Items | The Dakota to Zabar's: An Upper West Side Walking Tour
The Dakota to Zabar's: An Upper West Side Walking Tour
Important Information
•
Wheelchair accessible
•
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
•
Service animals allowed
•
Public transportation options are available nearby
•
Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
•
All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
•
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Cancellation policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
•
For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
•
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
•
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
•
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.
•
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Become our Lokal Curator
Are you ready to turn your hobbies into a business?
The Upper West Side is one of Manhattan's most layered and cinematic neighborhoods, shaped by Gilded Age ambition, immigrant ingenuity, and a long tradition of attracting creative misfits. On this self-guided audio tour, you'll trace how a sparsely populated stretch of farmland north of the city became home to some of New York's most storied buildings, boldest personalities, and most enduring cultural institutions. The tour starts at Columbus Circle, where a monument to Christopher Columbus marks the gateway to the Upper West Side. Along the way, you'll hear how the Metropolitan Opera was founded out of Gilded Age spite, why the Ansonia once kept live seals in its lobby fountain and a farm o...
Highlights
From 2 hours to 2 hours and 30 minutes
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
From 2 hours to 2 hours and 30 minutes
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
Lifetime access to this tour in English before your booking date and after it
Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
Flexibility to explore at your own pace with a self-guided GPS tour
App for Android and iOS
Directions to the starting point so that when you’re in the right place, the tour will start
Smartphone and headphones
Transportation
Food and drink
Personal expenses for admission fees not included during the tour
Meeting Points
Departure
This tour starts at Upper West Side. Before arrival, please install the mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket. Detailed starting point instructions are available after downloading.
Return
Tour ends at Zabar’s - Flavor of the Upper West Side.
The Dakota to Zabar's: An Upper West Side Walking Tour
About
The Upper West Side is one of Manhattan's most layered and cinematic neighborhoods, shaped by Gilded Age ambition, immigrant ingenuity, and a long tradition of attracting creative misfits. On this self-guided audio tour, you'll trace how a sparsely populated stretch of farmland north of the city became home to some of New York's most storied buildings, boldest personalities, and most enduring cultural institutions. The tour starts at Columbus Circle, where a monument to Christopher Columbus marks the gateway to the Upper West Side. Along the way, you'll hear how the Metropolitan Opera was founded out of Gilded Age spite, why the Ansonia once kept live seals in its lobby fountain and a farm o...
Highlights
From 2 hours to 2 hours and 30 minutes
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
From 2 hours to 2 hours and 30 minutes
Offered in English
Free Cancellation
Mobile Ticket
What's Included
Lifetime access to this tour in English before your booking date and after it
Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
Flexibility to explore at your own pace with a self-guided GPS tour
App for Android and iOS
Directions to the starting point so that when you’re in the right place, the tour will start
Smartphone and headphones
Transportation
Food and drink
Personal expenses for admission fees not included during the tour
Meeting Points
Departure
This tour starts at Upper West Side. Before arrival, please install the mobile app and use the code provided on your confirmation ticket. Detailed starting point instructions are available after downloading.
Return
Tour ends at Zabar’s - Flavor of the Upper West Side.
Itinerary
1
Columbus Circle
Begin your tour at Columbus Circle, where a monument to Christopher Columbus marks the gateway to the Upper West Side. Discover how this landmark was funded by Italian immigrant communities in the 1890s, setting the tone for a neighbourhood built by ambition and immigrant ingenuity.
2
Maine Monument
Explore the USS Maine National Monument, where the likeness of Audrey Munson, America's first supermodel, appears twice. Learn the tragic story behind this once-celebrated figure whose image became a defining feature of early 20th-century American sculpture.
3
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Walk through Lincoln Center's grand plaza, surrounded by the Metropolitan Opera House, David H. Koch Theater, and David Geffen Hall. Hear how the fictional gang wars of West Side Story were filmed among the rubble of the real neighbourhood demolished to build this extraordinary concentration of performance venues.
4
American Museum of Natural History
Pass the American Museum of Natural History, home to 32 million artefacts spread across more than twenty interconnected buildings. Take in the scale of one of the city's most iconic cultural institutions as you continue along the route.
5
The Dakota
Stop at the legendary Dakota, where John Lennon lived and died. Hear how even celebrities like Madonna and Cher were turned away by the building's notoriously selective co-op board.
6
Discover why the Ansonia once kept live seals in its lobby fountain and a farm on its roof. Learn how this extraordinary building attracted residents as varied as Babe Ruth, Igor Stravinsky, Arturo Toscanini, and Bette Midler across very different eras.
7
Learn how the Metropolitan Opera was founded out of Gilded Age spite, a rivalry that shaped one of the world's great opera houses. Take in its place at the heart of Lincoln Centre's plaza, alongside the David H. Koch Theatre and David Geffen Hall.
8
Tavern On the Green
Bear right toward the entrance of Tavern on the Green, a landmark destination set inside Central Park itself. Learn how it hosted regulars like Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, Grace Kelly, and Fay Wray, plus neighbour John Lennon, who celebrated his birthday here with Yoko Ono in 1979.
9
Zabar's
End your tour at Zabar's on Broadway, the legendary New York culinary institution that has been feeding the Upper West Side since 1934. Soak in the atmosphere of this beloved neighbourhood landmark, famous for its smoked fish and old-school charm.
