Explore New York City’s Greenwich Village with an expert guide on this fascinating 2-hour walking tour. Visit Washington Square Park, Waverly Place, NYU, the Salmagundi Club, Bigelow Pharmacy and tons of other popular sights while soaking up the unique atmosphere. Your guide will teach you all about the interesting history of this Lower Manhattan neighborhood, including its colorful characters, its important arts background, Beat movement roots, its famous residents and preserved cultural heritage. This tour is a great way to get a comprehensive overview of this popular New York hub.
Meet at the Jefferson Market Courthouse Library in the afternoon to begin your 2-hour walking tour of Greenwich Village, referred to by locals as ‘The Village.’ This largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan is home to mostly upper-middle-class families, but as you’ll learn, it hasn't always been that way.
Hear stories about Greenwich Village’s intriguing past of how it became a Bohemian capital, the birthplace of the Beat movement on the East Coast, and later a powerhouse of anti-conformist ideologies and arts culture for youth in New York. See this history come to life as you visit the Salmagundi Club, a famous and historic arts center that now serves as a center for art exhibitions to proudly carry on Greenwich Village's artistic heritage.
Standing in Washington Square Park, the focal point of ‘The Village,’ hear about the many uses this square has experienced through the years, from a mass burial ground to another center for artistic life. Marvel at the famous Washington Square Arch, modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and featured in movies such as I Am Legend and When Harry Met Sally.
Admire the fabulous homes of Waverly Place, known as the ‘The Row’ – a unified line of Greek Revival townhouses. On the south side of the park, you’ll see a portion of the largest private university in the US, New York University.
Discover locales of preserved history such as Bigelow Pharmacy, New York’s oldest pharmacy complete with original 19th-century fixtures and accessories. Stop to view the former homes of Mark Twain, visit the second-oldest Jewish cemetery in North America and behold the intricate Gothic Revival architecture of the First Presbyterian Church.
You’ll see all these sights and more, all while soaking up Greenwich Village's unique atmosphere: quaint streets lined with elegant townhouses, old-time lampposts, trees, boutique shops and culturally diverse restaurants. You’ll be constantly entertained by your guide’s informative and interesting commentary about the neighborhood’s history, heritage, culture and architecture. Your 2-hour tour ends back at the Jefferson Market Courthouse Library.
