New York City · AUDIO TOURS
Good audio tours fill up weeks ahead and the great ones go first. Below: the 14 to book early, what each includes and how they differ.
See New York lit up from an open-top bus, with skyline views, audio narration, bridges, Times Square, and Midtown landmarks for $49.
“They don't leave on time, bad customer service, no heat on the bus. Took three hours to get back in to town.”
Explore St. Patrick’s Cathedral at your own pace with a multilingual audio tour covering its art, faith, architecture, and history.
“Informative; lots of history. Not sure why there is a one hundred word minimum. Vvvb bbb bbb. Iiiiioiki”
Visit Liberty and Ellis islands by ferry with skip-the-queue access, self-guided audio, museum time, and practical New York tips.
“Amazing day! The audio guide was super easy to use and told great stories about the history. We loved being able to walk around at our own speed without a guide rushing us.”
Walk New York’s Millionaire Row with a GPS audio guide, Gilded Age mansions, Fifth Avenue landmarks, and a flexible finish at The Met.
“Better than with a live tour guide. The quality of the script is outstanding. The information is thorough, the presentation is brilliant, both enlightening and entertaining. The technical aspect is what really surprised: the GPS tracks your location and tells you to cross the street, to look to the left or to the right – it's very well done. There's no "dead time" as with a live guide when you walk from one location to the next; you are being talked to the entire time. You have the flexibility to rewind, pause and resume, answer a phone call, take a break. Game changer!”
Walk Lower Manhattan through Hamilton’s story with guide Dana, musical audio, historic stops, and Alexander Hamilton’s grave at Trinity Church.
“We had a tour scheduled but the guide was ill so we scrambled and found Dana and are so glad we did. She gave our family of 4 - kids ages 12 and 14- a perfect Hamilton experience. It was about 90 min long which was honestly the perfect length for our attention spans. She’s great at getting to the interesting details without all the blah blah blah. Recommend!”
Explore Wall Street, the Federal Reserve, Charging Bull, and historic finance sites on a flexible 30-minute GPS audio tour.
“Simple to use, a nice use of technology, combining smart phone, gps tracker and tour guide to make it easy and informative.”
Explore New York’s High Line with a story-driven audio walk covering Death Avenue, Chelsea Market, Vessel, and Hudson Yards.
“Very informative and entertaining commentary. Easy to download and start the App. Did have some issues with synchronizing walking speed with app commentary.”
Walk Central Park from the Plaza to the Dakota with an offline audio tour covering statues, films, John Lennon, and park history.
“Very hard to use especially with paths in Central Park kept going in circles and telling us we were lost. No kidding! Would like a refund”
Explore the West Village’s artists, punks, theaters, bars, and scandals on a flexible offline audio walk from St. Luke’s to The Jane Hotel.
“Worth spending the time to learn some interesting history and enjoy a lovely walk in the w. Village.”
Explore Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan by bike or foot with audio, stories, film sites, food tips, photos, and restroom stops.
Explore Prospect Park by GPS audio, from Grand Army Plaza to waterfalls and the Picnic House, with a flexible 90-minute walk.
“I used Apple Maps along side the tour to help keep me on track. It’s a wonderful, entertaining and educational tour and I highly recommend it to get the most out of a visit to Prospect Park. It’s quite a long walk and there are some stairs involved, so be aware if that presents a challenge for you. Wear comfy shoes and your Air Buds, and bring water and snacks. There are loads of photo ops! Also you will have to walk about 1/2 mi further to exit the park at the end of the tour.”
Explore Broadway at your own pace with a $5.39 VoiceMap audio tour covering Times Square, theaters, TKTS, and more.
“Regan was great. The experience was easy to book. I highly recommend Regan and the experience for all theatre lovers!”
Walk from Bowling Green to Stone Street with an offline audio tour covering forts, memorials, immigration, and Lower Manhattan history.
“Definitely worth it. When construction at the battery is completed it will be even better. But this was a fantastic tour and I learned and discovered new stuff and sites!”
Walk Greenwich Village from Washington Square to Jefferson Market while hearing stories of artists, radicals, writers, and rebels offline.
“Very interesting historical perspective of the area. We learned a lot about the area throughout the years. Directions were clear as to how to get around.”
Pick a deck, a pier, a borough or a table.
