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5 Best New York City Tours To Experience NYC - CourseHorse

By Rebekah Yahoves | Published 7/24/2012

Whether you’re walking, tasting, or listening, these are some of the best tours New York has to offer.


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If you are looking to explore the City, you will have a generous choice of New York City Tours. You may, however, be looking for something a bit more flavorful to help you soak up Big Apple culture. Here are some of our favorite New York tours that will give you a foundation for a lifetime of learning along with your view of some impressive buildings. There are no guidebooks and wrong turns here. You will learn to cook, eat, and listen like a pro at some of the best New York tours in town.



Sketching

Brooklyn Pizza Walk

Scott's Pizza Tours
Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

A reasonable fee of $55 for this tour includes lunch. You will visit three different pizzerias and meet with chefs and owners to learn their secrets. After your experience, you will feel comfortable conversing with your friends about wood, coal, and gas-fueled ovens and how they enhance your favorite Italian indulgence. You will also become informed in crust creation, flour, sauces, and cheese. Guides are funny, outgoing, and extremely knowledgeable. Owner Scott has appeared on Live With Kelly and Ryan, The Dr. Oz Show, and Food Network to talk about his expertise. Other popular Pizza Tours NYC include a New York City Pizza Bus Tour that visits four pizzerias in the City’s outer boroughs. It is quite popular with children. You can also check out a Crosstown Pizza Walk in Little Italy, or visit the wood-fire brick ovens of Greenwich Village. Students can even tour three artistic pizzerias in the East Village. Private tours are also available. Whichever neighborhood you choose, get ready for your mind to get filled with pizza knowledge, and your belly to get filled with mouthwatering treats.


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Colorful Silk

Live Jazz City Lights Sail in NY Harbor

Classic Harbor Line
Chelsea, Manhattan

Classic Harbor Line cruises are noted for their attentive, helpful staff and brilliant views. The boat is clean, and guests are permitted to bring food on board. Three rounds of beer, wine, soda, champagne, or water are provided, as is plenty of knowledge about the sites. A Live Jazz Trio provides an elegant soundtrack for the Live Jazz City Lights Tour. You will head out from Chelsea Piers toward Battery Park and Governor’s Island. Sail past World One, Ellis Island, and the Statue of Liberty lit up at night. This cruise is popular among couples. Children are not allowed since it departs at sunset. Popular ticketed events on the Classic Harbor Line also include an Around Manhattan Brunch Cruise, Wine and Cheese Pairing Classes, and a 4th of July Fireworks Cruise. You can also charter private yachts for corporate events, fundraisers, and parties.


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Watercolor

The Arthur Avenue Tour of The Bronx (Private Group)

SusanSez NYC Walkabouts
Bedford - Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

Susan Birnbaum is a native New Yorker obsessed with food and history of New York. Her Arthur Ave Tour of the Bronx will take you to the “real” Little Italy, where generations of Italians have settled in the land of sausage and peppers. Bread, pasta, meat, pastry, and espresso machines are unparalleled here. Watch fresh mozzarella or pasta get made from scratch. Arthur Ave is home to pasta-makers, fish markets, and pork stores that are some of the City’s best-kept secrets. Susan also has some of the most authentic tours NYC can boast. You can take an International Food tour of Astoria, Queens, a Knitting Crawl Tour of Manhattan, or The Evolution of a Neighborhood Tour of the East Village. You can also schedule a private tour or customize your own.


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Stained Glass

Farmers Market Tour + Cooking Class

Home Cooking New York
Union Square, Manhattan

After years of writing cookbooks, recipes, and food editorials for Martha Stewart Living, Jennifer Clair began teaching nightly cooking classes in students’ homes all over New York City. In 2009, she opened her first physical building in Manhattan. Two years later, a restaurant was opened as part of the school. Today, Home Cooking New York offers two-and-a-half-hour long private and public classes in its home on Grand Street. Each course culminates in a complete sit-down dinner. The Farmer’s Market Tour and Cooking Class will teach you lifelong food-shopping skills, such as what makes something “local” and why “organic” is not the most important label you should be looking for. After 45 minutes of shopping and tasting, you will prepare a meal with cheese, fruit, and homemade cream. Classes at Home Cooking are hands-on, and instructors are informative and encouraging. Some former students even report a healthier lifestyle after taking the Farmer’s Market Tour. Other popular classes at Home Cooking New York include Quick and Ridiculously Delicious Dinners, Fresh Pasta Dinners, and a Dumpling and Dim Sum Workshop. All classes are hands-on and BYOB. The class sizes are small enough for everyone to feel comfortable learning and asking questions.


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Indigo Dyeing

Central Park (Teens/Adults)

"Wildman" Steve Brill
Central Park, Manhattan

“Wildman” Steve Brill is an American naturalist, environmentalist, and author known for his foraging NYC tours. He teaches both adults and kids about the many common, overlooked edible plants that many people describe as “weeds.” By studying foraging and nature, he encourages the preservation of biology. “Wildman” Steve Brill hosts day camps, school trips, scouting events, and birthday parties. The Prospect Park tour for teens and adults will allow you to find edible delights along the park’s east side. These include a Kentucky coffee-tree, garlic-flavored mustards seeds, and mint-flavored herb tea. Steve’s passion for foraging and the environment is obvious to all his guests. He shares a wealth of knowledge and is engaging and funny the whole time. Be sure to dress for the weather and have plastic bags ready to collect veggies and herbs. Other popular “Wildman” tours include a Leatherstocking Trail for Kids 12 and Under, The Bedford Post Inn, and the Queensway.


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