Half-Day Harlem Gospel Experience Walking Tour

Overview

Enjoy a neighborhood tour of the cultural capital of Black America and experience the soulful sounds of gospel music. Explore the streets walked by greats such as Billie Holiday, Malcolm X, and Michael Jackson while viewing legendary sites like the Apollo Theater, the Abyssinian Baptist Church, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Strivers’ Row, Hotel Theresa and much more. After the neighborhood tour, you also have a chance to enjoy a gospel performance at a service in a local church.

City: New York City

Mon 23 Dec

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $45.00

Make a reservation

Mon 23 Dec

Starting at $45.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Professional guide

Additional Info

Wheelchair accessible
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Service animals allowed
Public transportation options are available nearby
Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
Dress code is smart casual. Part of this tour will take place inside a church. Out of respect for the congregation hosting us, please dress appropriately and refrain from wearing flip-flops, tank tops and shorts
Visiting the church requires the proof of vaccination and wearing a mask.
Customers require staying for the entire church service (usually 1.15 - 1.3 hours)
Face masks required for travellers in public areas

What To Expect

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

(Exterior Visit) The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library and an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide.

Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

(Exterior Visit) Mother Zion has played a critical role in every aspect of African-American life during early New York City history.

Abyssinian Baptist Church

(Exterior Visit) Founded in 1808, Abyssinian Baptist Church is one of the oldest African-American Baptist churches in the United States.

Strivers' Row

View beautiful historic homes built by David H. King Jr., who also built the Washington Arch and the Empire State Building.

Apollo Theater

(Exterior Visit) Re-opened to both black and white audiences in 1934 as the Apollo Theater catering mostly to Harlem’s black community.

Harlem

Experience the service of a black congregation and enjoy and participate in the Gospel music with live musicians and choir sharing the joy of Gospel.

Show 3 more stops

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (64)

crisyraul

Aug 2022

We had an EXCELLENT time with our guide, Ludi. She told us about slavery history and connected it with the music. She is a great communicator and wakes up everybody, even on Sunday at 8am! But, and it is a big but because is the main reason for the tour, the gospel mass was absolutely disappointing. There was one solo singer (great voice, by the way) and 3 musicians. The congregation were 10-15 Afroamerican people and then, 400 tourists. The sound at the end rows was awful: you couldn’t hear the singer because of people clapping even with loudspeakers. And finally the songs: nice songs, great voice but no soul, and most of all, no choir at all (yes, we want a little choir, and we want to feel it in our bones!!!). No difference with a catholic mass in my country, and I would definitely not recommend to go to one except you are a true catholic. The mass was performed at Salem United Methodist Church. In the way back to the metro, we walked by another church: that was a real gospel mass!!! Bad choice…

Response from Host

Aug 2022

Thank you so much for your kind comments about the walking tour and our guide Ludi! As for the Chruch; we had only just received notice about not having a choir for the month of August, but only a soloist. We did notify all taking the tour of this fact well in advance to have the ability to cancel the tour. So this was the option of all attendees to cancel or to keep the tour with only the soloist at the church. There are so many tourists attending this church service as this is one of the few churches in Harlem that will accept groups allowing them to experience their services. Many of their congregants do attend service however they do it virtually which started with Covid. Due to the aging congregation they have remained attending the service virtually. We appreciate all feedback.

Sofia D

Aug 2022

The tour was good, the guide was excellent and knew a lot of things, explaining everything perfectly to us. It is suggested if you want to learn the history of the Afro-American community but we expected to visit more about Harlem. The Gospel was quite good, although there was not a choir but just a person singing, and the church was full of tourists.

Response from Host

Aug 2022

Thank you for your good review on our tour. This tour is designed about the Afro-American community as it developed and shaped Harlem. The Gospel Church, so please that you enjoyed the experience. We had just learned that there would not be a choir for the month of August, only a soloist. We did notify all to the fact that there would be only a soloist at the church with the option to cancel the tour. Thank you for your positive comments and critiques.

lara3426

Jul 2022

You have the assistance but unfortunanly reply the day after. I've had a 1/2 hour of delay. I wrote early in the morning but the reply came to me only the day after. I did not want to affect the experience of other people but just to have a chance to partecipate ( at least ) to the gospel . An unforeseen event is an unforeseen event. I did not ask for money back, but just to reach the tour once they was at gospel, but it is clearly that you don't want to resolve an unexpected delay to one of your customer, since your reply came the day after. If I can give you an advice, maybe a phone call was better than an email the next day. From my point , never more.

Response from Host

Jul 2022

Thank you for your feedback. We want you to know that have several sections of the gospel tour leaving every Sunday and, if you missed your departure, we would have put you on the next one. If you missed the last departure because you were very late, we would have gladly sent you the church information. We did not receive your email until the next day. We are not sure what may have happened but we certainly did not ignore your attempt to reach us. In the future, we recommend planning for extra time when you are trying to attend the tour. While we try to give a grace period when possible, in consideration of the other customers, we do have to leave on time. Thank you again for your feedback.