The best way to get around New York City is by foot. As neighborhoods merge into neighborhoods, the cities architectural and cultural history comes alive. Add people watching, window shopping and snacking along the way, and you come away from a New York walk with your own personal city. For the serious walker seeking real knowledge New York also has some of the best walking tours in the world.
Internationally acclaimed walking tour guide Justin Ferate (tel. 212/223-2777; www.justinsnewyork.com or e-mail jferatetours@earthlink.net) gives one of the better-known and well-regarded walking tours in the city. An urban, social and architectural historian, Ferate was recently recognized by New York Governor George Pataki and the NY State Tourism Council as New York's "Most Engaging Tour Guide." Ferate's tours are engrossing, interesting and fun as Ferate mixes in a sense of humor and insider New York stories as he walks you through New York's most engrossing neighborhoods. Ferate's fall tours include looks at Stuyvesant Square, one of New York's oldest neighborhoods; Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, a gothic burial ground filled with sites, tombstones and the gravesites of many notable New Yorkers; Greenwich Village; and the Upper West Side and Central Park West. Most of the tours last between two and three hours, cost between $15 and $25 dollars and take place on weekend afternoons or early evenings. See the website listed above for exact times and prices.
For budget travelers, Ferate offers a free 1-1/2-hour tour of Grand Central Station every Friday at 12:30pm. No reservations are required. Just show up in the Sculpture Court of the Whitney Museum at Altria, at 42nd Street and Park Avenue directly across from Grand Central.
Another excellent walking tour group is headed by Michelle Nevius and her husband James. Both are licensed tour guides. Nevius' tours are private, and that means they're smaller. Costing $12.50 per person with a minimum of $50 per tour, most Nevius tours total four people and are ideal for traveling couples or families. The Neviuses will also structure your own private tour ideally suited for your needs. New York spots included on their already prepared tours include the East Village, the West Village, Broadway, Skyscrapers and the Five Points, New York's early village area run by gangs and highlighted in the film Gangs of New York. Detailed information on Nevius tours can be found at www.walknyc.com or by calling 877/572-9719.
Another legendary walking tour for you tipplers out there is of famous Greenwich Village pubs. "The Greenwich Village Literary Pub Crawl" is run by the New Ensemble Theatre Company, meaning actors are your guides. These tours are usually raucous, combining drinking with history and conversation. Call 212/613-5796 for information. The tour kicks off with your first pint at the famous White Horse Tavern at Hudson and West 11th streets. The White Horse was a popular drinking spot for such famous literary lions as Dylan Thomas and Orson Welles. Other stops include Chumley's, a former speakeasy and beat poet hangout, and the Cornelia Street Café, famous for its jazz.
For another listing of walking tours in New York, see our own self-guided tours at www.frommers.com/destinations/newyorkcity/0021010008.html.