Wednesday, October 3, 2012
1. I'll Take Manhattan
Time: 12 PM to 4 PM. Cost: $84
This Manhattan overview tour travels up Manhattan's West Side to see Lincoln Center, grand apartment houses along Central Park West -- including the famed "Dakota" -- and Strawberry Fields in Central Park. We traverse Central Park to Museum Mile and the Gold Coast past elegant turn of the century mansions once owned by New York City's earliest millionaires. Highlights on our way downtown include Tiffany's and other legendary Fifth Avenue shops, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center and Times Square.
A walk in Greenwich Village's tree-lined streets passes distinctive ivy-covered brownstones and charming boutiques before heading downtown to Battery Park and Ground Zero, with views of SoHo, Chinatown, Little Italy and City Hall on the way. Finally, The Top of the Rock in Rockefeller Center offers breath-taking views stretching for miles in every direction.
Includes: Licensed NYC guides; Deluxe mini/motor coach transport; Admission to Top of the Rock.
Pick-up: Marriott Hotel
2. The Frick Collection
Time: 12 PM to 4 PM. Cost: $90
The Frick Collection evokes the splendor and tranquility of a time gone by, along with incredible, iconic art in the glorious mansion built by Henry Clay Frick, one of America's most successful coke and steel industrialists. Masterpieces of Western paintings -- including notable Regency examples -- sculpture, and decorative art are enjoyed in a serene setting.
Includes: Licensed NYC guides; Deluxe mini coach transportation; Admission to The Frick Collection.
Pick-up: Marriott Hotel
Thursday, October 4, 2012
1. The Immigrant Experience
Time: 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM. Cost: $94
Ellis Island, symbol of America's immigrant heritage, processed the greatest tide of incoming humanity in the nation's history from 1892 to 1954. Visitors retrace the steps of nearly 12 million who approached the "front doors to freedom" searching for their own American Dream. The restored Main Hall houses the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, preserving immigrants' stories for generations to come.
Includes: Licensed NYC guides; Deluxe mini/motor coach transport; Ellis Island admission and ferry transfer; Free time to explore Ellis Island (approximately one hour).
Pick-up: Marriott Hotel
2. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Time: 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM. Cost: $96
Paintings from Jane Austen's era are part of an incomparable collection of the largest museum in the Western Hemisphere. Starting with 174 Dutch and Flemish paintings, the Met has grown to occupy more than 32 acres of floor space, exhibiting art of more than 5,000 years of human civilization. Highlights include the Egyptian Wing with the Temple of Dendur; newly expanded Asian, Islamic and Classical galleries; the priceless European painting galleries; the newly restored American Wing; decorative arts from Rome, Europe, the ruins of Pompeii, and, in short, anything and everything a visitor could imagine in one of the most amazing museums in the world. Time allowed for private exploration and visit to the extensive gift shop.
Includes: Licensed NYC guides; Deluxe mini/motor coach transport; Admission and docent tour of Museum.
Pick-up: Marriott Hotel
3. Wall Street and Environs Walking Tour (with Architectural Historian
Francis Morrone)
Time: 12:30 PM to 2 PM. Cost: $30
This walk through the canyons of Lower Manhattan covers the history of New York as a global center of banking and finance and the histories of the great financial concerns, from the House of Morgan to Lehman Brothers. Also covered is the impressive architecture commissioned by the Manhattan Medici.
Meeting Place: TBD
4. Manhattan's Gold Coast Walking Tours (with Architectural Historians
Francis Morrone / Liz McEnaney)
Time: 3:30 PM to 5 PM. Cost: $30
A walk through the "Gold Coast" -- Manhattan's Upper East Side, between Fifth and Park Avenues -- covers the dynastic families (the Astors, the Vanderbilts, and many others) that left their mark on New York, and the sumptuous houses and other buildings they built for themselves.
Meeting Place: TBD
Friday October 5, 2012
1. Brooklyn Botanic Gardens
Time: 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Cost: $86
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden, in the heart of Brooklyn, offers 52 acres of natural beauty displaying 10,000 kinds of plants from all over the world and indoor tropical gardens and bonsai. Opened in 1910, the Garden -- named "the premier horticultural attraction in the region" by The New York Times -- welcomes over 900,000 visitors annually from around the world. Includes: Licensed NYC guides to narrate; Admission, (1) hour guided walking or tram tour by garden docent; Deluxe mini/motor coach transportation.
Pick-up: Marriot Hotel
2. I'll Take Manhattan
Time: 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Cost $84 - (See Wednesday Tours)
Pick-up: Marriott Hotel
3. Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour (with Architectural Historians Francis Morrone / Liz McEnaney)
Times: 8:30 AM, 10 AM and 10:30 AM. Cost $30
The Heights was New York's first commuter suburb, a bedroom community for Lower Manhattan merchants and professionals. As home to prosperous and civic-minded Unitarians and Congregationalists from Connecticut and Massachusetts, it was the most New England-y enclave in New York for those who carved out their own space in a city they did not entirely trust. Through two centuries and many changes, the Heights -- the very first designated Historic District in New York -- became an encyclopedia of American urban domestic architecture, and one of the country's most beautiful neighborhoods.
Pick-up: Marriott Hotel
Monday October 8, 2012
1. Merchant's House Museum
Time: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Cost $56.
The Merchant's House Museum (built 1832) is New York City's only 19th-century family home preserved intact -- both inside and out. Close to Washington Square, this elegant red-brick and white-marble row house in Federal and Greek Revival style on East Fourth Street was home to a prosperous merchant family for almost 100 years. With six period rooms containing the family's original furnishings and personal possessions and the 19th-century garden, it offers a rare intimate glimpse of domestic life in New York City from 1835 to 1865.
A walk in the surrounding neighborhood shows urban evolution from the refined residential enclave known as the Bond Street area into a busy commercial center, home to both 19th-century landmark buildings and bustling 21st-century NoHo.
Includes: Licensed NYC guide; Admission, hour long private guided walking tour of the Merchant House and surrounding neighborhood; Deluxe mini/motor coach transportation.
Pick-up: Marriott Hotel
2. Rich, Famous & Literary in Beautiful Hudson Valley: Kykuit & Sunnyside.
Hudson Valley Tour (Led by Architectural Historians Francis Morrone / Liz McEnaney)
Times: 8 AM to 5 PM. Cost $125
9 AM to 6 PM. Cost $125
Breathtaking views of the Hudson River no doubt attracted the Rockefeller family to Kykuit, home to four generations of that fabled clan. Fine furnishings and paintings, terraced gardens, fountains and an exceptional collection of 20th-century sculpture are highlights on view. The massive Coach Barn houses a collection of antique horse-drawn carriages and vintage automobiles.
Sunnyside, the former home of the author Washington Irving, reflects the romantic view of art and nature of the creator of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle." An extensive collection of original furnishings and accessories offers one of the most authentic experiences of mid-19th century life anywhere in the United States. Both the riverside house and the bucolic grounds were designed by Irving himself. Includes: Transportation, admission and guides. Lunch (included) is in the historic village of Tarrytown. (Keep an eye out for the Headless Horseman!)
Pick-up: Marriott Hotel