With its cool vibe, great shopping, art galleries and gorgeous cast-iron buildings, SoHo is worth a visit!
I’ve been coming to SoHo since I was a teenager in the 1980s, first with my very hip parents and then on my own to buy punk rock records.
While it’s lost its edge over the decades, I’ve come to appreciate other aspects of the neighborhood.
As one of several SoHo tour guides at Tours By Foot NYC, I come here often and am always charmed by the beautiful cast-iron architecture and narrow Belgian block-lined streets.
SoHo’s art galleries are open to anyone. The shopping is unrivaled, with its designer boutiques and chain stores.
Plus, the food scene is excellent and the nightlife is great!
SoHo has enormous appeal, which is why we lead hundreds of guests each week on our guided walking tours of the neighborhood.
If you want to get a feel for the neighborhood by strolling around, doing some window-shopping and grabbing a snack, I think two to three hours is enough.
Shopping, popping into art galleries, and having a sit-down meal will take you several hours.
While not known as a large tourist accommodation area, I think SoHo is a fantastic place to stay in NYC.
It's quiet at night and right in the center of the neighborhoods.
I suggest to all my guests they make time to visit.
In this post, I share with you what I feel are the best things to do in SoHo, including where to shop, see art, and dine.
I've also made a short itinerary to give you some guidance in planning your day, including things to do at night.
Plus, there's a section on things to do with kids.
In the video below, Katie, my fellow tour guide at Tours by Foot NYC takes you on a stroll through the neighborhood.
Now let's get to the good stuff!
- Plan Your Visit
- Things to See and Do
- Places to Eat
- Shopping
- Things to Do in NYC
- Where to Stay in NYC
- NYC Neighborhoods Guide
What Does SoHo Stand For?
SoHo is an acronym for South of Houston Street, as its northern boundary is...you guessed it... Houston Street!
Over the years, I've seen new neighborhoods pop up named with catchy acronyms.
As I explain to my tour guests, it's not actually new neighborhoods developing.
Rather, they are parts of existing neighborhoods that realtors market as new and desirable. Like Nolita (north of Little Italy)!
That one amused me and a lot of other New Yorkers! It was Little Italy!
But renaming this enclave worked and Nolita is one of the trendiest neighborhoods to live in.
In the case of SoHo, it was not named to draw new residents for higher rent.
The acronym was coined by Chester Rapkin, a city planning commissioner who published a report in the 1960s called “The South Houston Industrial Area”.
As someone deeply interested in the development of New York City over the centuries, I love these nuggets of knowledge.
If you are too, read more about the history of SoHo below.
How To Get Here:
SoHo is located in Lower Manhattan.
The most convenient way to get to SoHo from anywhere in the city is to take the subway.
By subway:
Several subway stations are scattered around SoHo as the picture below shows.
It helps to have a destination in mind when choosing which subway line to take.
You can use this Google Map to get exact directions from your point of departure.
Subway lines:
- C train to Spring Street Station
- N/R trains to Prince Street Station
- B/D/F/M to Broadway-Lafayette Station
- 6 train to Spring Street Station
- A/C, J/Z, N/Q/R trains to Canal Street Station
New to the subway system? Check out our posts, Navigating the Subway System and Which MetroCard to Buy.
By Bus: M1, M20, M55. Also, many hop-on-hop-off tourist buses stop near SoHo.
By car: I cannot emphasize enough -- do not drive! There is never any parking and the streets are narrow and filled with traffic.
TIP: Not sure where to start your exploration of SoHo?
We visit SoHo every day on our SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown Tour as well as on a few other tours.
SoHo Itinerary
I made this simple itinerary so you can experience the best of SoHo in a day.
When friends visit who have not been to NYC before, this is what I suggest they do.
Spend an hour or two walking around seeing the sights and soaking in the neighborhood's charm.
Do some shopping (or window shopping) and visit a few art galleries.
Sit down for a meal. I love Lombardi’s, one of the best pizzerias in NYC - and the first one in America.
In the evening, you can see an inexpensive musical or theatrical performance.
If you want some narration as you walk around SoHo, check out our GPS-led audio tour you can take any time, day or night.
Here's a sample.
I've also made a downloadable self-guided tour of SoHo that should take you about 90 minutes if you don't stop for long at any stop.
Top Attractions and Activities in SoHo
Take a Sightseeing Tour
We offer a daily pay-what-you-wish walking tour of SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown.
We've offered this tour for over 10 years and it's one of our most popular tours.
If you cannot join our tour, try our GPS-led audio tour or free self-guided tour, both of which you can use at any time that works for your schedule.
There are other paid tours of SoHo that may interest you, such as a photography tour or a pizza tour.
Shoppers rejoice! Try our SoHo and Nolita Shopping Tour!
Some tours that include SoHo are included free with tourist passes.
Admire the Cast-Iron Architecture
SoHo is known worldwide for its beautiful, impressive cast-iron buildings.
As both an architecture and history buff, this is the feature of the neighborhood I adore the most.
With over 200 cast-iron buildings, SoHo's Cast Iron District, which developed in the 1850s, has the largest concentration of these buildings than anywhere else in the world.
The two cast-iron gems that impress my tour guests the most are the gorgeous "King of Greene Street (1873) at 72-76 Greene Street and his wife, the "Queen of Greene Street" (1873) at 28-30 Greene Street.
Learn more about Soho’s cast-iron architecture from our GPS-led audio tour or our downloadable Self-Guided Tour of SoHo that takes you to other beauties covered on my tour.
See Great Street Art
New York is known for its great street art and SoHo is one of the top neighborhoods to see both permanent works of street art as spontaneous spray-paint or wheat-paste murals.
To see the best examples of street art, consider taking our Manhattan Street Art Tour, a 2-hour tour that includes SoHo and nearby neighborhoods.
The tour includes the masterworks and also showcases hidden street art you might walk by without noticing.
TIP: While not included in our tour, sticker art is one of the most underappreciated forms of street art.
Stickers are clever, amusing and creative. I like to point out a few notable stickers to my tour guests as I spot them.
If you are a street art fan, I encourage you to look at SoHo's lamp posts, mailboxes and any metal surface really, to see these mini-gems.
Visit Art Galleries
Once home to nearly 100 art galleries, SoHo is no longer the art capital it was in the 1970s and 1980s.
But there are still over 30 galleries to see emerging artists. That's a handful!
When my tour guests want a quick suggestion on which galleries to see, I tell them to walk along West Broadway between Houston Street and Spring Street, where there are about a dozen art galleries to pop into.
If you are looking for a unique art experience, go to The Earth Room, one of the strangest galleries I have ever been to.
It's best described in pictures than words! Take a look at the video.
Here are some other galleries to check out:
- Eden Fine Art Contemporary & Pop Gallery
- AFA
- DIA: The Broken Kilometer
- The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (LGBTQIA+)
- The Drawing Center
- Storefront for Art and Architecture
- Hauser & Worth
- Find more galleries here (includes galleries in SoHo, Lower East Side, Tribeca, Greenwich Village and East Village).
Grab a Bite at the Storied Fanelli Café
The land Fanelli’s Cafe sits on can be traced back to 1644, with many owners over the centuries.
The Fanelli family purchased the establishment at 94 Prince in 1920.
But food and drink had been served there since 1847, making it the second oldest food and drink establishment on the same site in New York City.
The history is great and the BLT and fries are awesome! It's on the list of places to eat below.
During Prohibition, Fanelli’s was a ‘speakeasy’. Today you can have a drink there without breaking the law.
The Fanelli Cafe is a stop on our self-guided tour of historic bars in NYC.
Experience the Cronut
Dominique Ansel Bakery at 189 Spring Street is the birthplace of the world-famous Cronut®, a croissant doughnut hybrid.
Created in 2013, this unique pastry innovation is trademarked by its creator, Dominique Ansel and pastry fans around the world have made it the most virally talked about dessert item in history.
When the Cronut® arrived on the scene, I recall seeing long lines around the block, with some people telling me they got in line at 6 am!
The shop opens at 8 am from Monday to Saturday and 9 am on Sunday.
The website advises that you arrive before 7:30 am to ensure you get a Cronut. Weekends tend to be busier.
They are so popular that there is a two-Cronut limit!
Is it worth getting in line so early when you can only get two? I will let you decide!
Movie and TV Locations in SoHo
Many movies and TV shows have been filmed in SoHo like Ghost (1990).
The cast iron building at 102 Prince Street served as the exterior of Molly and Sam’s apartment.
Sam was shot on Crosby Street between Prince and Spring Streets.
In Sex and the City, Charlotte worked at an art gallery.
The exterior shots were filmed at the Louis K. Meisel Gallery at 141 Prince Street.
Die-hard SATC fans, check out our Sex and the City self-guided tour and our post on how to visit Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment.
My favorite SoHo movie? After Hours (1985) by Martin Scorsese.
It's a comedy thriller where an ordinary man gets sucked into the unordinary world of SoHo after dark.
Check it out to see what SoHo looked like back in 1985!
For Kids
This is not your average museum! Spread out across 25,000 square feet over three floors, the Museum of Ice Cream is all about delighting your senses.
Jump in the Sprinkle Pool – a swimming pool filled with ice cream sprinkles!
Slide down a 3-story slide to get unlimited ice cream in different shapes and flavors!
This museum will make your kids happy campers. My nieces loved it!
If you like ice cream, you’ll be pretty happy yourself!
Lots of climbing structures, plenty of swings, and in warm weather a 3’ (1 m) pool and sprinklers.
See our master list of things to do with kids in NYC for dozens of activities, playgrounds, museums, attractions, and more.
TIP: Traveling without kids? This playground is cozy and perfect to sit with a coffee and watch the world go by.
What kid doesn’t love slime?
At the Sloomoo Institute, your kids can explore 8,000 square feet of interactive experiences all related to slime.
They can sink their hands in more than 30 vats of scented slime, take a slime shower, design their own slime and much, much more!
This unique NYC museum strives to educate the public about the history and cultural heritage of the fire service of NYC.
Many of the exhibits are geared toward fire prevention and safety education to the public, especially children.
Kids can play with fire equipment dating back to the 1800s!
The museum is open 7 days a week (except major holidays): 10 am-5 pm
Tickets: $10 Adults | $5 Children | $8 Students, Seniors, Firefighters, AAA members (with ID) | Free for children under 2.
Where to Eat
Having eaten my way through SoHo over the past 30 years I had a hard time narrowing this list down.
These are all places I have dined at more than once and are organized by price point per person without alcoholic drinks.
Inexpensive ($5-$20)
Ben's Pizza - corner of Thompson and Spring Sts. Came here with my family as a kid, and still grab a slice here from time to time. A cool fact: Scenes from Men in Black II were filmed here!
Chobani Shop - 152 Prince St. Mediterranean yogurt bar from the Chobani brand. Sandwiches, soups and salads also served here.
Black Burger - 386 Canal St. Great burgers, curly fries, and milkshakes. Limited seating but you do what I do and take your food to go and sit on a bench in nearby Duarte Square.
Moderate ($20-$40)
Alidoro - 105 Sullivan St. Italian specialty sandwich shop. These are BIG!
Fanelli’s Cafe - mentioned above. Fun to eat at for the history and the onion rings!
Lombardi’s - 32 Spring St. at the corner of Mott Street. The perfect way to finish your tour of SoHo is to eat at America’s very first pizzeria.
Lombardi’s serves only pies and is CASH ONLY. This is where I steer my SoHo tour guests seeking an unforgettable food experience.
Expensive ($60 +)
Balthazar - 80 Spring St. All the rage when it opened in 1997 and it still is! I still remember how good the steak frites was the first time I had it. Worth the splurge!
MAMO - 323 W. Broadway. Upscale and creative Italian classics. I won't lie, it's pretty expensive. If you are looking for a memorable meal, consider MAMO.
Blue Ribbon Brasserie - 97 Sullivan St. Another SoHo consistently reliable very pricey menu. French and traditional American prepared at the highest quality.
For dessert try the Creme Brulee.
Pastries and Desserts
Balthazar Boulangerie - 80 Spring St. French pastries, fruit tarts, cookies and more. As far as I am concerned, the best almond croissants in NYC.
Dominique Ansel - 189 Spring St. Home of the Cronut, mentioned above. Branch out as all the pastries are good.
Vesuvio Bakery - 160 Spring St. This was once an Italian mom-and-pop run bakery. In the 1990s, I recall walking past it many times early in the morning and being lured in by the aroma of freshly baked bread.
Since 2020, Vesuvio has been in new hands and you can still get fantastic Italian bread here, but it's more about coffee, espresso, pastries and cookies.
Do old school like I do, grab a coffee and a cookie and sit in Vesuvio Playground around the corner.
Things to Do at Night
Theater
SoHo has several places where you can see theater.
- HERE - very affordable hybrid live performances in theatre, dance, music, puppetry, media, and visual art. I like this one for its variety of genres and the low prices.
- Soho Rep - Off-Broadway shows, often highly rated by the New York Times.
- SoHo Playhouse - an Off-Broadway quality theater for less-than-Broadway prices.
If you like the theater, take a look at our post on saving money on Broadway and Off-Broadway shows and plays.
Film
Having studied film in college, I visited these two theaters more than I can remember.
The Angelika Film Center screens fairly well-known independent movies and the seats are comfy!
I prefer the Film Forum because of its frequently changing schedule and emphasis on film classics you won't likely find on screens anywhere else in the country.
Live Music
- Bowery Ballroom - a few blocks east of SoHo in Nolita. It's one of the best venues in NYC to see top alternative bands.
- Ear Inn - Live music on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays. Ear Inn is a stop on our self-guided historic bars of NYC tour.
Bars and Lounges
From designer cocktails to bars with free shots and craft beer, you can find it all in SoHo.
- Botanica Bar - a cozy basement bar with live music. A staple of SoHo where I have enjoyed many a happy hour!
- JIMMY - a rooftop lounge with a great view. Pricey, trendy, but it screams SoHo.
- Crosby Bar - an elegant bar in the Crosby Street Hotel.
- Kenn's Broome Street Bar - 363 W. Broadway. Hang with the locals in an unpretentious atmosphere. Stick with drinks and beer. I'd pass on the food if I were you.
See what else there is to do at night in NYC.
Shopping in SoHo
Shops along the narrow streets of SoHo are mostly fashion designer stores with hefty price tags.
You can find Chloe, Miu Miu, Diane von Furstenberg, Moschino, and many many more.
If you are interested in high-quality products from independent merchants, try our SoHo and Nolita Shopping Tour.
Broadway between Houston and Canal is lined with clothing shops and has dozens of stores to get the latest and trendiest sneakers and shoes at reasonable prices.
See our long list and map of familiar chain stores below. Some unique shops to check out are:
MoMA Design Store - 81 Spring Street
Creative and innovative products, many practical items like bags, glasses and household decor.
They also carry knick-knacks, clothes, and jewelry.
Of course, art books and posters can be found here.
TIP: Find out about Free Fridays at the Museum of Modern Art here.
Housing Works Bookstore and Cafe - 126 Crosby St
Housing Works Bookstore is more than a bookstore. Its mission since opening has been to fight the dual crises of homelessness and HIV/AIDS.
Every item in this large shop is donated, and 100% of profits go to fund Housing Works' lifesaving services.
The bookstore has a fantastic selection and the cafe is a fun place to relax or enjoy a free and low-cost event offered throughout the week.
The Evolution Store - 687 Broadway
A most unusual store filled to the brim with natural history collectibles, and artifacts, like framed butterflies and insects, fossils, skeletons, taxidermied animals and seashells, all beautifully kept.
I'm not squeamish so I get a kick out of this store. I think some of you, and many kids, will find it fascinating.
MUJI SoHo - 455 Broadway
Popular Japanese retailer with minimalist products, from stationery, travel gear, and clothing including apparel & home goods.
It's where I come to get insanely affordable practical items for my kitchen and bathroom. It's all good stuff and pleasantly priced.
Apple Store - 103 Prince Street
This is where I (and hundreds of other people) stop to recharge our phones, use the free WiFi or use the restroom. You can also just sit and relax for a while.
- Adidas Originals Flagship Store
- AEO & Aerie Store
- Aldo
- AllSaints
- ASICS
- Banana Republic
- Bloomingdale's
- Club Monaco Soho
- Converse Flagship Store
- Desigual New York Soho
- Express
- Forever 21
- Gap
- H&M
- J. Crew Men
- Lacoste
- Lady Foot Locker/Foot Locker
- Levi's
- Lucky Brand
- Lululemon
- Lululemon Men's
- MAC Cosmetics
- Madewell
- Nike
- Old Navy
- Rag & Bone
- REI
- Sephora
- Skechers
- Steve Madden
- Superdry
- The North Face
- Timberland
- Top Shop
- Uniqlo
- Urban Outfitters
- Victoria's Secret
- Zara
History of SoHo
Here's the stuff I like. History buffs read on. Everyone else, have a fantastic time discovering SoHo!
The land encompassing modern-day SoHo was marsh and forest land until Dutch Settlers established farms in the area in the 1640s.
An early Dutch map, the Manatus Map of 1639, shows plantations, roads, and structures in this area.
A large portion of the land was owned during the 1660s by Augustus Herrman.
When he died, his brother-in-law, Nicholas Bayard, inherited the property, making him the largest landowner in Manhattan. (Bayard Street in Chinatown is named after Bayard).
By the late 1700s, large farms were being sold and subdivided in response to the growing population and urbanization of the City.
In the early 1800s, Broadway was paved and wealthier residents of the city began building homes in the area to escape the increasingly crowded lower part of Manhattan.
By the 1850s and 60s, many fashionable hotels such as the famous St. Nicholas, and premier department stores such as Tiffany’s, Lord & Taylor and Brooks Brothers had opened up.
Theaters and casinos sprang up along Broadway and the area became a hub of nightlife while the side streets were lined with expensive brothels.
In the 1870s and 1880s, the streets to the east and west of Broadway underwent a dramatic change when industry came to town.
This explosion of commercial activity prompted wealthy residents to flee the area and move further north of Manhattan.
Industrial growth also prompted the widespread use of cast iron to erect new factories in the district.
Approximately 250 cast-iron buildings stand in New York City and the majority of them are in SoHo.
It is these cast-iron buildings that give SoHo its distinct and stunning appearance.
Cast iron was an American architectural innovation and was cheaper to use for facades of buildings than stone or brick.
Cast iron is also pliable and easily molded so architects and builders could create intricately designed patterns in the Classical French and Italian styles while saving money.
Many of the stone columns on the ground level of cast-iron buildings are cast iron painted to resemble stone.
Another advantage of cast iron that led to major changes in how buildings were made (and ultimately altered who and what resided in the neighborhood) was its strength.
The stronger construction allowed for window frames to be taller so more sunlight would stream into the interior of the buildings.
This was ideal for factories and industrial companies that benefited from this free source of lighting.
It was the advent of steel as a major construction material that brought an end to the cast-iron era.
Not only did cast iron disappear, but so did the higher-quality industry.
From the 1910s to 1950s, SoHo’s beautiful buildings housed cheap, wholesale textile companies known as the "rag trade”.
Many factories illegally employed minors and immigrants for little pay to work in horrendous conditions known as ‘sweatshops’.
Numerous fires broke out in these factories and SoHo gained the nickname “Hell’s Hundred Acres.”
Eventually, even these factories shut down and moved elsewhere in the city and SoHo became an abandoned industrial wasteland.
By the late 1960s unknown artists just starting their careers, cheap rents, huge spaces, and great light made these former factories attractive.
Some of the first artists to move into SoHo were Donald Judd, Claes Oldenburg, Carl Andre and Andy Warhol.
It’s estimated that SoHo was home to about 2,000 artists by the early 1970s and by 1973 there were 33 art galleries.
The area had become so run-down and empty that city officials began discussions of the construction of a lower Manhattan expressway that came to be known as the LOMEX project.
LOMEX would have ripped through much of the heart of lower Manhattan and the historic buildings of SoHo would be demolished to make way for new housing construction.
Historic preservationists began to petition for SoHo to be designated as a protected historic district and in 1973, the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District was created.
You can tell which streets are included in the district as they have brown street signs rather than green signs.
SoHo’s significance in history has also been recognized nationally as it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978.
By the mid-1970s the enormous size of the lofts and the charm of the narrow streets paved with Belgian blocks and lined with gorgeous buildings invited real estate developers to buy up buildings and rent prices skyrocketed.
By the mid-1980s, designer boutiques, chic restaurants, and more art galleries opened.
Up-and-coming artists flocked to SoHo like Jean-Michel Basquiat and street artist Keith Haring and this urban wasteland became a hip, avant-garde destination.
Today, SoHo is a top travel destination in the world. It is one neighborhood you do not want to miss in NYC.
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