2h 10 stops
Central Park Is a Lie
"You're standing at the entrance to Central Park. Eight hundred and forty-three acres. Bigger than Vatican City. Almost twice the size of Monaco."
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$9.99
New York City
The city everyone comes to become someone — and keeps getting away with the impossible. We walk you past the parts the tour buses skip; a few small things are ours.
8 experiences · 83 story stops · GPS audio · Downloadable narration
Choose from
8 tours
Stories on location
83 stops
Typical length
38 min–2h 30m
Best value
$14.99 city pack
Keep Exploring
Every neighborhood has a story worth hearing.
1h 30m 9 stops
Chelsea / Meatpacking
Death Avenue to the High Line
"You're standing on a street where cowboys rode horses through Manhattan for ninety years. Not metaphorical cowboys. Not a theme restaurant."
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$9.99
1h 30m 12 stops
Wall Street
Hamilton Invented the Money
"Alexander Hamilton got out of the Caribbean because he wrote a very good letter about a hurricane."
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$9.99
2h 30m 9 stops
Midtown
Secrets, Lies & Grand Designs
"Midtown Manhattan has a problem. It's full of buildings that are lying to you. That dome you're about to see? Cast iron painted to look like marble."
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$9.99
1h 12 stops
Chinatown
The Bloody Angle and the Golden Buddha
"You're standing in the oldest, densest, most stubborn Chinatown in the Western hemisphere."
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$9.99
1h 30m 9 stops
Brooklyn Bridge
The Family Business
"Welcome to Bad Historian, where everything I tell you is probably true. Eighty percent of it definitely is."
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$9.99
38 min 12 stops
Times Square
The Hit Factory
"In nineteen ninety-three, a woman handed the chairman of Disney a hard hat and a flashlight and walked him into a ruined Broadway theater while rain came through the roof."
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$9.99
Exploring more than one neighborhood?
Get every New York City tour for $14.99
The city pack is a one-time purchase with all 8 currently available New York City tours—83 narrated stops you can take on your own schedule.
Buy the New York City pack
Secure checkout · Redeem instantly in the app
Preview the storytelling
Stories hiding in plain sight
Read a few of the places covered across New York City, then hear the complete stories on location in the app.
park
Central Park
An 843-acre rectangle of nature that took 20 years and 20,000 workers to make look 'natural.' They moved more earth than digging the Panama Canal.
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landmark
Empire State Building
Built during the Great Depression as a flex, this building was so empty for years that New Yorkers called it the 'Empty State Building.' Now it's just empty of affordable rent.
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landmark
Statue of Liberty
She's been standing there since 1886, but did you know she was almost sent to Egypt? And that her original color was brown, not green? The French really knew how to regift.
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landmark
Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House
That gigantic curved building with the four seated women out front is the Alexander Hamilton United States Custom House. And the small oval of grass beside it is Bowling Green — the oldest public park in New York City. The park first.
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landmark
Bedford Street
Bedford Street.
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landmark
Belvedere Castle
Belvedere Castle looks like a medieval fortress, but it was built in 1869 and has never defended anything except bird watchers.
Read the storyHere's How It Works
Put in your headphones, press play, and start walking. The app does the rest.
1
Download the app
No account needed. Start whenever you're ready.
2
Pick an experience
Choose a tour, hit play, and start walking.
3
Listen as you explore
Stories play at each stop. Pause, wander, and continue whenever you want.
Plan with confidence
Before you explore New York City
Which tour should I choose?
Compare the subject, neighborhood, duration, route, and exact stops on each tour page. Individual tours show their one-time price before you open the app.
Do I need to reserve a start time?
No. Start whenever it suits you, pause for food or a detour, and resume later. Check the opening hours of any venue you personally plan to enter.
What should I download before I leave?
Download the tour narration on Wi-Fi. Cached audio does not need to stream, though map tiles and other online features may still require a connection.
Are attraction tickets included?
No. Your purchase covers the Bad Historian audio experience. Transportation, food, and admission to third-party attractions are separate.
Every New York City tour
8 tours · $14.99 one-time