Harlem, Bronx, Queens & Brooklyn Contrasts Guided Tour New York

Harlem: the Apollo Theater and the Cotton Club

The tour heads north along the Hudson River into Harlem, the historic centre of African American culture in New York. In the 1920s and 1930s the Harlem Renaissance made the neighbourhood a centre of music, literature and art, and you pass landmarks including the legendary Cotton Club and the Apollo Theater, whose Amateur Night has launched countless careers since the 1930s.

Your guide explains the history of the neighbourhood, from its brownstones and churches to its music halls. It is one of the most requested parts of a tour beyond Manhattan, since many travellers ask what Harlem is like today and whether a Harlem tour is worth it.

The Bronx: Yankee Stadium, the Joker stairs and street art

In the Bronx the tour stops at Yankee Stadium, the ground of the New York Yankees, and at the steps made famous by the film Joker. The Bronx is also known as the birthplace of hip-hop, and the South Bronx has some of the best-known street art in the city, including a mural dedicated to the rapper Big Pun and the I Love the Bronx mural by the Tats Cru artists.

Your guide explains the stories behind each piece and the history of the borough, and there is time for photos at every stop. If you are asking whether a Bronx tour is safe and worth doing, a guided tour like this takes you to the sights with local knowledge and no need to navigate on your own.

Queens and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

Queens is the largest of the boroughs by area and one of the most multicultural places in the world, with many languages spoken in its neighbourhoods. The tour crosses the Whitestone Bridge to visit Malba, a leafy waterfront neighbourhood of large houses, and continues to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

The park was the site of two World's Fairs, and its steel Unisphere, built for the 1964 fair, is a well-known photo stop. Nearby are the stadiums of the Mets and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where the US Open is played. Queens shows a different side of the city, with shops and restaurants shaped by immigrant communities.

Brooklyn: Williamsburg and your choice of finish

In Brooklyn the tour visits Williamsburg, where the Hasidic Jewish community lives in a neighbourhood that stands beside the trendy areas seen in films and television. Your guide explains local customs and asks visitors to be respectful when taking photos.

The tour ends where you choose: DUMBO, with its cobbled streets and the famous view of the Manhattan Bridge framed between two buildings, or Chinatown and Little Italy in Lower Manhattan. From DUMBO you can also walk across the Brooklyn Bridge for skyline views. The route can change with parades, traffic and events.