My wife and I recently spent 3 days in New York City following a few days in Washington DC. Having previously visited and seen all the key points of interest in NYC, and having had our fill of monuments and museums in DC, we wanted to do something with a different vibe. Prior to our arrival, I googled “NYC off the beaten path” tours and came across Streetwise. I booked us for the Thursday PM Brooklyn walking tour and we hooked up with our guide Andrew near the Brooklyn Bridge.
Fortunately for us, the others who were scheduled to be on the tour had cancelled so we had Andrew all to ourselves. We are a fairly active couple in our early 50s and were hoping to pack as much as we could into that afternoon. We sheepishly explained to Andrew we really only wanted to spend 2 hours rather than 3 in Brooklyn because we were hoping to spend some time in Central Park prior to our departure the next morning. Andrew was extremely accommodating and not only did he provide us a relatively high-speed, fact-filled tour of Brooklyn, the Heights, a boat trip up the East River, and the ultra-cool Williamsburg, he then also personally escorted us through the labyrinth of the NY subway system and took us on a tour of the historic highlights of Central Park! “You’ve paid for my time, I’m happy to take you there.”
Andrew is a native New Yorker and incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about his city. He’s also very personable and was a real joy to spend the afternoon with. He got to know us a little bit and gained an understanding of what we’d be interested in and took it from there. The entire tour was outstanding and provided us an entirely different perspective on NYC than you get from the tour buses (which we’ve done in the past). I can tell you it was truly the highlight of our trip.
Many thanks to Andrew and Streetwise. You cannot go wrong with these folks if you really want to gain a different, informative and entertaining perspective of this wonderful city.