New York Catacombs by Candlelight
Recommended by 91% of travelers
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New York City, USA
- 1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Go behind-the-scenes and deep underground at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, with the only Catholic catacombs in New York City. See parts of the church that are otherwise off-limits to visitors. As you explore with the help of a guide, learn all about the landmark’s place in New York history and discover the final resting place of some famous New Yorkers.
- Explore the catacombs and other areas that most visitors miss
- Learn all about the history of the church from your guide
- Choose from a number of convenient departure times
- The convenient tour starts and ends at the church in Lower Manhattan
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
This tour grants you access to the restricted catacombs under this historic church.
What's Included
- Professional guides
- All taxes, fees and handling charges
- Gratuities
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 266 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10012, USA
Check-In Address: 266 Mulberry Street, New York, NY 10012 (corner of Mulberry St. and Jersey St.) between Houston and Prince Street. Directions: By Subway B/D/F/M/6 trains to Broadway-Lafayette St/Bleecker St; R/W train to Prince St.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
Meet your guide and group at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, centrally located in Lower Manhattan. After an introduction to the church and the history of the area, as well as insights into the story of Catholicism in New York, follow your guide into the church and the only Catholic catacombs in New York City.
Discover the rich history and spirituality hidden beneath the church as your guide leads you to hidden areas that most visitors never see. Spend some time exploring the church and its cemetery and feel free to ask follow-up questions of your guide before saying goodbye.
Discover the rich history and spirituality hidden beneath the church as your guide leads you to hidden areas that most visitors never see. Spend some time exploring the church and its cemetery and feel free to ask follow-up questions of your guide before saying goodbye.
1
The Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral
1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- PLEASE CHECK IN AT 266 MULBERRY STREET (CORNER OF MULBERRY ST. AND JERSEY ST.), WHERE THE TOUR BEGINS. CHECK IN 15 MINUTES BEFORE TOUR PLEASE.
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Most travelers can participate
- PLEASE DO NOT GO TO ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL ON FIFTH AVENUE! THIS IS A DIFFERENT ST. PATRICK'S IN MANHATTAN
- Guests requiring wheelchair should contact Tommy's New York in advance to allow us to make proper preparations for your tour
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 2,948 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
Learned a lot of interesting facts about the church and area. It was raining hard core and our guide took the time to bring the sheep out for a minute so we could see them (4 stars for the sheep too). Really interesting experience. Perfect day with the rain and close to Halloween.
Very interesting history of the church (Basilica) with an extremely knowledgeable guide(Tommy). I recommend it highly
Fantastic experience & learned a lot of history that we did not expect! Our tour guide was so knowledgeable!
Ronnie, our tour guide was super knowledgeable and entertaining! We learned so much. We are not Catholic but the tour was amazing!
This was a very informative tour. A lot of background on the church and its history in NYC! Our guide was very thorough and welcoming! Glad we chose this tour as part of our overall New York experience!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ **Absolutely Fabulous Experience!**
Tommy’s New York Catacombs by Candlelight tour was absolutely fantastic! Tommy was fabulous—extremely knowledgeable, engaging, and such a wonderful storyteller. He brought the history to life with so many fascinating facts and stories throughout the tour.
Exploring the catacombs by candlelight was unique and incredibly well done. The candles were such a beautiful touch and made seeing the crypts feel even more intimate, historic, and special.
I also loved the modern touches incorporated into the experience. The slides highlighting the individuals and families buried in the various crypts, along with their contributions to the history of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and New York City, added so much depth and context.
Interesting, educational, beautifully presented, and unlike anything else we’ve done in New York. Tommy truly made the experience exceptional. **Highly recommend!**
Very inteteresting. Especially if you’re catholic. Great tour guide. Never felt rushed. It was really good.
The tour guide was friendly and did a good job explaining the history of the grounds. It was a fascinating experience
Jimmy the Guide was excellent, very witty, informative & engaged with all the group. The only minus was the sheep who graze in the graveyard weren’t yet back from pastures outside the city!
Jimmy was a great tour guide! It’s been about 7 years since I’ve toured old St Patrick’s. Jimmy was a wealth of knowledge of the Cathedral, catacombs, and the history of the neighborhood. He was incredibly friendly and takes great interest in passing along important historical facts that have shaped the nation. I recommend this tour for anyone who wants to know more about history of NY.
It's a nice visit, not very spooky if you are looking for a scare, but the history and context is certainly good.
Educational and informative tour with many stories. The tour guide had an answer to every question asked and was a great storyteller.
Life long New Yorker here and I so enjoyed this experience. Jimmy our guide was very knowledgeable and presented the history of the Church, the Catacombs and lower Manhattan with a compelling flare that left you wanting to know more. It’s like this guy never ran out of information and stories to tell. lol. I would highly recommend this tour to tourists and locals alike. I probably enjoyed it more as a NYer because learned so much about an area I thought I latest knew a great deal about.
It is so amazing to see this piece of history in the middle of Little Italy. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and articulate.
Ronnie the tour group guide was exceptional in his presentation. He gave a very educational and entertaining delivery of the history of basilica, the cemetery, the catacombs and the amazing people associated with the basilica over the centuries. I highly recommend this tour with Ronnie.
The history of NYC from this perspective is awesome. The Catholic school system was born out of this place. The Gangs of NY, the real historic stuff, involved this place. David Bowie lived right across the street.
Informative and historical.
Guide was very knowledgeable.
Beautiful architecture and states.
A most see
Our tour guide was informative but the tour itself felt more religious in nature despite him saying he isn't Catholic several times. It was a 90 minute tour and we spent about 15 minutes in the actual catacombs. We weren't able to walk around the cemeteries at all. The majority of the time was outside, which was fine, but without walking around much. There was a family on the tour with an individual with limited mobility and there wasn't anywhere for her to sit and rest for the first hour; I would encourage folks to be aware of that.
I think because I have been to other catacombs that were more impressive, this seemed more of a disappointment but our friends hadn't been on a catacomb experience before and they felt pretty similarly. I didn't see this as a great value for the experience and I probably wouldn't recommend.
As expected, the elision of John Hughes' actions during the draft riots of 1863 was unfortunate. Otherwise, it was a trite tour.
It was a great tour and very informative! Tommy was an excellent guide and very knowledgeable. I would absolutely take this tour again.
It is full of information about old New York and is a complete experience. You walk away with knowledge about how Catholicism and the basilica came to be and affected the formative years of the City.
This was an incredibly informative and interesting tour! The guide (I think he name was Tommy) was beyond knowledgeable about the history of the church and surrounding neighborhood.
FYI, you will see historic vaults in a church basement, no remains. Jimmy Boyle, our guide, was much more interesting than the catacombs. He has a fountain of knowledge and an enjoyable delivery.
I’ve lived in nyc for 30 years and this was my first time visiting the cathedral and touring the cemetery and catacombs. Amazing tour, the guide (I think his name was Kevin) was fabulous and a total showman. Fielded questions throughout, was super informative, and really caring to the group. He kept it interactive instead of a lecture. I will definitely be encouraging friends to go and will bring my parents when they visit. Thank you!!
What a great tour....Tommy was knowledgeable...personable and an
excellent guide....answered all questions...what a wonderful afternoon in the city.....definitely recommend
The tour was very informative and the guide knowledgeable. Highly recommend. the church and graveyard were so historical.
Guide was very friendly and did his best to entertain us given he had to change the tour due to extreme weather conditions and flooding so we couldn’t go outside
I went expecting bones and ghost stories.
This is more of a historical tour.
Jerry has lots of stories and is very personable.
If you want a fulfilling fun glimpse of a part of NY history and want a knowledgeable experienced funny thoughtful informed tour guide like Tommy this is a great way to spend an hour. I learned so much and there is a good balance of walking, stopping and discovery.
It was great ,the guide was very knowledgeable , would highly recommend recommended this tour. And interesting part of nyc history
Member Pricing
From
$36.10
per personWas $38.00(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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New York Catacombs by Candlelight
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