{"id":16,"date":"2025-08-20T16:23:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/demo.8grids.com\/ink\/?p=16"},"modified":"2026-02-24T04:38:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T04:38:42","slug":"exploring-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theme.visualmodo.com\/traveler\/exploring-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

No matter where I travel in the world, people light up when I tell them I live here. \u201cOhhh New York,\u201d they say. \u201cI would love to go there. It\u2019s my dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

With its iconic skyline, towering skyscrapers, crowded streets lined with ethnic cuisine, theater, parks, and the fact it\u2019s the backdrop for like 50% of the movies out there, it is no wonder that it has always been one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.<\/p>\n

I remember the moment I fell in love with the city. It was on New Years in 1999. As the new millennium ticked over, I sat outside with friends, looked up Broadway, and watched the ball drop in the distance. When it came time to slow my travels, I knew there was no other city to move to. When I\u2019m in NYC, I still feel like I\u2019m traveling: languages I don\u2019t know are spoken all around me and I can get food from any country in the world. To me, NYC is the heart of the world.<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m not on the road, I\u2019ve lived in New York City and have used my personal, insider view to write this guidebook. I know the city like the back of my hand. I\u2019ll give you local, insider knowledge to help you get off-the-beaten path and into the little secret spots free of tourists.<\/p>\n

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SIyDisemI78″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n

I know a\u00a0visit to NYC can be overwhelming. There\u2019s just so much to see and do that it\u2019s easy to and miss some of the little out-of-the-way places and sites that make NYC unique. This travel guide offers an inside look into hostels, restaurants, bars, neighborhoods, and attractions so that you can get the most bang for your buck while visiting.<\/p>\n

Too many people think NYC is \u201ctoo expensive\u201d but actors, writers, and everyday people manage to live in the city without going bust. They do so because there are TONS of cheap things to do here. You just have to know where to find them \u2013 and, in this guide, I\u2019ll point you in the right direction!<\/p>\n

\"\"
Duffy square in Time Square, New York City. Vintage tones.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

New York City has many walking tour companies \u2014 from free tours to food tours to neighborhood tours to expensive private walking tours. This place has it all, and with so much history and culture and so many nationalities represented here, it\u2019s not really that surprising. New York seems to have a walking tour for everyone\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

I love walking tours. I think they\u2019re a wonderful way to see a city, get your bearings, and learn about where you are from a local expert\u2019s point of view. After all, why visit a place if you don\u2019t want to learn about it?<\/p>\n

Over the last month, I decided to learn about\u00a0my new home<\/a>\u00a0and took tours with most of the big historical walking tour companies (food tours are for another post) in order to find the best. My feet still hurt, but I learned a lot about NYC history.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a review of them all:<\/p>\n

Free Tours by Foot<\/a><\/h3>\n

These free tours are offered throughout the city by volunteer guides, with multiple tours offered each day. You can find a wide range of tours (historical, food, cultural) that take you all over the city. The company really shines in its diverse catalog \u2014\u00a0there\u2019s a neighborhood or tour type for everyone. Most of the guides are actors and other long-time locals. They add a bit of quirky history to each tour, and since there\u2019s no set script, each tour differs based on your guide. (My SoHo tour guide waxed poetic on gentrification.) I\u2019ve taken a number of their tours and wouldn\u2019t hesitate to take more. You\u2019re required to sign up for tours in advance, but unless it\u2019s a major holiday, the tours are rarely full and you can just show up.<\/p>\n

Context Travel<\/a><\/h3>\n

\"Group
\nOne of my favorite walking tour companies, Context runs tours throughout the world, and I mention them on this website often. They offer a lot of tours in NYC, and I\u2019ve taken three of them. Most recently, I took the Brooklyn walk, which taught me a lot about Brooklyn and the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. I\u2019m also a big fan of their lower Manhattan historical walk. If you want really intellectual and educational tours, this is the company to choose.<\/p>\n

They aren\u2019t the cheapest tour company in the city (tours run $70 per person), but luckily you can use the code \u201cnomadicmatt\u201d to get 10% off.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No matter where I travel in the world, people light up when I tell them I live here. \u201cOhhh New York,\u201d they say. \u201cI would love to go there. It\u2019s my dream.\u201d With its iconic skyline, towering skyscrapers, crowded streets lined with ethnic cuisine, theater, parks, and the fact it\u2019s the backdrop for like 50% […]<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":834,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19,21,1],"tags":[22,29,37,39],"class_list":["post-16","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life","category-photography","category-travel","tag-airship","tag-heaven","tag-sky","tag-travel","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"\nExploring New York - Traveler WordPress Theme<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theme.visualmodo.com\/traveler\/exploring-new-york\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exploring New York - Traveler WordPress Theme\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"No matter where I travel in the world, people light up when I tell them I live here. \u201cOhhh New York,\u201d they say. \u201cI would love to go there. 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