The New York City sightseeing tour might attract you. When you visit the city for the first time, you might have plenty that interests you. You can play tour guide with the internet’s help, but buying tickets and doing a sightseeing tour might prove the better option.
A sightseeing tour of NYC iconic landmarks should work well. When you take these tours, you get narration, so you can learn while you check out the amazing buildings and other attractions that make this city so famous.
However, while these tours often provide many great memories and a fun day or evening, they sometimes don’t work out well. Let’s talk about what can turn these experiences sour. If you have the foresight and act strategically when picking the tour company you use, you should enjoy yourself and not regret your decision.
Look at the Weather
New York City sits right beside the water. The Atlantic Ocean lurks nearby when you visit Coney Island. You also have the East River and the Gowanus Canal.
If you’re by the water, it gets very cold, especially in the winter. If your tour takes you near the water, you might check the weather before signing up. The wind blowing off the water can freeze you, especially in winter. If you go, dress in layers, and ensure you have some hot coffee or hot chocolate, so you don’t feel too chilly.
You may avoid these tours entirely in the winter. If you wait and go in the spring, you should have a much more enjoyable experience. You may also avoid tours during summer’s height. A 90-degree day isn’t ideal for wandering the streets or sitting on a tour bus with the sun beating down on you.
You should also check the forecast for thunderstorms. You might bring an umbrella, but a mostly outdoor sightseeing tour in the pouring rain isn’t much fun with such scant protection.
Where Does the Tour End?
Many tours start in Midtown or somewhere else convenient. You can leave on a bus from Times Square, or maybe you’ll start from Herald Square or Union Square further down the island. You might also start your tour in the Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens. Hardly any tours start in Staten Island since it’s off the beaten track.
Wherever you start the tour, you should also ask whether it finishes there. You may not know the city very well. If you start by hopping on a bus in Times Square, but the tour ends in the Bronx or elsewhere, your tour guide might leave you in unfamiliar territory.
You might try catching a train back, though the subways can confuse tourists and get them even more lost in some instances. You can grab a taxi back to the hotel or take an Uber, but those can get quite costly.
Checking with the tour guide before starting the tour should help you. They should give you a straight answer about where the tour ends if they won’t, go with one of the many other companies. You’ll always find more since the city has endless tourism industry competition.
What About the Tour Company’s Reputation?
Over the past several decades, New York City made a concerted effort toward tourist attraction. The sex shops around Times Square disappeared. The cops made sure fewer “quality of life” crimes, as they called them, took place. These crimes included muggings, robberies, aggressive panhandling, and other activities that might discourage tourism.
In the new, safer city, sightseeing became a huge industry. However, not all sightseeing companies enjoy the same reputation.
If you want some tickets for sightseeing with a guide, you should seek out one of the individuals in the red vests that you’ll find congregating in Times Square, Herald Square, Union Square, and certain other popular tourist spots. These ticket sellers signed up with the tourism board and wear red vests showing tourists can trust them.
When buying tickets, ensure you get them through an authorized vendor. These ticket sellers represent valid sightseeing tour companies.
You might also see other individuals who tell you they represent a sightseeing tour company, but they have no red vest or identifying marks. If you buy tickets and go with them, it might work out fine, but it may not. You can’t feel sure about their validity or their company’s reputation.
Avoid Cash Transactions
Getting tickets that a reputable tour company sells will look and feel different. For most real sightseeing tours, representatives will accept a credit card. They can swipe your card right there on the street.
The fake tour companies or the less-reputable ones usually won’t accept credit cards. They’ll insist you do a cash deal.
It might not become an issue if you pay cash, but at least demand the ticket seller give you a receipt. They should have no problems doing that. Don’t go with them if they refuse this minor accommodation, even if they try cajoling or pleading with you.
When you sign up with a valid tour company, you should see a large, garishly decorated bus, or they might even have a helicopter for certain tours. That’s a sure sign you’ve found a respectable entity. A fake or less reputable sightseeing company might have a dirty, unmarked van. You can easily see the difference, so use your best judgment.
Following these rules, you should enjoy visiting some New York City sights. You can take many pictures and post them on social media. Your followers should feel jealous you’re living the high life in the Big Apple.
Avoid the less-reputable companies, check out a weather report before leaving, and ensure you know where the tour finishes. That way, you won’t have an unpleasant experience and leave New York with a sour taste.
