What are the best NYC tours to take?

Yet another highly subjective question. There's "best" and then there's "opinion". I'm not going to pretend that I've taken tours of New York City. I'm your typical New Yorker. I was born and raised here and never had reason to see my home through the eyes of a tourist. That being said, I've never gone to the top of the Empire State Building, I've never gone to the Statue of Liberty and I've never sat in a clown colored double decker bus, but I have helped countless others do so. Here are some of the more popular tours I can recommend based on the feedback I've gathered...

Bus Tours

There are a variety of bus tours and packages at your Disposal. If you want to keep it simple or working with a tight budget, the "Hop on/Hop off" Double Decker bus tours are the way to go. Depending on your ticket, this tour can last the day or the better part of a week. Best of all, you don't have to spend all your time perched on that cheesy bus. You can "hop off" to further explore the area of your choosing and "hop back on" to another bus at your leisure. This is a great way to get around the city too if you do some planning. There are two major players that offer these tours. CitySights and Gray Line. Both offer competitive rates and similar packages, You can't go wrong with either, so go for whichever package or price works best for you. Sometimes one or the other will offer an online promotion, so make sure you come back here for updates. I'll post links to any specials I come across.

CITYSIGHTS DOUBLE DECKER BUS TOURS

GRAY LINE BUS TOURS

Many of these tours use smaller buses or shuttles to get to locations. 

GOSSIP GIRL SITES

SEX AND THE CITY HOTSPOTS

SOPRANOS SITES

NEW YORK TV AND MOVIE SITES TOUR

SEE THE LIGHTS AT NIGHT TOUR(SHUTTLE)


Walking Tours

There is no shortage of options when it comes to walking tours. Touring New York City on foot can mean anything from walking around the Downtown area listening to an iPod download to being escorted through NBC studios. I'm not even gonna attempt to list them all, but I will highlight some of the more popular ones.

EMPIRE STATE BUILDING OBSERVATORY

NBC STUDIO TOUR

TOP OF THE ROCK (ROCKEFELLER CENTER)

HELL'S KITCHEN PUB CRAWL

ALEXANDER HAMILTON FINANCIAL DISTRICT TOUR

BROADWAY THEATER DISTRICT TOUR

CENTRAL PARK MOVIE SITES TOUR


Water Tours

There are a variety of ways to see New York City on water. There's the traditional boat tour, like Circle Line, there are booze cruises, lunch and dinner cruises, water taxis and just about any theme you can imagine. Here are some of the more popular ones...

SPIRIT OF NY LUNCH HARBOR CRUISE

SPIRIT OF NY DINNER HARBOR CRUISE

NY WORLD YACHT BRUNCH CRUISE

75 MINUTE LIBERTY CRUISE

CIRCLE LINE 2 HOUR SEMI CIRCLE CRUISE

CIRCLE LINE FULL ISLAND CRUISE

WATER TAXI HOP ON HOP OFF 1 DAY PASS

STATUE BY NIGHT CRUISE


Air/Helicopter Tours

If you've got the balls and the budget to zip around New York City from overhead, then you've got a few options. There are standard shared tours and for you rich bitches, a private copter for you and that piece of ass you're trying to impress that's half your age.

BIG APPLE HELICOPTER TOUR (SHARED)

NEW YORK, NEW YORK HELICOPTER TOUR

ROMANCE OVER MANHATTAN (PRIVATE)

NY SKYRIDE


Bicycle Tours

I'll be honest, the idea of cycling around New York City has about as much appeal to me as cat juggling. I guess it could be vaguely romantic if you and your partner tapped peddles while rolling through Central Park, but for most New Yorkers, when we think of bicycles, we envision some kuncklehead with a knapsack zipping around traffic to deliver a document in record time. Bicycle messengers aside, do us all a favor and stay off the streets!

BROOKLYN BRIDGE BIKE TOUR

CENTRAL PARK BIKE TOUR

NEW YORK AT NIGHT BIKE TOUR

NYC DAY PASS BIKE RENTAL