“Best Place To Take Out Of Town Guests”
— The Village Voice, 2014
“Really great walking tour…Can’t wait to book another one.”
— Google Review, December 2024
Explore New York’s Layered History
Take a Big Onion Walking Tour and discover New York’s rich history through memorable stories and little-known facts.
A walk through one of the most dynamic and diverse areas in Manhattan, the bustling Union Square and the serene neighboring Gramercy Park!
Explore the contrasting spaces of peaceful Gramercy Park and bustling Union Square, two of NYC’s most iconic small parks for almost two centuries! Constructed together as residential districts in the decades before the American Civil War, both were designed after London’s fashionable “garden squares.” These two neighboring areas, however, quickly developed in two very different directions. Our walk traces how one of these squares remained an exclusive enclave, home to the affluent and then artists, while the other grew into a communal urban gathering space, a site of commerce, entertainment, and public demonstrations.
Stops could include the Players Club, Block Beautiful, and the former Tammany Hall headquarters, along with sites associated with the Civil War Draft Riots, Emma Goldman, Stanford White, Peter Cooper, and Andy Warhol.
Cost: $30
$20 Seniors and Full-Time Students
Give an experience they’ll remember! All tours are available as gift certificates.
Purchase This Tour as A Gift Certificate
Big Onion requires all walkers to reserve and pay in advance. Prepayment helps us determine group size and appropriate guide numbers.
NOTE: You will select your date in the next step.
For bigger groups, consider private walking.
Whether you are looking to integrate a tour into your academic curriculum or entertain out-of-towners, a Big Onion walking tour is a great way to experience the city.
For more information or to arrange, please call (718) 499-3001 or email info@bigonion.com.
Where Lexington Avenue starts at Gramercy Park North/East 21st Street.
6/Q/R to 23rd Street.
The finest group of tour guides anywhere. Most of us are full-time graduate students researching and writing doctoral dissertations in history, passionate about the history, architecture, and people of New York.
All guides carry an 8×11 sign that says “Big Onion Walking Tours.”
All tours last approximately two hours. We start on time and walk between one and two miles at a moderate walking pace, stopping at various sites along the tour.
Big Onion generally presents tours rain or shine. In the event of inclement weather, please call our hotline [(888) 606-WALK (9255) ext. 1] to confirm our schedule.
Gratuities are always appreciated but never expected.
With 24+ hours prior to a walking tour, Big Onion offers a full credit for the value of the booking. Credits will be given as Gift Cards in dollar amounts. Gift Cards are good for two years and can be used on any Big Onion outing. Cancellations less than 24 hours prior to the tour or no-shows cannot be credited.
Walks are held rain or shine but may be canceled for severe weather. In the event of a Big Onion cancellation full refunds or rescheduled tickets will be offered.
More Questions? Check out How it Works for more details.
Local Weather Forecast
NYC Subway Map
Weekly Service Advisories
Subway Fares
