Welcome to Free Tours by Foot - New York City's affordable expert local-guide walking tours and step-on guide service. We offer pay-what-you-wish or ticket tours, audio tours, as well as private group tours for families, school groups, or corporate groups for your unique NYC experience - no matter if you are on a budget or in search for something unique and memorable for yourself or your group.
BOOK YOUR TOUR NOW!
*Full refunds issued for ticketed tours and pay-what-you-wish tours with at least 24 hours notice before start of the tour.
PUBLIC GROUP TOURS
This is a city of neighborhoods and we focus on tours designed to show you what the Big Apple is made of.
We offer several public tours, with most offering a pay-what-you-wish ticket option.
Our tours are led by experienced and real New Yorkers who are the most highly rated in the city.
Don't take our word for it, check our reviews to see what actual tour guests think about the service we provide.
SELF-GUIDED NYC AUDIO TOURS
The above tours are what currently offer as public group tour options.
But, we have many more tour options that you could take anytime you wish with your smartphone.
Listen to a sample of our Lower Manhattan Tour (an archaeological site of old New Amsterdam).
Meredith, our tour guide, was a great communicator, even before the tour began. She led us through the streets of Greenwich Village on a thoroughly enjoyable evening ghost tour. We learned many interesting historical facts along with stories of haunted sites. She was friendly, knowledgeable, energetic, and enthusiastic—what more could you ask for?
A great overall tour of Harlem. We go to NYC regularly but we haven't really seen Harlem. Wow, Ronald our guide was great..such a wealth of knowledge and taking us not only to the major highlights but some great unique spots like the urban garden and meeting Paul who told us how it started years ago and expanded to help the community in a variety of ways. It was a warm day but Ronald worked to find shade and indoor locations to help. Thank you and we plan to return to Harlem to explore more.
We had the best time joining Courtney on her Lower East Side Food tour! Courtney told us so many fantastic stories and the time went by too fast! We had so much fun trying the delicious food, which was really well chosen to get to know the area! Thank you so much! We will be back for more 🤗😀
Our walking tour with Courtney was the highlight of our weekend. We're locals, and we got to know cool insights into local history and architecture while being guided us to some of our favorite food spots!
The pace was perfect, Courtney was a great guide, and we left with a deeper appreciation for the neighborhood. Highly recommended for locals and visitors alike!
Easily recommendable! To see the places where real history took place and to learn of real people who came from Harlem and made changes in the world was very interesting and valuable. Lady Altovise knew her stuff! She was fun and engaging while telling true and inspirational stories. Gives me pride for Harlem and our country. A tour to do while you’re in NY!
I took a Brooklyn Bridge and DUMBO sightseeing tour with Renee from Tours by Foot, and she was absolutely incredible. As a New Yorker, I’m always curious to learn more about my own city, and I feel like I hit the jackpot with Renee as my guide. She was knowledgeable, engaging, and full of fascinating history and stories.
In one fantastic walk over the bridge, I learned far more than I expected to in just a few hours. I highly recommend Renee to anyone looking for a memorable, informative, and enjoyable sightseeing experience.
Michael was a fantastic tour guide. His enthusiasm and knowledge was so appreciated by all of us. He is definitely a great ambassador for the best of NYC.
Had the best experience with Lady Altovise on her Saturday afternoon tour of Harlem. My mother discovered her on YouTube and booked her for us to experience while my parents visited. I’ve lived in Harlem for 10 years and still learned so much. She was amazing!
Lady Altovise did an outstanding & professional tour of Harlem! The Soul of Harlem Stroll: History & Heritage Tour was so entertaining and informative! You must take it if you’re visiting NYC! ATL Fans!
Great overall experience. Miss Altovise was fun, funny, knowledgeable, welcoming during this walking tour. It was a beautiful day and we were able to see lots of sites, people, and street entertainment throughout the trip. She welcomes questions which was fun!
Altovise was AMAZING!!! We have been in NYC for five days and have taken multiple walking tours of the city, but this was by far the most entertaining and enlightening tour we took! We could not recommend Altovise enough!
Lady has been a really great tour guide. Her vibe and her knowledge make her an amazing professional. She knows the neighborhood, and the neighborhood knows her!
We took this tour through Brooklyn and it was amazing! Even though I knew the neighborhood I had no idea of the amount of history and fun facts I’ve learned. I’ll take more of these tours when I return to NYC. Renee was a delight and so knowledgeable!
Renee’s Brooklyn tour was really terrific! She is knowledgeable, warm and down to earth. We learned a ton and had so much fun! We hope to take her Greenwich Village tour too!
This late review is about the Greenwich Village Neighborhood Tour I joined back in June 2024. The guide Renee was awesome! She was fun and knowledgeable. She knew a lot about the neighbourhood and could give us direction very precisely. I joined the Chinatown tour by another company and it was boring...Renee's pace was not too fast but we still got to visit different places. She also educated us with local social etiquette. I really enjoy her tour. PS. If you are a fan of Friends, you will walk pass the building which the show used as transition.
The Tour with Michael was great. If you want to get information about New York and his buildings he is the one you should ask. Great Tour, greate gut.
Highly recommended.
Such an incredible tour! Super interesting, with so many important historical details. We loved every second of it. Our tour guide was so fun and knowledgeable, would highly highly recommend booking!
Our New York tours are also great for meeting fellow travelers and making new friends.
Our guests come from all over the world, which means that the questions asked by our tour guides reflect many different perspectives and contribute to more enriching experiences for our guests.
We offer over 30 different NYC tours.
OTHER TOURS
There are other ways to explore New York City! Read our guides to the various bus, bike, and boat tours.
Listen to a sample of our Lower Manhattan Tour (an archaeological site of old New Amsterdam)
These audio tours go deeper than our self-guided maps and allow you to enjoy our guided tours whenever they fit your schedule. We are constantly adding new audio tours to our collection.
Available Tours:
Central Park
Lower Manhattan
9/11 Memorial and World Trade Center
Greenwich Village
Times Square
Food Tour of Greenwich Village
SoHo
Little Italy and Nolita
The Brooklyn Bridge (in both English and Spanish versions)
The High Line
Midtown Manhattan
Grand Central Terminal
Harlem
New York doesn't have to be expensive if you know how to avoid paying too much.
We know a thing or two about saving money from our pay-what-you-like guided walking tours, audio tours, and free self-guided tours.
We don't like to toot our own horn too much, but if you're wondering just how much travelers and locals enjoy our free walking tours, you need look no further than our New York City Travel Tips group on Facebook.
As you can see, Gina shares her experience with us and some pictures from the tour. This is really helpful for getting a sense of what to expect when you join us!
Gina notes something quite important: we usually don't have a limit on how much you should tip. Any tips are welcome.
If you're curious about our food tours, Yvonne offers several pictures that give you a pretty good idea of the kinds of food you can expect to enjoy.
Our audio tours are also quite popular, and Kelly notes that the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tour was particularly useful.
If you can't manage to join us for a fully guided tour, these audio guides are an excellent alternative that can allow you to explore at your own pace.
Please read our New York City Travel Tips group on Facebook for even more opinions and advice about our tours.
And much, much more
Join our free FTBF travel community! As a thank you, you'll receive our free itinerary planner.
