More about: New York Contrasts Tour
This well-known New York Contrasts Tour takes you on a journey of discovery through New York's five boroughs: Manhattan, Harlem, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.
By taking this Contrasts Tour, you'll also be avoiding the number one mistake made by many people who travel to New York: not leaving Manhattan. Want to know what awaits you outside the jungle of skyscrapers beyond Central Park? Keep reading!
New York Contrasts Tour
Discover the city's best-kept secrets with a local guide
New York is much more than Manhattan: the city is home to many different cultures, architectural styles and customs. Explore the city's highlights by bus accompanied by a specialist guide.
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The New York Contrasts Tour will take you on a five-hour journey through New York in a minivan, discovering every corner of its most iconic neighbourhoods. What stands out about this Contrasts Tour above others is the professionalism of its local guides, which is what makes a tour an interesting experience compared to going it alone. What's more, it's slightly cheaper than the average price of other similar tours.
In fact, I recommend doing this tour as early as possible during your visit to New York, as it will give you a varied taste of the Big Apple and allow you to return to the neighbourhood or area that caught your attention to explore it in more detail.
Why I like this tour: in one morning, you can visit very different parts of New York that would take a day or two to see on your own.
Recommended if... you want to get your bearings and gain a good understanding of the city's main districts, including the diverse cultures and customs that coexist in New York.
Other contrast tours in New York
Explore the contrasts of New York with a selection of guided tours that not only take you through iconic neighbourhoods such as Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Harlem, but also offer unique experiences such as gospel mass, small group options and hotel pick-up. Here are the top-rated ones:
- Guided tour of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens — from S$88
- Contrast tour with pick-up in Manhattan — from S$110
- Contrasts tour and gospel mass — from S$222
How to book a Contrast Tour in New York
The Contrasts Tour is a highly recommended experience for discovering the cultural diversity of New York City. If you decide to take it, you can book it conveniently through the Hellotickets website. Please note that when booking the Contrasts Tour, you will need to provide the details of each person included in the booking.
Confirmation will be immediate, and you will receive a confirmation email as soon as you make your purchase, detailing all the booking information.
In addition, if your plans change for any reason, you can cancel free of charge. If you have any special accessibility requests, you can also indicate this so that the guide is aware of everything.
Prices for a New York Contrasts Tour
The price of the New York Contrasts Tour starts at £37 and includes a guided tour of Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. You will also cross the famous Manhattan Bridge and see the Yankees and Mets stadiums.
An ideal way to experience the city's urban art on a tour lasting around five hours. Don't hesitate!
Useful information about the tour
I recommend that you don't miss out on a Contrast Tour during your trip to New York. Here are some practical tips:
- Transport: The Contrast Tour is conducted in an air-conditioned minivan or bus so that you can visit New York in style during the 5-hour tour. Groups for this tour are limited to a maximum of 50 people.
- Best day of the week to do it: If you want to avoid the crowds, it's best to go on a weekday, perhaps a Tuesday or Thursday. Weekends are usually the most popular days, but paradoxically, Saturdays are the religious day of rest for Jews, so the visit to Williamsburg tends to be a little quieter, as you won't see any shops or much activity on the streets. Therefore, if you have to choose one of the two weekend days, I recommend going on Sunday.
- Pick-up at your hotel: This tour offers pick-up at several different hotels in New York, so if you are lucky enough to be staying at one of them, you just have to go downstairs and wait to be picked up. Otherwise, simply go to one of the hotels indicated at the departure time to start your tour.
- Choose the end of the tour: One important thing is that you can choose between two locations in Brooklyn to end your Contrasts Tour: under the Brooklyn Bridge, in the DUMBO neighbourhood, or in Chinatown. My recommendation is to end in DUMBO instead of crossing the bridge back to Manhattan.
- The tour on your own: You will do a lot of walking on this tour, but it is suitable for almost anyone, as part of the tour will be done by transport. Remember that you always have the option of visiting the sites and monuments on your own, choosing one of the various New York tourist passes available or taking the typical red bus that tours the city.
Plan your trip to take the Contrasts tour
Timetable
Contrast Tours usually start early each morning (around 8 a.m.) to make the most of the day before lunchtime, so you'll have to get up a little early, but it's a perfect way to squeeze every last drop out of your trip to New York.
Duration
Your tour will last between 4 and 5 hours, so you can expect to spend about an hour in each district. Is this enough time to get to know all the neighbourhoods you'll be visiting in detail? No, but as you know, the idea is to give you a little taste of each area to show you what awaits you in each part of New York.
Alex's Tip
Pick the neighbourhood you like best from this visit and come back to explore it in more detail after the tour.
The stop in Harlem
On the New York Contrasts Tour, you'll stroll through the streets while your guide tells you the story of Harlem's typical brick flats and the famous people who have lived there. You'll also see the illustrious Apollo Theatre and the Cotton Club, two institutions of New York jazz that were key to the cultural development of Harlem in the 1920s.
If you take a tour of Harlem on a Wednesday, you will see the neighbourhood in all its splendour, as the religious congregations will be holding their gospel mass services and you will be able to hear them inside the churches as you walk by. In fact, there is also a tour of Harlem exclusively that allows you to attend a gospel mass. You can read more about that tour in my article at How to attend to a Gospel Mass in Harlem, New York City
In any case, Harlem is a district that is well worth a visit on its own, so I am sure it will be a place you will want to return to explore more deeply after finishing the Contrasts Tour.
The stop at Yankee Stadium
On the New York Contrast Tour, you will visit the legendary Yankee Stadium, home to one of New York's baseball teams, where you will have the opportunity to take a photo. Although the tour does not include admission to the stadium so as not to delay you too much, you will be able to compare the stadiums of New York's two rival baseball teams, the Yankees and the Mets.
Of course, if you are a die-hard fan of either team, I recommend that you return to your favourite team's stadium once you have finished the Contrast Tour to go inside and explore it. What's more, if you like baseball, I'm sure you already have your ticket for a game of one of the two New York teams!
The stop in the Bronx
Don't be afraid to go to the Bronx on a Contrast Tour, as most of the tour will be in your vehicle and the places you will stop at are perfectly safe. Although there are still some rough neighbourhoods in this area, you will only see the most touristy parts, so you have nothing to worry about. That said, another added advantage of the Contrast Tour is that you can visit the Bronx with peace of mind, as going on your own can be really dangerous.
At this stop, you will take a tour of iconic places in the Bronx, including film locations and New York's most famous street art. On your walk, you will see hip hop on every corner, and you will understand why the Bronx is the mecca of this culture in the same way that Harlem is the mecca of jazz.
In fact, you will visit an entire open-air art gallery, known as the Graffiti Universe. Street art is an integral part of hip hop culture, along with music, rap and breakdancing, so this tour will immerse you in the history of the Bronx and its artistic movement.
The stop in Queens
On the New York Contrasts Tour, you will visit New York's largest borough, known for its multiculturalism and for being the city's commercial and business hub. You will see the Mets stadium, the Yankees' rival stadium, the stadium where the US Open tennis tournament is held, and the globe from 'Men In Black' in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Among other points of interest, you will also explore the Little India neighbourhood.
In addition, you will visit the Malba neighbourhood, one of the wealthiest in New York. If you keep your eyes open, you will appreciate the huge difference between this neighbourhood and the rest of Queens, which makes the borough an amalgam of contrasts in itself. By the way, don't miss the Queens Museum and its giant model of New York! It won't take you too long to visit and it's truly impressive.
The stop in Brooklyn
Brooklyn is undoubtedly the district with the most identity in New York, with its brick houses lined with trees on either side of the street and the famous Instagram hot spot overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. As if that weren't enough, the food in Brooklyn is spectacular (especially if you love pizza) and every shop and bar has a converted industrial warehouse vibe that is simply irresistible.
Now that I've made it clear that Brooklyn is my favourite district in New York, I can continue telling you about this stop on the Contrast Tour, where you can explore the Jewish neighbourhood of Williamsburg, where you'll see many Jewish people wearing their traditional attire, which will probably surprise you. Be careful when taking photos, as they may feel uncomfortable if you take their picture. Also noteworthy is the industrial charm of DUMBO under the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as discovering the flavours and smells of Chinatown and Little Italy.
Meals
The Contrasts Tour does not include food, but luckily the itinerary ends in Brooklyn, where you will find the best pizza in New York. If you weren't planning on leaving the city without trying the classic New York slice, this is the place to sample all the best of the Big Apple's Italian heritage. To give you some ideas, here are a few restaurants where you can enjoy a well-deserved meal after a morning of sightseeing.
Whatever anyone tells you, these are the top spots in Brooklyn:
- Speedy Romeo - this car repair shop converted into a pizzeria named after a car from Grand Theft Auto is a culinary tribute to traditional Italian pizza, with thin crust and cooked in a wood-fired oven. Don't miss it!
- Vinnie's Pizzeria - here you'll find the typical New York slice for £0.70 in a place that doesn't try to impress anyone. The surprise is in the pizza and its flavour, which you can enjoy to take away, which is a good idea if you're doing the Contrasts Tour at the weekend so you don't have to find a table in a restaurant.
- Totonno's - a pizzeria famous throughout New York, whose star dish is a simple but delicious margherita. As it is so popular, you may have some difficulty finding a table, so I recommend this option if you are doing the Contrasts Tour during the week.
What to do after the Contrasts Tour?
Since the Contrasts Tour ends in Brooklyn, I suggest spending the afternoon exploring some of its main neighbourhoods. My recommendation would be to take a stroll through DUMBO and Chinatown to get to know these places in depth, and end the day as a local would: having a drink al fresco at the Brooklyn Barge in Greenpoint, or if it's cold, sampling craft beers at Dekalb Market.
If you're still up for it, you can book another tour of New York's neighbourhoods, but this time on a comfortable bus.
And if you'd like to round off your trip to New York with one of the organised day trips available, I recommend checking out my practical guide 17 Day Trips from New York, where you can see which ones are the most interesting.
I can tell you now that Niagara Falls and the trip to Washington DC are among my favourites.