The subway system is a perfect encapsulation of New York, a city of contradictions.
To truly experience The City you must ride the subway but it can be intimidating for those who've never done it before.
Come have a one-of-a-kind experience with a local who'll take you to all the fun, hidden, and secret parts that you'd never find yourself.
To start, you'll receive a custom tour based on what you're most interested in. There's so much to cover that we could never finish in one tour.
Topics include:
- Subway history and construction
- Maps, signage, and design
- Tunnels and bridges
- Turnstiles and payment systems
- Unwritten rules and customs
- Tips and tricks for getting around
- Hidden stations
- Artwork, station motifs, and graffiti
- Train models and technology
- Advertising and performers
- Decline, improvements, and future construction
On top of that, each tour is custom because I will meet you wherever is convenient and drop you off wherever you're going.
You choose the starting and the ending location and I'll create our route to see as much as we can in a little under two hours.
I'll meet you outside on the street because the tour starts before we even enter the station - there are entrances, Subway globes, and turnstiles to talk about! - and I'll drop you off at your next stop.
SAMPLE TOUR
A sample tour would start at Union Square, a historical station where many trains meet. Here we can see some of the oldest and newest parts of the system.
We'll hop on an express train and time-travel downtown to City Hall, a terminal station.
But we know about the secret station that lurks just beyond - one of the most beautiful and mysterious in the whole system.
Next we'll transfer at one of the most important station in the unification of the subway that started in the 1960s. We'll be Brooklyn-bound on a train that will take us deep below the river in our amazing tunnels and then high above the city to the highest station offering amazing views of the city.
We'll finish by transferring to the only train that does not touch Manhattan and drop you off in Williamsburg for a delicious lunch!
Reservations: This is a private tour. Timing is very flexible and, lucky for us, the subway is open 24 hours a day! I'd suggest groups below 5 people but will happy to accommodate larger ones.
Duration: We are at the mercy of the train schedules! and will sometimes have to make route changes based on delays and construction but it should take between 90 and 120 minutes
Cost: There are pricing tiers plus $2.75 to enter the subway. One of my favorite parts is that we can see so much of the system using transfers and connection and only pay once to get in.
Start: You can choose or I'll suggest Union Square on 14th St
End: You tell me! or Metropolitan Ave G stop in Williamsburg