Harlem Gospel Multimedia Walking Tour
New York City, USA
- 3 hours 15 minutes (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
New York City's Harlem neighborhood is booming with history, but if you’re exploring on your own, you might miss out on some key details of the area. This multimedia walking tour of the characterful neighborhood takes you to a gospel-accompanied church service and shows you around Harlem with a guide who’s lived in the neighborhood their whole life. Plus, you’ll start with a light breakfast and watch a video before you set out.
- Learn about Harlem’s history from a guide who grew up there
- Enjoy a light breakfast, and attend a classic church gospel service
- A multimedia walking tour brings the area's history to life
- Visit a part of New York City that many other visitors miss
What's Included
- Tour conducted by Harlem born-and-raised tour guide who has lived in Harlem entire life
- Storage place for luggage and bags
- Walking tour complimented with portable video and audio
- Tours start with light morning snack, water, juice, and coffee
- Hotel Pickup
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Harlem Heritage Tourism and Cultural Center104 Malcolm X Blvd, New York, NY 10026, USA
Harlem Heritage Tourism and Cultural Center located 104 Malcolm X Boulevard between 115th -116th streets. #2 and #3 trains on express IRT lines arrive directly to meeting location.
End point
- Apollo Theater253 W 125th St, New York, NY 10027, USA
Tour ends at the world famous Apollo Theater where stars are born and legends are made. The theater is currently closed but he gift shop area in lobby is open. The guide shares wonderful stories about the Apollo Theater and the other historic sites in the area.
Start time.9:15 am
Itinerary
1
Harlem Heritage Tourism and Cultural Center
20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
2
Apollo Theater
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
Harlem
2 hours • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Place available to leave bags and belongings inside Harlem Heritage Tourism and Cultural Center while on tour
- Place available to use restrooms and charge cell phones and other devices inside Harlem Heritage Tourism and Cultural Center
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- 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
4.1
based on 58 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
The tour was an okay experience overall. My guide was very knowledgeable and clearly passionate about Harlem’s history, which I appreciated. However, the overall tour felt somewhat disjointed, and I didn’t feel like the experience flowed as well as it could have. The church service was also just okay and didn’t add as much to the experience as I had hoped.
I’m glad I experienced it, but based on my experience, I would probably choose a different Harlem tour if I were visiting again.
The tour description said we were to meet at the Harlem Heritage Tourism and Cultural Center at 9:15 am. Several of us waited outside until around 9:30 am when our guide Neil looked out through the door and then quickly closed it. The tour was to begin the Cultural Center with a "light morning snack, water, juice, and coffee." None of the above were ever offered. The walking tour was to be complimented wit portable video and audio. None was ever offered. We were to have bathrooms at the beginning of our tour. We were never invited into the center and no bathroom stops were ever provided during the almost four hour tour.
The church service was good though we heard only the preliminaries and not a word of the sermon. The rest of the stops and descriptions were minimal and gave us only a small impression of the Harlem area and its impact on history. The tour was to end with a visit to the lobby of the Apollo Theater but we never entered the building. In total we were very disappointed with the tour and our guide. That he did not wear any identification or badge even left us wondering if it was the real tour guide or a scam.
Neil ,our guide was very entertaining and connected well with our whole group.He had an excellent knowledge base and as he was local seemed to know everyone when we were out and about on the streets of Harlem.
The Gospel Service with the Gospel Singing was very uplifting.We were also privileged to witness someone being Baptised.
Overall it was a great insight into Harlem and well worth the fee.
The guide was good although he spoke to the front of the crowd most of the time. Us oldies at the back. He was very knowledgable and funny. The chapel service was moving and the choir all I anticipated- could have listened to them all day. Thank you. Bea
Going to the church brought back memories as a youngster, the guide was really cool lighthearted really knew his way around Harlem. I would recommend him again.
Wonderful Harlem History tour and Gospel experience. Knew many locals and the relevance of the different buildings.
They say Gospel 😱 where. A few guys singing. Don't go here. Find yourself a better. Waste of money.
Our local guide Neil was fun to be with. Gave us a good feeling for Harlem and its history, in a fun manner typical of the local culture. The gospel mass was interesting and pleasant, and with the group you get priority and skip the line. There is an element of awareness of the presence of tourists, who are indeed explicitly welcomed, but you get a very good idea of the major role of the church in the community and the mass is authentic.
Note: The tour description refers to a light breakfast, which didn’t materialize. Not a problem for us as we had our breakfast before the tour, but worth bearing in mind for planning purposes.
The gospel mass was very touristic, half of the church were tourists seeing the mass so it was like a show more than a mass
Interesting experience to learn a little about Harlem and about the baptist practices. August 7 we could see the annual christening party at the street. Very impressive.
Our tour guide was excellent. He gave a real, enthusiastic and optimistic guide of Harlem. I learned a great deal ad am excited to share. The worship service is exactly what I needed. It lifted my spirits. I would recommend to all. It is well worth the money.
Neal (our tour guide) did an outstanding job delivering, in his unique way, a very informative historical perspective on Harlem. The church gospel experience was very enjoyable as well. Definitely a worth while experience
The walking tour was a highlight. If the church service with the Gospel Choir hadn't taking so much time--and if there wasn't so much wasted time waiting to start the tour, it would have been even better and we could have seen a lot more.
The tour was led by two people. First, we were met by Andi, a 91 year old gentleman, former actor and historian, who greeted us and gave us an introductory talk, and accompanied us to the church, where we attended the service for about an hour. You can go to such a service on your own, but as a first-timer, it may feel a bit intimidating, and it was nice to have someone in the know accompanying you. (Visitors usually sit on a special balcony, where the rules are less strict than in the main hall, which is called the sanctuary, and you don't have to stay for the full 2.5 hour service). The church was a historically significant one, as we learnt later, but then, those streets are chock full of important history. Next, we were introduced to our tour guide, Neal, a.k.a. Mr Harlem, who led us on a tour of the neighborhood and explained its history, including a walk through the housing projects where he himself grew up. (Andi also accompanied us on the tour, rounding up stragglers.) He accompanied the tour with music, sometimes just while we were walking along, but often with lyrics that he then carefully elucidated to point out their relevance to the area. Neal has a larger-than-life personality and a good speaker, taking care to speak clearly. People passing by kept greeting him and waving, and/or adding their own comments or stories. The tour helped us get the feel of the area and made us like it very much. I feel it was money very well spent to get a much richer experience of the area than we would have on our own. This tour was one of the definite highlights of our trip to New York and I recommend it warmly.
Arrivé avec 10 min d'avance nous attendons à l'adresse prévue devant le 104 Malcolm X Blvd. A 9:15 une personne très sympathique (dans une tenue quelque peu négligée, Neil je crois) sort du Harlem Heritage center et fait l'appel, mais nous (4 personnes)sommes les seuls à ne pas être sur sa liste et nous dit que ce n'est pas grave cela arrive et nous inclus dans le groupe.... le guide nous dit que nous allons commencer par assister à un gospel dans un église (photo) et ensuite visiter Harlem. Un peu étonné par l'absence d'une réelle présentation de la visite et le fait que personne du groupe n'a l'air surpris nous décidons d'attendre la suite en espérant plus d'explications et présentations vidéos. Après avoir assisté à la messe ou il y avait plus de touristes que de fidèles locaux nous commençons la visite de Harlem. Notre guide nous donne de nombreuses informations mais plus sur un ton informel que professionnel. On s'arrête à l'improviste dans un club de jazz encore fermé et continuons la visite. Aucune vidéo ni présentation multimédia nous est présenté. Aucune collation ni boisson ni visite de centre culturel prévue dans le descriptif nous a été proposé. Soit nous sommes tombés dans le mauvais groupe sans le savoir ( nous aurions du poser la question dès le départ) car il n'y avait pas d'autres personnes devant le point de rendez vous, soit ce tour est géré par des amateurs. Nous disons au revoir au guide et quittons le groupe de notre propre initiative avec un peu d' amertume.
O culto no templo gospel foi emocionante. No programa constava visita ao Heritage Malcon X e café. Não fizemos essa visita. O local parecia abandonado e não foi servido o café.
La messa gospel ad Harlem è stata molto carina. Pur se i turisti vengono fatti accomodare su di un palco dedicato, l'esperienza è davvero singolare
Incheckningen uteblev. Guiden var försenad, kaffet med lilla frukosten uteblev. Gospeln var en upplevelse men lite för lång predikan. Schemat följdes ej.
La devanture du lieu du rendez-vous semblait abandonné, le guide avait du retard...mais nous n'en tenons pas compte car la visite était fort sympathique, le guide disponible et les lieux vus bien choisis
Guida simpatica e molto entusiasta di raccontarci la storia del quartiere. Messa gospel autentica e energica.
Excelente tour, excelente el guía local.
Una experiencia increíble.
Fue la primera misa que se celebraba luego del cierre durante la pandemia.
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