Harlem Renaissance Tours: Explore NYC's Cultural Heart

Our 10,000-step journey will begin with a bird' s-eye view of 125th Street, Harlem's most popular street. The main themes we will discuss are the Harlem Renaissance and gentrification. We walk by and discuss these famous places: - The world's famous Apollo Theater - Sylvia's Soul Food Restaurant - The home of Langston Hughes - Astor's Row - Several iconic murals This tour is based on a book I have written, "You Are Here: A Geographic History of Enslaved and Free Africans in Manhattan from 1613 to 1865." I will use my tour guide experience (I have given over 700 tours) to make this a fun-filled tour. Best of all, you will have a Harlem experience—see the friendly culture, people, and places of Harlem. If you are behind schedule, please get in touch with me ASAP. I will have a 5-minute grace period. Afterward, I will proceed to our first stop—the Metro-North Railroad (above-ground train station) directly across the street from the Ginjan Cafe on Park Ave.

Discover the streets where Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and other cutting-edge Harlem Renaissance players put American music on the world map. On Sundays, we offer a different walking tour that does not visit Striver's Row but encompasses other parts of Harlem for a shorter history walking tour and includes a visit to a local Baptist Church for a true gospel experience. And where Fidel Castro slept after being kicked out of a midtown hotel for having chickens in his room. Harlem's history is also one of the city's most dramatic, having gone through many ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic changes over the past roughly 400 years. This has resulted in a diverse array of places of worship, theaters, homes, and eating establishments. Join us uptown on our signature, award-winning two-hour Harlem walking tour.

The Harlem Renaissance, also known as the “New Negro” movement, was a period of cultural and social awakening in the 1920s. It was a time of vibrant creativity and artistic expression for African-Americans. Join us on this tour to explore the landmarks and legends of the Harlem Renaissance and uncover the magic of this defining moment in American history. Have you ever wondered where Swing Street/Jungle Alley was located, or why 135th Street was such a vital hub during the Harlem Renaissance? Lace up your sneakers for an unforgettable journey in Harlem. As we walk, you’ll see some of the most extraordinary theaters, ballrooms, and churches that were the center of social life during the Renaissance. Along the way, you’ll learn about the influential figures who played a crucial role in shaping this cultural movement - from Langston Hughes, a leader of the Harlem Renaissance, to Pig Foot Mary, Duke Ellington, Madame CJ Walker, Jacob Lawrence, James Van Der Zee, and Zora Neale Hurston.

Visit sights in Harlem pertaining to the culturally explosive days of 1920's Harlem, when art and culture was used as a tool for African-Americans and Blacks to define ones own self image, therefore redefining how the world viewed people of color in America. Walk in the footsteps of legendary figures such Marcus Garvey, Langston Hughs, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Harry Wills, Eubie Blake and many more.

This amazing walking tour will take you on a journey to an era in which U Street NW DC was the center of African American music and intellectualism. The sounds of jazz was everywhere, Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer were being established as the future writers of the day, and an effort to document the history of African Americans was underway. Take a journey through the Harlem Renaissance as it started in DC! Tour stops mid-way at the famous Ben's Chili Bowl, for optional refreshments and a bathroom break.

Inspirational and traditional gospel music by full choir. Explore the historic district with turn-of-the-century architecture reflecting the different stages of development of the area. See and hear the storied pass of historic sites in passing such as the Alexander Hamilton National monument (the inspiration of Broadway's "Hamilton") and the neo-Gothic city university campus. Visit and learn about the first historic district named for an African-American, and also known for the many arts and literary figures from the Harlem Renaissance who lived in the area. If this tour is completely booked, please consider the Wednesday Gospel Praise Music option.

Harlem’s unique culture has been shaped by its long and unusual history. On this audio tour through Central Harlem, you’ll hear stories about the artists, activists, and legends who made this neighborhood extraordinary. The tour starts at the corner of 145th Street and St Nicholas Avenue. You’ll walk the same streets where Alexander Hamilton spent his final years, and jazz greats like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong lived and performed. You’ll stroll down quiet streets, past the neo-Gothic campus of the City College of New York, and along bustling boulevards filled with shops, street art, and restaurants. You’ll discover how Prohibition-era speakeasies sparked a musical revolution, how the Great Migration brought millions of African Americans north in search of freedom and opportunity, and how Harlem continues to evolve today. This tour introduces you to the neighborhood where jazz took flight, and the Harlem Renaissance redefined American culture.

Get to know the history, heritage and soul of Harlem, the legendary neighborhood known internationally as the Black Mecca of the world. This explosion of cultural pride, defined as “Harlem Renaissance” derives its roots in 1890, when African Americans – after enduring centuries of slavery and the struggle for abolition - migrated to the North in great numbers, and relocated from the rural South to the urban North.

Visit Harlem, the ethnically diverse borough of New York, on a Wednesday-morning guided tour. On your tour through one of New York City's most vital neighborhoods, you'll hear stories from Harlem's fascinating history and see its famous sights. You will attend our Holiday Gospel Concert and hear the acapella sounds of the amazing Harlem Gospel Ensemble.

Your 4-hour tour of Harlem on Sundays exposes you to New York's center of Afro-American history rich in cultural and political tradition. A highlight of your tour includes a local church service to hear the inspirational sounds of Gospel music known throughout the world. Learn about the Harlem Renaissance in the early 20th century, when black writers, intellectuals and musicians flourished and political movements were born. See the landmarks of Harlem including Sugar Hill, the townhouses of Striver's Row, Sylvan Terrace, the Abyssinian Baptist Church and 125th Street, Harlem’s commercial center. Your tour includes round-trip transportation from select hotels.

Explore the most authentic New York neighborhood in 3 hours with your private guide. Visit the most notable attractions from Harlem must-see list, listen to interesting facts and stories about Harlem with its rich history and specific lifestyle. You will see the legendary Apollo Theater – the center of African-American music, the famous Strivers Row complex with its incredibly beautiful houses, the Abyssinian Baptist Church - the heart of African-American confession, the Harlem Studio Museum where you can learn more about art history of Harlem, the sophisticated Shepard Hall, and one of the best restaurants to experience soul food in Harlem. Plunge into unique atmosphere of Harlem and learn more about African-American culture. Finish your tour at a local restaurant in Harlem.

Venture into the New York diversity Bronx, where Yankees Stadium, Civic Center and Fort Apache police station tell stories of triumphs and challenges. Continue across the White Stone Bridge to Malba and discover duality from the intense graffiti murals of the South Bronx to the elegant and tranquil residences of Queens. Capture unforgettable photos at Flushing Meadows Park, scene of the US Open Tennis and memorable world fairs. Continue to Brooklyn and explore from the introspective Orthodox Jewish community to the dynamic DUMBO neighborhood. Then board the ferry for views of the Statue of Liberty, New Jersey, Governors Island, Brooklyn and the Verrazano Bridge. Passing near Ellis Island, you will feel the thrill of entry from more than 12 million immigrants. Complement with the NYPTours app, completely free, create your personalized route. If it's free, just download it and enjoy.

Before Harlem became the epicenter of the African American experience it was a Jewish immigrant neighborhood. The Gershwin Brothers, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Milton Berle, Lane Bryant, Sophie Tucker and many many more got their starts in Jewish Harlem at the dawn of the 20th century. The neighborhood is filled with synagogues, theaters, nickelodeons, department stores built by Jews for Jews that have been turned into churches, movie theaters, music venues, and political gathering sites that played a pivotal role in modern American history from the Great White Way to the Civil Rights movement. Harlem exemplifies the great "melting pot" of modern America.