What makes this tour special
Greenwich Village is New York City’s most storied neighbourhood. It has been home to the famous and infamous; and it still is! See the locations and hear the stories that for decades have attracted locals and visitors alike to this fascinating area.
The Village
Simply known as “The Village” and much loved by native New Yorkers, Greenwich has been, and still is home to America’s bohemian scene. You will start at Washington Square Park, a buzzing city hangout, where you will discover cobblestoned mews and 19th century brownstone carriage houses. You will glimpse some of New York’s rarest sights, for example, the home where John Wilkes Booth spoke openly of his plan to murder President Abraham Lincoln. Pass by such landmarks as the Jefferson Market Library and Bleecker Street, as well as where Hemingway, Edgar Poe, Jackson Pollack lived and worked.
Highlights of the tour include a stroll through charming Abingdon Square and a walk along Bleecker Street, immortalised by Simon & Garfunkel in their song of the same title; and a visit to one of The Village’s hidden gems, the garden of the Church of St. Luke in the Fields, a 200-year old Episcopal congregation. The Washington Arch and Lower Fifth Avenue, with its historic Neo Gothic-styled churches are part of the tour too, as well as the eclectic Jefferson Market Library. Learn why West 10th Street and West 4th Street intersect!
Greenwich Village is a quirky mix of quiet streets and charming townhouses, some dating to the 1820s. You will see one of the last remaining wood-frame houses in The Village, as well as the narrowest house in New York City. You will visit a Village area that was once a thriving neighbourhood of Italian immigrants. Its anchor, the 1928 Italian Renaissance-styled Church of Our Lady of Pompeii is still an active part of the community.
You will walk along a quiet lane named for an underground brook before we see the house where Louisa May Alcott lived, and where she may have written part of Little Women. The tour ends at Washington Square Park, where you get to see a spectacular view of One Fifth Avenue and the monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi, known as the George Washington of Italy.
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