Explore every episode of the podcast Walking Tour of New York

Walk one of the most iconic spans on earth on this episode of Walking Tour of New York, as we cross the Brooklyn Bridge on foot from Lower Manhattan to the Brooklyn waterfront. Lifted high above the traffic on its wooden promenade, you'll take in sweeping views of the East River, the harbor, the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan skyline framed between the bridge's famous cables -- all while uncovering the dramatic fourteen-year story behind its construction.

Hear how engineer John Roebling died before the work began, how his son Washington was left partially paralyzed by decompression sickness deep inside the underwater caissons, and how Washington's wife Emily Warren Roebling taught herself engineering and steered the project to completion. We'll relive the triumphant opening day of May 1883, the deadly stampede that followed just days later, and P. T. Barnum's parade of twenty-one elephants that finally put the public's fears to rest.

Descending into Brooklyn, we explore Fulton Ferry Landing and the eighty-five acres of Brooklyn Bridge Park, with stops at the glowing glass pavilion of Jane's Carousel, the restored Civil War-era warehouses of Empire Stores, and the photogenic cobblestone streets of DUMBO. For food, we point you toward the legendary pizza rivalry of Juliana's and Grimaldi's on Old Fulton Street, the food hall and rooftop inside Empire Stores, a beloved burger-and-shake spot, a French bakery for pastries and coffee, a waterside lobster roll near the carousel, and the elegant, special-occasion dining of The River Café out on its barge. Nearby, we highlight South Street Seaport, City Hall Park, Brooklyn Heights, and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, plus a light look at where to stay on either side of the river.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

In this episode of Walking Tour of New York, we explore DUMBO, the compact and dramatic Brooklyn neighborhood whose name stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. Wedged on the East River waterfront between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, DUMBO packs centuries of history into a quarter square mile of cobblestone streets and towering brick warehouses.

We start at the famous Washington Street view, where the Manhattan Bridge frames the Empire State Building, then trace the neighborhood's past as Fulton Landing, its Revolutionary War connection to George Washington's retreat, and its industrial heyday as home to the Arbuckle coffee empire and the very building where Robert Gair perfected the cardboard box. We unpack how artists gave the area its quirky name in 1978 to fend off developers, and how that plan backfired.

Along the way we walk through Brooklyn Bridge Park, ride the antique Jane's Carousel in its glass pavilion, linger at Pebble Beach for sunset, explore the restored Empire Stores and its Time Out Market food hall, and take in the creative side of the neighborhood at the Archway, the DUMBO Walls murals, the Brooklyn Flea, and St. Ann's Warehouse.

For food and drink, we cover the legendary pizza rivalry between Grimaldi's and Juliana's, fine waterfront dining at The River Cafe and Cecconi's, fresh fare at Westville Dumbo, sweets from Almondine, One Girl Cookies, and Jacques Torres, and lobster rolls from Luke's Lobster. Nearby, we point you toward the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Vinegar Hill, a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, plus a quick look at where to stay for an overnight trip.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

Step inside the home and studios of Thomas Cole, the English-born painter whose 1825 discovery of the Catskill Mountains launched America's first homegrown art movement, the Hudson River School. This episode walks through Cedar Grove, Cole's Federal-style house in Catskill, New York, from the porch view he painted more than any other subject to his original 1839 studio and the more architecturally ambitious 1846 New Studio he designed near the end of his life. Along the way, we cover Cole's surprising history as an early environmental writer, the Library Gallery's current exhibition “Contemporary Vistas,” and the Hudson River Skywalk that connects this site to Olana, the home of Cole's student Frederic Edwin Church. We also recommend two local spots to eat -- Creekside Restaurant and Bar on Catskill Creek and Subversive Malting and Brewing's farmhouse taproom -- plus nearby stops at CREATE Council on the Arts and Dutchman's Landing Park, and lodging options from Peloke's Motel to the bed-and-breakfasts of nearby Hudson, New York.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

Sagamore Hill, the longtime home of President Theodore Roosevelt, sits on a grassy rise above Oyster Bay Harbor on Long Island's Gold Coast , , about 35 miles east of Manhattan. Roosevelt lived here from 1885 until his death in January 1919, and during his presidency from 1901 to 1909, the 23-room Queen Anne shingle-style house served as his "Summer White House," hosting foreign dignitaries, presidential campaign visits, and the opening moves of diplomacy that would end the Russo-Japanese War. The interior has been preserved , , not restored , , with nearly all original furnishings intact, and guided house tours led by National Park Service rangers take visitors through nearly the entire home, including the library where Roosevelt wrote 18 of his books, the children's rooms, and the grand North Room added in 1905 to accommodate presidential-scale entertaining.

In this episode, we walk through the history of how Sagamore Hill came to be , , from the tragedy that preceded its construction, to the ranching years in the Dakota Territory, to the decades of family life and history that unfolded on these 83 acres. We explore the Old Orchard Museum and Visitor Center, the nature trails, the beach path down to Cold Spring Harbor, and the surrounding Oyster Bay area. We also cover the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center and the president's gravesite at Youngs Memorial Cemetery nearby.

Nearby places to eat and drink mentioned in this episode: Oyster Bay Brewing Company on Audrey Avenue, Gioia on South Street in Oyster Bay, and The Audrey on Audrey Avenue. Nearby sites covered in this episode: the Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center on Cove Road, and Youngs Memorial Cemetery where Roosevelt and his wife Edith are buried.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

Times Square is the most famous intersection in the world -- a canyon of light, energy, and spectacle at the heart of Midtown Manhattan where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue.

In this episode of Walking Tour of New York, we explore the full story of Times Square: from its origins as a gritty carriage district called Longacre Square to its transformation into the world's most iconic entertainment neighborhood. We trace the remarkable history of publisher Adolph Ochs and the New York Times, how a newspaper headquarters gave this neighborhood its name and its most beloved New Year's Eve tradition, and how the first ball drop in 1907 -- a 700-pound iron orb lowered from a flagpole -- grew into the global celebration watched by over a billion people each year. We walk through the Theater District, explore more than forty Broadway houses and the stories behind them, visit the TKTS discount booth at Father Duffy Square for same-day Broadway tickets, and stop at the Museum of Broadway to understand the world behind the curtain. We also cover dining highlights: Sardi's on West 44th Street, the legendary Broadway institution open since 1921 whose walls are covered with over a thousand celebrity caricatures; The View Restaurant and Lounge at the Marriott Marquis, New York's only revolving restaurant; Joe Allen on West 46th Street; and Los Tacos No. 1 right in the square. Nearby sites covered include Rockefeller Center, Central Park, the Empire State Building, Bryant Park, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, and Lincoln Center.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

Deep in the Finger Lakes region of New York, tucked along the western shore of Cayuga Lake, Taughannock Falls plunges 215 feet into a gorge ringed by 400-foot canyon walls -- making it taller than Niagara Falls and one of the most dramatic natural features in the entire Northeast. In this episode of Walking Tour of New York, we explore Taughannock Falls State Park in Ulysses, New York, from the flat and accessible Gorge Trail that winds three-quarters of a mile through an ancient canyon to the sweeping Rim Trail overlooks and the shimmering Cayuga Lake shoreline.

We dig into the park's remarkable geological story -- the glaciers that carved the Finger Lakes twelve thousand years ago, the hanging valley that created the falls, and the ongoing erosion that is still reshaping the gorge today. We also cover the park's Indigenous history as part of the Cayuga Nation's ancestral homeland, the Victorian hotel era when tourists arrived by steamboat to stay at the Taughannock House, and the Jones family estate that eventually became the state park in 1925.

You will learn about the park's camping, cabins, swimming beach, marina, and summer concert series -- plus tips on when to visit for peak waterfall power (spring), fall foliage (late September and October), and frozen-falls season (winter). We cover nearby dining including the Inn at Taughannock Falls Restaurant, with its Cayuga Lake views and locally sourced American-Mediterranean menu. And we highlight nearby sites including Watkins Glen State Park, Robert H. Treman State Park, Buttermilk Falls State Park, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at Sapsucker Woods, and the Cayuga Wine Trail.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

In this episode of Walking Tour of New York, we head to the hamlet of Mumford in Monroe County -- about twenty miles southwest of Rochester -- to explore Genesee Country Village and Museum, the largest living history museum in New York State. Covering more than six hundred acres, the museum was founded in the 1960s by John "Jack" Wehle, son of the Genesee Brewing Company's founder, who spent a decade rescuing 19th-century structures from across the Genesee Valley and reassembling them into a fully realized historic village. The result is sixty-eight restored and furnished buildings -- from a simple pioneer log cabin to an elaborate Victorian mansion -- organized into three chronological sections representing the Early Settlement, Center Village, and Gaslight District eras of Western New York life. Costumed interpreters bring each building to life with active demonstrations of blacksmithing, coopering, pottery throwing, weaving, historic cooking, and more.

The episode also explores the John L. Wehle Gallery of Sporting Art (home to works by Audubon, Remington, and Bateman, plus a 3,500-piece historic costume collection), the Carriage Museum, Silver Baseball Park -- the first replica 19th-century baseball park in America -- and the five-mile trail system of the Genesee Country Nature Center. On-site dining includes the Depot Restaurant, the Freight House Pub (featuring house craft beers brewed by Rohrbach Brewing Company), the Pavilion Garden Restaurant, and the historic D.B. Munger Confectionery. For nearby sites, the episode highlights the JELL-O Gallery Museum in LeRoy (about ten miles west), and the New York Museum of Transportation in Rush (with the only vintage trolley ride in New York State).

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

At the very tip of Long Island's North Fork, where the land narrows to a slender finger of sand and the waters of Gardiner's Bay stretch wide and glittering toward the horizon, Orient Beach State Park waits quietly for the visitors who find their way out here. It is one of the few places on Long Island where the landscape still feels genuinely untouched -- a 363-acre sanctuary of beach, salt marsh, and a rare maritime forest that has earned the distinction of being a National Natural Landmark. This episode takes you through every corner of the park, from the legendary Long Beach spit and the Roy Latham Maritime Forest Trail to the lighthouse nicknamed Bug Light that has stood guard over these waters since 1871. Along the way, you'll discover why birders, paddlers, and beachgoers alike make the long drive out to the North Fork's eastern edge -- and why the nearby village of Greenport is worth staying for.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

At the very tip of Manhattan, where the Hudson meets the Harlem River, lies a 196-acre forest that most New Yorkers have never visited. Inwood Hill Park is home to the last old-growth forest on the island, dramatic glacial caves used by the Lenape people for thousands of years, a legendary site where Peter Minuit may have purchased all of Manhattan, and a salt marsh that somehow survived the city's relentless growth. This episode explores the deep Indigenous history of Shorakapok, the amateur archaeologists who uncovered pots and axes in the 1890s, the park's stunning trails, and the lively Dominican neighborhood waiting just outside the park gates.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

Tucked along the southern edge of Ithaca in New York's Finger Lakes region, Buttermilk Falls State Park is one of the most spectacular and accessible state parks in the entire Northeast. With ten waterfalls cascading through a dramatic 600-foot gorge, emerald-green potholes carved by ancient glacial forces, and stone trails hand-laid by Depression-era workers, the park offers something rare -- a place where deep history and raw natural beauty arrive side by side. Whether you're wading in the natural swimming pool at the base of Buttermilk Falls, hiking the quiet shores of Lake Treman, or simply sitting beside the churning white water that gave the park its name, this is a destination that rewards every kind of visitor.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

Whiteface Mountain rises from the heart of the Adirondacks in the small town of Wilmington, Essex County -- the fifth-highest peak in New York State, the site of the alpine skiing events at the 1980 Winter Olympics, and the only High Peak in the Adirondacks you can drive almost to the very summit. Whether you come in winter for the greatest vertical drop east of the Rockies, or in summer to wind your way up the Veterans Memorial Highway to a stone castle perched 4,600 feet above sea level, Whiteface delivers something rare: big-mountain drama made genuinely accessible, with a rich history of Olympic glory, scientific discovery, and Adirondack wilderness all wrapped into one unforgettable destination.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

Step inside one of the most storied sports venues on earth -- Yankee Stadium in the South Bronx. From Babe Ruth's thunderous home runs to Lou Gehrig's farewell speech, from Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio to Derek Jeter and Aaron Judge, this is where baseball's greatest dynasty has played out over more than a century. In this episode, we take you on a guided tour through the stadium itself -- the soaring Great Hall, the Yankees Museum, the sacred ground of Monument Park, the seating bowl, and all the hidden details that make this place unlike any other ballpark in the world.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

Bear Mountain State Park sits in the Hudson Highlands, roughly 50 miles north of Midtown Manhattan, where a mountain shaped like a sleeping bear rises above the western bank of the Hudson River. In this episode we explore more than a century of history -- from a prison that was never built to the birth of the Appalachian Trail -- and walk you through everything the park has to offer, from summit panoramas and lakeside paddleboats to a century-old inn and a carousel whose hand-carved animals come straight from the forest around you. Whether you're planning a day trip from the city or an overnight escape into the Hudson Highlands, Bear Mountain delivers something rare: genuine wilderness within reach of one of the world's great urban centers.

Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.

Walking Tour of New York is a podcast built to enhance how you experience one of the world's most captivating cities. By combining storytelling with location-based insights, we help you connect more deeply with the places you visit -- before your trip, during it, or from the comfort of home. Our mission is to make exploration more meaningful, flexible, and accessible for everyone.

Travel has always been about more than just reaching a destination -- it's about understanding the story behind the place. Some of the most memorable experiences come from learning the history, uncovering hidden details, and hearing the fascinating facts that bring a location to life. Guided tours often provide that depth, but they aren't always available or convenient when you're exploring on your own schedule.

That's where this idea was born. We wanted a way to capture that informative, storytelling experience and make it accessible anytime, anywhere. Whether you're walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, strolling through Central Park, or planning your first trip to New York from across the world, having engaging, easy-to-digest insights at your fingertips can turn a simple stop into something far more meaningful.

Walking Tour of New York was created to bridge that gap. Our goal is to provide you with the stories, history, and highlights of New York's most extraordinary destinations -- delivered in a way that fits your pace, your itinerary, and your style of travel. No schedules to follow, no groups to keep up with -- just you, your curiosity, and the freedom to explore.

Above all, we hope this inspires you to discover new corners of New York, revisit familiar places with fresh perspective, and get out there to experience everything this incredible city has to offer. There's always something new waiting -- you just have to go explore.

To see gear recommendations and other podcast shows to destinations around the world visit NorthStarTravelers.com.