Self-guided walking tours

Tours

A tour is a route you follow: stops in order, a map, directions from one stop to the next, and a printable guide to take with you. When you want an argument or an explainer instead, that's Guides.

All 15 are free to follow, made by MUSEENYC, and yours to print. These are the self-guided ones you walk on your own.

Everything written on this site is free: every guide, every review, every self-guided tour.The only things we charge for are custom trip planning and in-person guided tours.

Start with a bridge

Civic Center / Brooklyn Bridge / DUMBO / Manhattan Bridge / Chinatown4.6 mi3.5 to 4 hours17 stops

Two Bridges: Brooklyn and Manhattan

Out over the Brooklyn Bridge, down into DUMBO, back over the Manhattan Bridge into Chinatown. Two crossings, no repeated views.

Lower East Side / Williamsburg, Brooklyn4 mi3 to 3.5 hours13 stops

Williamsburg Bridge: Delancey to Domino

The bridge that built Williamsburg, walked in the direction the Lower East Side actually took.

Every tour, shortest first

Greenwich Village / West Village, Manhattan2.2 mi2 to 3 hours13 stops

West Village Crooked Streets

The only part of Manhattan that ignored the grid: alleys, mews, the narrowest house in the city, ending on the river.

Bowery / Alphabet City / East Village, Manhattan2.5 mi3 to 3.5 hours13 stops

East Village Community Gardens

Thirteen free community gardens in one Sunday afternoon: turtles, koi, a treehouse, a sculptor's garden and New York's very first.

Fort Greene / Clinton Hill, Brooklyn2.6 mi2.5 hours11 stops

Fort Greene and Clinton Hill

No tourists, and one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York. Brownstone blocks and oil-money mansions.

Chinatown / Nolita / Civic Center / Tribeca, Manhattan2.7 mi3 hours13 stops

Chinatown, Little Italy and Tribeca

The oldest street pattern in Manhattan and the densest stacking of histories, ending on the Hudson.

East Village / Lower East Side, Manhattan2.8 mi3 hours13 stops

East Village to Lower East Side

Layer on layer of immigrant New York, from Stuyvesant's farm line down to the East River.

Central and West Harlem, Manhattan2.9 mi3 hours13 stops

Harlem: Mount Morris to Strivers' Row

The best row-house architecture in the city, from Mount Morris to Strivers' Row, ending at Hamilton's country house.

Brooklyn Heights / DUMBO / Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn3 mi3 hours14 stops

Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and Vinegar Hill

America's first suburb and the warehouse district below it, from the waterfront up into the brownstones.

Central Park, Manhattan3.1 mi2.5 to 3 hours14 stops

Central Park: The Greatest Hits

Everything you came to see, in an order that actually works on foot. South to north through the formal heart of the park.

Greenpoint / Williamsburg, Brooklyn3.3 mi3 hours12 stops

Greenpoint to Williamsburg Waterfront

Polish Greenpoint inland, then south down the East River with the best skyline views in the city.

Upper West Side / Morningside Heights, Manhattan3.4 mi3 to 4 hours13 stops

Upper West Side: Park to River

Apartment-house Manhattan at its best, zigzagging between two parks from Lincoln Center to the cathedral.

Prospect Park, Brooklyn3.4 mi2.5 to 3 hours15 stops

Prospect Park: The Greatest Hits

The loop that gets you the landmarks: the arch, the Long Meadow, the Boathouse, the Lake, ending at the museum and botanic garden.

Lower East Side / Williamsburg, Brooklyn4 mi3 to 3.5 hours13 stops

Williamsburg Bridge: Delancey to Domino

The bridge that built Williamsburg, walked in the direction the Lower East Side actually took.

Prospect Park, Brooklyn4.2 mi3.5 to 4 hours16 stops

Prospect Park: The Ravine and the Watercourse

Follow one engineered stream from a hidden pipe at the top of the Ravine to the Lake at the bottom. Waterfalls, a gorge, and Brooklyn's last remaining forest.

Civic Center / Brooklyn Bridge / DUMBO / Manhattan Bridge / Chinatown4.6 mi3.5 to 4 hours17 stops

Two Bridges: Brooklyn and Manhattan

Out over the Brooklyn Bridge, down into DUMBO, back over the Manhattan Bridge into Chinatown. Two crossings, no repeated views.

Central Park, Manhattan5.4 mi4 to 5 hours16 stops

Central Park: The Wild North and the Watercourse

The park's wild north end and both of its hidden streams, from a waterfall in a gorge down to the Pond. Five and a half miles, mostly unpaved.

Walking one?

Some stops are people's homes and are marked private: view them from the sidewalk only. Questions about a stop or a closure? Reach MUSEENYC at museenyc.tours@gmail.com or @museenyc on Instagram.