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PRIVATE WALKING Get the best out of the Big Apple |
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FAQs NEW! (On select dates we will be offering public walking
tours. For reservations and further information, click the link above.) About
Our All tours are led by Michelle or
James Nevius and feature a mix of stops that highlight the history,
architecture, and cultural development of the neighborhood. We are both
historians who believe that the best way to experience Booking
Two-hour
tours cost a flat fee of $80 for groups of 1, 2,
or 3 people; it is $20 per person if your party is larger than four people. Three-hour
tours cost a flat fee of $120 for groups of 1,
2, or 3 people; it is $30 per person if your party is larger than four
people. Four-hour
tours cost a flat fee of $160 for groups of 1,
2, or 3 people; it is $40 person if your party is larger than four people. Discounts are available for student
groups and parties of more than 10 people. To contact us about or
call (toll-free) 1-877-572-9719 Questions? Follow
this link to our Frequently Asked Questions page. |
Frequently
Asked Questions What are some advantages of taking private
tours? ·
Tailor the walking tour to your schedule, not
the other way around. ·
Get personalized attention, including incorporating
your interests into the tour itinerary. ·
Take a tour at your own pace; cover a lot a ground or
take the time to explore. ·
Set your own tour size, instead of being appended to a
larger group. (Some public tour groups have over 40 people.) ·
Save money! Other tour groups charge hundreds of
dollars for even a small group tour. Can
you tell me a schedule of your tours? A few days each month, we offer public
tours by reservation. For a list of upcoming tours, visit our Public Tours page. However, seven days a week what we
specialize in are private tours, for which there is no set schedule—each tour
is booked as an appointment between you and the guide. There will no one else
on the tour besides the people in your group (whether that is just you, you
and your family, or you and 40 colleagues). What
days do you offer tours? We offer tours 7 days a week—including
holidays—though we will be giving fewer tours this winter (2007/08) as we are
working on our next book. Please contact us about your dates and we’ll be
able to let you know if we are available. What
times do tours start? Private tours can start as early as 7:00 in
the morning, or as late as 7:00 in the evening, based on your preference.
Almost all tours work best in the daylight; if you only have evening
availability, consider a Greenwich Village tour. The most
popular tour start times are 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning, or 1:00 in the
afternoon. From May through September, feel free to consider a 4:00 or 5:00
start for any 2-hour tour; it will definitely still be light for the
duration. (Public tour dates and times can be found on our Public Tours page.) You mention a $80 “flat fee” for tours. How exactly
does this work? For a two-hour private tour, if you have 1,
2, or 3 people in your group, you pay a flat fee of $80. This is not a
per-person charge. If your group has 4 or more people, the
rate is $20 per person. (Discounts apply for larger parties and student
groups. If you have a group of more than 10, please ask about special rates
when you make your booking inquiry.) For the Skyscraper
tour or the Manhattan Sampler, which
are four-hour tours, the rates are double: a flat fee of $160 for group of
1-3 people or $40 per person for groups with more than 4 people. In order to provide the best personalized
touring experience, your tour will be just your party and a guide—you will
never be joined to another group. What happens if it is bad weather at tour time? We are happy to guide a tour in any
weather. One of the benefits of a private tour is that you can request that
we pause in a coffee shop to warm up or cool off. If weather conditions are
dangerous, we will recommend rescheduling. Otherwise, it’s your decision. We
just ask that you let us know at least an hour before the start time. Also,
feel free to contact us if you are uncertain about whether the stormy skies
are predicted to clear up—we monitor the weather forecasts pretty closely. How
far in advance do we need to book a tour? You can book as far in advance as you like.
You are welcome to contact us as late as the “day-of” if you get a sudden
urge to take a tour; sometimes we will have same day or next day availability
and sometimes we won’t, but it never hurts to ask. If I
send you an email, when will I hear back from you? Most emails are responded to within half a
day; some are answered within minutes, but if we are out giving tours it does
sometimes take a few hours for us to catch up on our email. If 24 hours have
gone by and you haven’t heard from us, feel free to email again, in case your
email has gotten lost in cyberspace. How
do I pay for a tour? We accept cash or check at the end of a
tour. We are happy to invoice in advance, and/or to provide a receipt upon
payment—just let us know what you require. Do I
need to pay a deposit to make a reservation? No. However, please remember to put us on
your calendar, and to cancel or reschedule if you can’t make your
appointment. Is
there a penalty for canceling or rescheduling a tour? No. We just ask that you let us know as
soon as you know that you won’t be using your time slot, so that we can try
to book a tour with someone else for that time. Where
do the tours meet? Each tour has a different meeting place. We
set up that meeting place when we are confirming a tour booking. How
do I know if my tour is confirmed? If you know when and where you are meeting
your guide, then your tour is confirmed. Where
will the tour end? Most tours do not end at the place where
they start. Be sure to let us know either in advance or at the beginning of
the tour if you would like the tour to end where it started, at a certain
restaurant, etc. Of course, we are always happy to direct you to the subway
or a taxi at the end of a tour. How
will I recognize the guide? Your guide will be either Michelle or James
Nevius. We carry 3-ring binders with maps and photographs, and wear a cap
and/or a backpack that says walknyc.com. What
does it mean that your private tours are “customizable”? You can express a preference for the theme
or route of your tour. If you let us know in advance that there are
particular places you want to make sure you see or if you’d like the tour to
have a certain emphasis, we can alter the itinerary accordingly. For example,
our tour of Lower Manhattan can center on
Dutch Colonial History or the American Revolution. It can be a tour that is
very architectural, but it can also be a tour that isn’t very architectural
at all. In general, most clients choose not to customize a tour and we mix
different elements together, focusing on many different time periods and
subjects. What
does it mean to “Add an Hour”? Please see the Add an Hour page
of this site for a full explanation. What
is the best tour for younger children? Any tour can be made very child friendly,
but consider Central Park or Lower
Manhattan. What
is the best tour for field trips or student groups? Lower Manhattan, Five Points and The Gangs of New York, and Immigration and the Lower
East Side are all popular with schools and youth groups. We are happy
to adapt any tour to your age level and curricular needs. A
friend of mine took an eating tour of the We’d be happy to; the Lower East Side tour
lends itself to noshing along the way. However, we do not include the price
of food in our tour charge. You can buy whatever you like along the way (and
we’ll point out our favorite places) and that way you aren’t stuck paying for
food you’re not interested in. What
is the best tour for someone in the city for the first time? The Manhattan Sampler is
designed for you. If you want only a two-hour tour, consider Lower
Manhattan, which traces the history of the city from its origins to
the present, while seeing Wall Street, the Statue of Liberty, and other
famous sites. What
tour is best for someone who already knows a lot about the city? We have New Yorkers on our tours all the
time, and they learn things on every tour, even when visiting their own
neighborhoods. However, if you want to get off the beaten path, consider Morningside
Heights, Peter Stuyvesant’s
Bowery, Brooklyn Heights, or Harlem
and Hamilton Heights. Can
you match me up with another group? Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to
do this. We offer each tour only as a personal tour for the client making the
booking, and whomever he or she wishes to bring. We feel that if you hire us
for just yourself, or you and one companion, you are getting a premium
experience for your money. If you are a single person and don’t want
to pay $80 for your own tour, consider one of our Public Tours. How
large a group can you accommodate? We have simultaneously accommodated
school-groups of 60-70 individuals by breaking the party into 2 groups, each
with one guide, walking the same route in different directions. We have
accommodated school groups of over 100 by splitting the party into groups as
small as 13 and touring at different times, with some groups in a museum or
eating while others were touring. We do whatever we can to offer your
students a high-quality, engaging walk based on your goals. But can we
accommodate 300 students taking the same tour at the same time? Regrettably,
at this time we cannot. |
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