Walking Tours in Lower Manhattan

The best way to understand this dynamic neighborhood is to take a guided tour with one of our top tour companies in Lower Manhattan.

Insiders say that if you haven’t been downtown in a few years, you’ll barely recognize the place. We say that the same might be true even if you’ve only let a few months go by.

While this last square mile of Manhattan was the first part of the city where European colonists settled, you’ll find that its rich history is matched only by its modern growth. Every day,  new and exciting spots open south of Chambers Street making New York City’s oldest neighborhood new again.

So how can you keep up with all there is to explore? The best way to understand this dynamic neighborhood is to take a guided tour with one of our top tour companies in Lower Manhattan — including a few through the Alliance’s 2023 Walking Tour Incubator Grant program, which awarded five original tour concepts one-on-one coaching and up to $12,500 in grant money to help develop, launch and scale their walking tours. 

On Foot: Lower Manhattan Walking Tours

Christopher Street Tours

Learn about the neighborhood’s history of LGBTQ+ activism during Christopher Street Tours’ Downtown LGBTQ+ Activism Walking Tour, one of our Walking Tour Incubator awardees. You’ll visit several sites that played an important role in the history of LGBTQ+ rights, including City Hall, Wall Street, Battery Park and more. 

How to Be a New Yorker

Another Incubator awardee, the How to Be a New Yorker downtown tour kicks off with local music, and over the course of two hours connects visitors with neighborhood business owners and community leaders — and even local snacks. 

Inside Out Tours

Inside Out Tours offers many options in Lower Manhattan, including a NYC Slavery & the Underground Railroad Tour covering the origins of slavery in colonial New York, and a Wall Street Walking Tour that examines the history of America’s financial system. 

Intrepid Urban Adventures

With the goal of showing you what makes each city unique, Intrepid Urban Adventures is a global tour company that has honed in on the rich Hamiltonian history of Lower Manhattan. The company’s least expensive tour is also one of their most popular — the New York Hamilton Tour extends the buzz of the popular Broadway musical by showing you the history of Hamilton (and, by extension, the founding of the United States) downtown.

New York Historical Tours

Get insight into New York City’s early colonial history and how it evolved into the financial capital of the world on the New York Historical Tours’ Financial District Tour, or discover the city’s original port and center of trade and commerce on their South Street Seaport and Brooklyn Bridge Tour. Learn more about New York Historical Tours here.

Sinister Secrets of the South Street Seaport

Discover the darker side of the Seaport district during the 90-minute Sinister Secrets of the South Street Seaport tour, which examines the way the media covered sensational neighborhood events from the 1790s to the 1990s. This Incubator awardee will offer you the opportunity to think critically about media coverage and public perceptions of crime as you learn the secrets of the waterfront. 

The Wall Street Experience

What happens on Wall Street affects the entire country, if not the world. With former Wall Street insiders as tour guides, learn about the inside story of Wall Street, from history to what’s happening today with The Wall Street Experience walking tour.

On Wheels: Lower Manhattan By Bus or Bike 

Big Bus Tours

No matter where you are in Manhattan, your Big Bus Tour tickets allow you to hop-on, hop-off your way to an Explore Downtown NYC tour, which brings you to Brooklyn Bridge City Hall, Wall Street, the Statue of Liberty and the Seaport. Plus, every Big Bus tour to Brooklyn ends right in Lower Manhattan. There’s no easier way to include Lower Manhattan into your New York City itinerary.

Blazing Saddles

Ride across two of the city’s iconic bridges — Brooklyn and Manhattan — during Blazing Saddles’ guided Brooklyn Bridge Bike Tour. Beginning at Pier 17 in the Seaport, this 2.5-hour tour covers top sights like the Statue of Liberty, One World Trade Center and Battery Park. 

On the Water: Cruises Leaving From Lower Manhattan

Statue Cruises

The only way to the Statue of Liberty

If you are looking to visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on your visit to New York, the absolute only company that can get you there is Statue Cruises, the official ferry of the National Park Service in NYC, and the only authorized official provider of tickets and tours to the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island. Other companies might promise to do the same, but they can only get you near Lady Liberty. To dock and visit the Lady, the Statue of Liberty Museum and Ellis Island, book at statuecruises.com or buy tickets at the Battery, where the tour boats depart.

Manhattan By Sail

Take in the magic of the NYC harbor on the mighty Clipper City sailboat, or enjoy a more intimate yachting experience on the Shearwater. Either way, Manhattan by Sail offers sunset sails, happy hours and easy one-hour affordable tours that allow you to experience luxury without paying for it. 

On the cheap: discounts and deals for Lower Manhattan tours

Looking for a free ride?

The Downtown Alliance runs a free shuttle service around the perimeter of Lower Manhattan, so keep your eyes peeled for our red Downtown Connection buses, servicing 36 stops from 10 a.m. through 7:30 p.m., seven days a week (except for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day).