Big Onion Walking Tours

New York City, NY 11215

212 439 1090

Website

A view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Heights.

Seeing the Brooklyn Bridge up close on our tour.

8 visitor photos

Ranked #53 of 224 tours in New York City

93 Reviews

Type: Tours

Activities: Group tours/walking tour

Owner description: Since 1991, Big Onion has been leading informative, award-winning, and innovative walking tours of New York's historic districts and ethnic... more » Owner description: Since 1991, Big Onion has been leading informative, award-winning, and innovative walking tours of New York's historic districts and ethnic neighborhoods. All tours are lead by PhD candidates in American history or a related field. Big Onion has been called "The Best Walking Tour in New York" by New York Magazine and "One of the best urban walking tours in the world" by Forbes. Big Onion is an approved educational vendor for the NYC Department of Education and a Programming Partner with The Brooklyn Historical Society. We offer public "show up" tours year-round and an advance calendar, accurate tour descriptions, meeting sites, etc...can be found on our website.

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93 reviews from our community

kbzarnoch

Amherst, Massachusetts

1 review

“Multiethnic Eating Tour - Best Guided Tour Ever!”

Reviewed 27 May 2012 NEW

What an engaging, authentic way to explore the rich culture and history of Manhattan's Lower East Side! Our tour guide was not only knowledgeable, but clearly passionate about the information he shared with the group. He was able to assess the dynamics of the group and cater his approach appropriately to meet the needs of a college tour group. The... More

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Rudymom

2 reviews

Reviews in 2 cities

“Great way to see the city”

Reviewed 22 May 2012

We recently took both the Historic Lower Manhattan and the Harlem walking tours. Our guide Ted was extremely well-informed and passionate about the architecture, and he was happy to take questions and even showed us some additional sites after the official tour was over. If you love history and architecture, then you will love Big Onion tours. The fact that... More

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kim129

new haven

1 review

“Brooklyn Bridge Tour”

Reviewed 22 May 2012

This was the first time I took this walking tour. It was such a great experience. Our tour guide was Tina and she is so knowledgeable about the tour and the history of the area. I will definitely sign up for another walking tour!

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M7grit

Connecticut

1 review

“Brooklyn Bridge Tour”

Reviewed 20 May 2012

I recently went on the Big Onion Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour with a group of friends. It was fantastic! Our tour guide Tina was knowledgeable and answered many questions. We walked at an easy pace and also went into Brooklyn Heights. All the tour guides are historians so their wealth of knowledge is amazing. This was my first Big Onion... More

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Shirley D

Trumbull, Connecticut

1 review

“Brooklyn Bridge & Heights Tour is Awesome!!”

Reviewed 20 May 2012

A group of friends and I came down from CT and went on Big Onion's walking tour of the Brooklyn Bridge and Heights and wow, it was great! From personal emails to help us schedule the tour and answer questions to the very end when our guide took a group picture for us, it was clear that this company is... More

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Shirley, Thank you for bringing your group on a Big Onion tour! The photos you shared are great - not a cloud in the sky!! Looking forward to having you all join us again soon. All the best, Seth Kamil Big Onion Walking Tours More

jujuberrie

Washington, DC

Contributor

15 reviews

Reviews in 4 cities

2 helpful votes

“Financial District Walking Tour - Great Info and Entertaining”

Reviewed 16 May 2012

I did this as a corporate event and we toured the financial district. It was great. We went to all the salient spots and we learned much more than just what the buildings were and why they were there. All of the guides are graduate students and ours was studying architecture so he was very clearly passionate about many of... More

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Thank you for taking the time to review our tour. We are very glad you enjoyed the walk...nothing better (I think) than a little fresh air & sunshine to break up a day in the office. Hope that you now feel more attached to your work neighborhood! Seth Kamil Big Onion Tours More

kliq6

Orlando, Florida

Contributor

13 reviews

Reviews in 2 cities

5 helpful votes

“best walking tour group in NYC and I took many over my 9 years livingin the city”

Reviewed 14 May 2012

While living in NYC for many years, I took a number of this organizations tours. Starting with Irish NY and continuing with the Multi-ethnic food tour, Gramercy Park/Union Square, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, Upper West Side and Central Park, I can honestly say that for each one of these the value was amazing. With many things in NYC being so expensive,... More

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Statistics show that if one lives in New York City for more than 8 years you will never leave...so time to trade in the Orlando moniker for NYC! Thanks so much for the review and for joining a bunch of our walks. Lets get you to come to Brooklyn next! All the best, Seth Kamil More

Molly B

Coogee, Australia

Reviewer

5 reviews

Reviews in 2 cities

1 helpful vote

“Harlem Tour is fantastic!”

Reviewed 12 May 2012

I went on the Harlem tour earlier today, and ... wow! The tour guide was very knowledgable and credible... apparently many of the Big Onion's walking tours are students, so really know their stuff?? at any rate, there were even a few New York natives on the tour with us, and they learned things too. Highly recommend. Well worth the... More

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Thank you Molly B! All of our guides are active graduate students or recent PhD's with classroom teaching experience. We try very hard to provide informative & entertaining walking tours. I am very happy you had such a great time with us in Harlem! I hope the rest of your New York visit is as enjoyable. Seth Kamil More

faithful56

Northeast

1 review

“Great tour!”

Reviewed 9 May 2012 via mobile

Just participated in the multi-ethnic food tour this weekend! It was a GREAT tour! Very informative. Gave a lot of the history of New York with focus on immigration and the foods and customs they brought with them to the U. S. through New York. The food was very good! I look forward to taking another tour! Fran T.

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Thanks Fran! The Multi-Ethnic Eating Tour is one of my favorite tours - and really shows an amazing side of Manhattan...you can travel the world in a few blocks! Very few places allow you to "travel" from Hong Kong to Southern Italy just by rounding the corner! Hope to see you again soon. Best Seth Kamil More

gnishikawa

Moncton, Canada

Reviewer

4 reviews

Reviews in 4 cities

6 helpful votes

“A great way to learn about a fascinating city”

Reviewed 9 May 2012

person found this review helpful

I highly recommend the Big Onion Walking Tours as an enjoyable way to learn about this amazing city. It is a hassle free history tour of various neighbourhoods, guided by very enthusiastic and knowledgeable grad students who clearly have a passion for their job. We have taken three so far: Brooklyn Bridge and Heights (where our daughter lives), Gangs of... More

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Thank you for taking the time to review our tours. We very much appreciate that you have made three of our walks part of your New York City adventures. We look forward to having you join us again soon...maybe venture into Brooklyn next time? All the best, Seth Kamil More