The 10 Best Harlem Tours

After the African-American community settled in Upper Manhattan in the early 20th century, Harlem became the epicentre of New York's black culture.

To learn more about its history, culture and cuisine, there's nothing better than taking an entertaining tour of Harlem. Would you like to join one? Here are the best tours of Harlem, one of the must-do things to do in New York.

One of the most authentic experiences you can have during your visit to Harlem and one that will allow you to spend a different kind of day as if you were a local is attending a gospel service at a local church and immersing yourself in the streets of the neighbourhood to immerse yourself in its culture.

These types of tours usually last several hours but are the best way to discover Harlem's African-American roots and soak up New York's cultural diversity.

What will you see on these tours?

On a gospel mass tour and tour of Harlem, you'll meet a guide at an original gospel congregation where you can enjoy this famous spiritual music while listening to a live service.

You'll also visit iconic neighbourhood landmarks such as the Apollo Theater (where music celebrities like The Jackson 5, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Ross and James Brown performed), the Morris-Jumel Mansion (the oldest mansion in Manhattan), Sylvan Terrace (a cobblestone street of identical little houses) and the Cotton Club (a popular nightclub that opened during Prohibition and hosted historic concerts), among other places.

If you have a busy schedule in New York but you don't want to miss out on Harlem, my advice is to take a bike tour of the neighbourhood with a guide who will show you the highlights while explaining the interesting history of the African-American community in New York.

What will you see on these tours?

It's a fun way to take a tour! Plus, you'll get to see many interesting sites in a short amount of time, such as the Apollo Theater (one of the most historic theatres in the neighbourhood where artists like Diana Ross, Ella Fitzgerald and The Jackson 5 performed), the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Columbia University, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (a library and institution focused on African-American culture), Strivers' Row (a treasure of the city's architecture) and Old Croton Aqueduct State Historic Park, among other sites.

This is one of the tours you can access with the New York Pass, one of the best sightseeing passes in New York.

Thanks to the enormous talent of its residents (mostly African American and Latin American), Harlem has played a prominent role in jazz and hip hop music, making countless contributions to these genres by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Mario Bauza, Puff Daddy, ASAP Rocky and Azealia Banks, among others.

If you're interested in the history and culture surrounding jazz and hip hop, you'll have a great time on one of the music tours in Harlem.

What will you do on these tours?

Walking around the neighbourhood with a guide, you'll learn a lot about African-American music culture, the artists who marked an era, the most important stages they played on, the oldest record shops and clubs in Harlem, and the murals on the subject that line the streets.

These tours offer you a different, fast-paced look at Harlem, and some of these tours even include live musical performances! It's a perfect plan to do with family or friends and suitable for fans of all ages. So... get ready to shake your booty!

If you consider yourself a foodie and you love to spend some time on your travels having new culinary experiences, there's no doubt that taking a food tour in Harlem is one of the experiences you can't miss out on.

These types of tours will serve as your first taste of the local cuisine. If Harlem's gastronomy manages to make a place in your heart, you can later return to the neighbourhood to go on your own gastronomic tour and continue enjoying the best African-inspired food. In the post Where to eat in Harlem you'll find several proposals to get your boots on.

What will you do on these tours?

With a guide you'll learn about the characteristics of Soul Food style (associated with the Southern African-American community) as well as traditional dishes from West African countries (very popular in the Little Senegal area of Harlem).

And best of all, during the Harlem food tours , there will be food tastings - will you be able to resist?

One of the most popular things to do in New York is the famous Contrasts Tour, which will take you to explore the five major boroughs of the city: Manhattan, Harlem, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.

These types of tours are perfect for avoiding the main mistake that many first-time travellers make when visiting the Big Apple, which is to stay in Manhattan. In fact, it is advisable to do a Contrasts Tour shortly after landing in the city, as it will give you a complete overview of New York. You can then return to the neighbourhood you like best to explore it in detail on your own.

What will you see on these tours?

You'll see many of Harlem's landmarks with a guide, such as the Apollo Theatre and the Cotton Club (two very important venues for the neighbourhood's art scene), stroll among the brownstones (quirky little houses made of red sandstone), learn about the history of some of the neighbourhood's illustrious residents by walking the streets and if you visit Harlem on a Wednesday or Sunday you'll even see a live gospel service at a local congregation.

Do you feel like you know the streets of New York without ever having set foot on them before? That's what travellers who visit the city for the first time often say. A feeling of "déjà vu", the result of film and television. Hollywood has made the most of the city in its films like no other. So has the Harlem neighbourhood, which has been the backdrop for a multitude of productions.

What will you see on these tours?

If you're a film buff, you'll definitely want to take part in one of the Harlem film and series tours. A guide will take you through the streets to show you the most cinematographic side of Harlem and its main filming locations for titles such as "Luke Cage", "Law & Order", "Malcolm X" and "American Gangster", among many others.

The film and series tours of New York are a fun way to discover this area of Manhattan Island because they are not the typical tourist route. Seeing the sets of some of your favourite films in person is a blast, and you'll have a blast. You'll have a great time and I highly recommend it!

Often, bike tours allow you to explore some of the less touristy parts of the city while enjoying a little adventure on wheels.

It's a fun way to explore Harlem and the surrounding area (e.g. Central Park or the Bronx) without having to take (sometimes crowded) public transport or take long walks that put your feet to the test at the end of the day.

What will you see on these tours?

These tours of Harlem and the surrounding area are accompanied by a guide who will show you the most emblematic places in New York's historic African-American neighbourhood and other nearby areas of interest, combining art, culture, music and sport. A fun alternative to the typical sightseeing tour, you'll get a whole new view of Harlem.

Harlem may not be a neighbourhood full of tourist attractions compared to others in New York but it does have a long and interesting history that you can learn about by taking a tour about African American heritage or civil rights- there's so much to discover!

What will you see on these tours?

In just a few hours you will learn with a guide what life was like for Africans in colonial New York City under British and Dutch rule from the 17th century onwards. You will visit sites such as Wall Street (a former slave market in the city), Greenwich Village (the first settlement of free African-Americans in the city), Central Park (where the African-American community of Seneca Village lived before the park was built) and the African Burial Ground National Monument (the largest cemetery for African-Americans in colonial times), among others.

On the other hand, you will also tour the Harlem neighbourhood to discover with a guide the roots of the African-American community in this part of New York and its role in the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s and the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s, following in the footsteps of neighbourhood figures like Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Malcolm X.

In the early 20th century, this neighbourhood was the epicentre of a cultural, artistic and social boom within the African-American community known as the "Harlem Renaissance" that laid the groundwork for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

A tour of Harlem and the rebirth of African-American culture will give you an insight into what this golden age meant for the neighbourhood and the community, the echoes of which still resonate today.

What will you see on these tours?

With a local guide you'll learn about the history of many of Harlem's landmarks such as the Apollo Theatre, Speaker's Corner, the Brownstones, the Hotel Teresa, the Mount Morris Historic District and much more.

In addition, you'll learn about African-American culture in Harlem, the evolution of the neighbourhood over time, and get an up-close and authentic perspective on the day-to-day life of the neighbourhood.

And if you prefer an exclusive experience on your holiday in New York where you can tour Harlem at your own pace, without the rush and crowds of the big tours, a good option is to take a private tour of the neighbourhood.

What will you see on these tours?

You'll see some of Harlem's most important sites with a guide who will teach you about the history of the neighbourhood and its role and importance in the development of New York City. Whether it's cultural, political or social.

And best of all, it will be a personalised experience where you will have a private guide at your disposal who will answer all your questions, make recommendations tailored to your needs and show you the most interesting places on the tour of Harlem just for you.