 3 hours . The maximum number is 16 and there will be enough food consumed to take the place of lunch. You will sample cookies, breads, Italian specialties and more while learning about the history of the area. Just a note of interest, the Chelsea Food Market is the home to the Food network so there is no telling who you might see.

New York City Walking Tour

What better way to get to know New York City than with a local guide. Alfred Pommer is a licensed New York City Guide who offers private and public walking tours of NYC. On Sundays for two and a half hour you can take one of his public tours which range in interest from:

The Gargoyles of New York Tour to The Upper East Side

Millionaires Mile Walking Tour and the Lower East Side

Jewish Heritage Tour.

For $60 an hour he can do private tours as diverse as A Tour of the Theatre District or Rockefeller Center to The Turn of the Century Manhattan Walking Tour.

New York Fun Tours

Okay what could be more fun then touring New York City in a classic Chevrolet convertible? These tours can accommodate up to four persons comfortably. For two hours you have a personal guide to what ever neighborhoods you would like to see. A typical tour might include Little Italy, Chinatown, the financial district , South Street Seaport and much more. Your guide will be a native New Yorker excited to be showing you his city. This is a unique experience and as such comes with a hefty price tag of $495 for two hours.

Ghost Tours of New York

There is one tour I have to take in every city I visit and that is a ghost tour. This is where you find out about the seedier side of life in the Big Apple. Ghosts of New York offers 90 minute walking tours that cover less than a mile. There are several different tours leaving from different locations and you can choose which one is most interesting to you. Personally they are all fascinating. Offered are :

Peter Stuyvesant and His Ghostly Friends of the East Village -7pm Meet in front of St Mark's in the Bowery Church.

Ghosts of Times Square 7 PM Meet at Times Square Improvement District at 1560 Broadway

Ghosts of the City 7 PM Meet at Blimpie's Restaurant at 38 Park Row

Edgar Alan Poe and His Ghostly Neighbors of Greenwich Village 7 PM Meet at Fire Patrol Station No. 2, 84 West Third Street

Check the website for days that each tour is held.

Circle Line Cruises

New York has one of the most famous skylines in the world. What better way to view it than from the relaxing deck of a Circle Line Cruise. There is a wide variety of cruises available from the three hour full island cruise to the 75 minute Liberty Cruise where you will learn about the Statue of Liberty , the World financial center and Ellis Island.

You can take a music cruise or combine your cruise with a number of other attractions including the Empire State Building and the Top of the Rock. If you are looking for more excitement combine the cruise with a helicopter tour of the city for the ultimate experience.

Gray Line Tours

When it comes to bus tours Grey line has over 80 years of experience and can be relied upon to provide a safe and interesting tour. No this won't be the most exciting or the most colorful but it will show you all the sites in the city and with over 50 stops you will be sure to find what interests you.

In New York City they offer 3 Loops, Uptown, Downtown and Brooklyn. They also have a nigh time tour. With a three day ticket you can hop on and hop off all four tours as many times as you would like. The loops run 2-3 hours and operate from early in the morning until late afternoon, except the evening tour which runs 6-8pm.

The Taste of New York City is a day ticket that includes in addition to the usual stops a ticket to The Top of the Rock, and the Statue of Liberty/ Ellis Island ferry.

For a shorter tour, The New York Heritage Tour last one and a half hours and is on a trolley bus. Your tour guides will be dressed in costume and be experts on New York City History. This is all about the famous, the infamous and the who's who of New York's past.

When you are in NYC there are many things that you can do, taking a tour is certainly one of the most entertaining and educational things to choose.