Harlem Wednesday-Morning Gospel Tour

New York City, United States of America

Pay a visit to Harlem, the ethnically diverse borough of New York, on a Wednesday-morning guided tour. On your tour through one of New York City's most vital neighborhoods, you'll hear stories from Harlem's fascinating history and see its famous sights.

Once New York's most fashionable neighborhood, Harlem is home to the elegant enclave of Sugar Hill, a lovely area where famous musicians like Duke Ellington once lived. You'll drive along Strivers Row and Sylvan Terrace, see the legendary Apollo Theater and stop at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

You'll then hear the beautiful a cappella voices of the ARC gospel choir as they sing songs of praise and share their experiences. ARC stands for Addicts Rehabilitation Center, the oldest drug-free treatment program center in New York State. The ARC gospel choir was formed to help finance drug-recovery treatments for people in the community.

You also have the option of enjoying a deliciously authentic soul food lunch at the end of the tour.

USD $55.00

Review by: budget queen	March 2012
Excellent tour, Harlem was suprising. Choir was fantastic

Review by: Kevin D	March 2012
If you want a true gospel service experience you might be disappointed, and should look at the Sunday version of this tour. We had an excellent and informative guide( Len) and enjoyed the tour, but the church 'service' element is largely an opportunity for the excellent choir to have a blast and try to sell some dvds to tourists. Having attended gospel worship in Barbados, this was a mild imitation!

Review by: Rob	January 2012
Overall, a fantastic tour and well worth the money.

Review by: jan	December 2011
It was worth coming to New York just to do this tour. Amazing singers and Harlem was nothing like I expected. The lunch at Sylvia's was delicious and after seeing it on Masterchef, couldn't wait to visit.

Review by: simonetta r	December 2011
well done !!! the italo-american tour guide was absolutely perfect, we enjoyed it very much!!

Review by: Patricia T	October 2011
Excellent guide who lived in Harlem and really knew the area. Her commentary was clear and concise and gave detailed background information on the people and history of Harlem. Church service was great and many members of the tour joined in the singing out front. We stayed for the meal which was very enjoyable. To top off the visit the return bus dropped us off near our hotel saving a long walk. Well worth the money! _br/_ Tony and Pat from Sydney, Australia

Review by: Sandra M	October 2011
Tour started late, but tightened transport security was causing that problem city wide. Tour guide was informative and the service was just as we had hoped! Something to experience once in your life:-) Thanks!!

Review by: Sam	October 2011
Wonderful look at the areas you might not be comfortable going to alone, with plenty of history along the way. The Gospel singing was really good to watch, definitely the highlight.

Review by: Arlene W	October 2011
We thoroughly enjoyed our Harlem Gospel Tour experience. Alvin was a fantastic guide, with humourous and insightful commentary. Sylvia's was a real treat - especially since it had featured on Australia's MasterChef.

Review by: bosun	September 2011
Loved this tour. Very spiritual and our guide Shiela was very informative. Enjoyed the soul food at the restaurant on the completion of the tour. Would recommend you take the lunch option.

Review by: Priscilla J	July 2011
Every part of it was fabulous:The tour guide, the tour, the history of Harlem and of course the gospel choir and lunch.

Review by: jtho73	July 2011
We had no idea how beautiful Harlem is. It completely destroyed the stereotype that we had before we saw the stunning architecture and parks. The Gospel service was fantastic and lunch was delicious! This was one of our favourite New York experiences.

Review by: Susanne M	July 2011
The tour was quite well organised, Harlem was very interesting but the Gospel Choir in the church was what I was looking forward to and they were great. I also had the Harlem meal after the tour and that was at a lovely restaurant and the food was excellent.

Review by: Julia K	June 2011
The highlight of the tour is the ARC gospel performance. Other than that, you may spend too much time sitting in the bus and listen to the guide.

Review by: Amanda C	June 2011
was really good and defo worth it, the food was great aswell :)

Review by: Vincenzo D	May 2011
Interesting morning in Harlem supported by very friendly Italian speaker that gave us useful suggetions for the following days we spent in NYC. Recomended.

Review by: Ronald N	March 2011
A very knowledgeable guide. Slightly repititious views of Harlem. Magnificent gospel singing. Would do justice in an Opera House.

Review by: Pervy	February 2011
all good

Review by: Alfred B	January 2011
This is not the slickest Gospel choir you will ever see in New York but it is the genuine article and an enjoyable way to spend a morning. The guided tour on the way to the church was very well done.

Review by: William R	January 2011
Totally awesome

Review by: Bronwyn N	October 2010
This was very disappointing. There was a random stop for 45 minutes which was simply a toilet stop. My tip - get a cab and for about $10 each way, you will get to the church. You can then attend the service for a fraction of the price, without the length of the tour. Most of it was a waste of time.

Review by: Keith J	August 2010
There was no service at the church and the locals took all the front seats and stood up so we couldnt see anything from the back. The Soul Food brunch was just ordinary food spare ribs, rice. battered fish, fried chicken, no black eyed peas!!

Review by: Vesna S, Australia	May 2010
What a fantastic tour this was. Was nearly up singing and dancing with the singers!!! A must if you like gospel. This was the only tour that did not have our details that we had pre booked but lucky they had room for us. We took the lunch package which we thoroughly enjoyed. We were well looked after.

Review by: Marsha M, Canada	April 2010
I enjoyed everything about this tour.

Review by: Anonymous, United Kingdom	April 2010
The bus tour around Harlem was interesting. Got to hear about some history etc which set the scene very nicely. A couple of stops were made one of which was quite useless - outside a house which wanted to charge a further 5 entrance to go inside, but never actually opened the door to let us in! Much more interesting was the 'triple cent' 555 building which once used to house Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald apparently... Also a stop at The Cotton Club would have been great, as opposed to a drive-by. The highlight HAS to be the actual Gospel service. Amazing singing, amazing people, and an incredibly warm welcome. The 90 minute service was very enjoyable and at times, quite thought-provoking. We came out of their extremely enthused, and ready for the 'Soul Food' which sadly only a few of us had opted for. But not a problem, as there was more for the rest of us. You HAVE to go for the food option, which takes you to Slyvia's Restaurant in Harlem for some traditional fayre. Delicious! My only negative comment is that we were rushed out of the restuarant at the end, and had to gulp our desserts down, and leave the coffee which had just arrived because the bus was in a rush to get back. So the timing was a little off, but overall, if you're looking to get a Gospel experience, you'll definately enjoy this one!

Review by: Walter D, Australia	March 2010
We did the Sunday service 18 months ago, so we selected the Wednesday tour this time. We loved BOTH. My partner preferred the Sunday service, while I just LOVED the Wednesday one as it had songs I knew and could join in, and no I am NOT a deeply spiritual person, but I love the Harlem Gospel music and the energy and joy those people have ... Praise the lord and Hallelujia folks, miss this and you are missing a part of America.

Review by: Monique v, Netherlands	November 2009
It was a great tour. Peggy our tour guide and the bus driver did a very good job!

Review by: Rhonda N, Australia	July 2009
The tour guide was fantastic and very knowledgeable. Excellent, would recommend it to all.

Review by: Marcelle M, France	January 2009
Excellent guide who knew a lot about New York.

Review by: Oscar S, Spain	January 2009
Expected something more gospellish. Our guide was excellent though.

Review by: Joel M	January 2009
Excellent guide who knew a lot about New York.

Review by: OSCAR S	January 2009
Expected something more gospellish. Our guide was excellent though.

Review by: Giulia M, United Kingdom	December 2008
Definitely worth it, although I think we spent most of the time in the bus, but the guide was very good and the concert as well.

Review by: Linda Lowrey P, Denmark	October 2008
The guided tour was absolutely lovely, but the visit in the church and the following lunch could have been better.

Review by: Zbigniew D, Australia	September 2008
Very good.

Review by: James M, United Kingdom	September 2008
Very knowledgeable guide and excellent driver, comfortable bus. Fantastic concert, enjoyed it very much.

Review by: Sherry B, Canada	July 2008
Loved it! Tour guide was great!

Review by: Anita C, Australia	March 2008
Our guide was a wealth of information. Loved the gospel singers and the lunch was fun to share with pleasant strangers from 3 different continents.

Review by: Ylenia R, Italy	January 2008
Choir was amazing and the tour was really interesting.

Review by: Gherardo C	January 2008
Choir was amazing and the tour was really interesting.

Review by: Robert I, United Kingdom	December 2007
Not the small intimate trip I was expecting but a very enjoyable and uplifting experience. Highly recommended.

Review by: Anonymous, Canada	December 2007
The Gospel service was very moving, and the soul food lunch extra charge both abundant and tasty. We were very disappointed in the tour bus guide- no information provided that would help us put gospel music into context and even less information about Harlem than was in our guide books. The guide did not make any of the supposedly scheduled stops so we could walk around and take photos or even just look at important sites e.g., Centre for African American Culture-even after reminders and specific requests. On the way back from the lunch, I was reading from the guide book out loud, to share info about landmarks we were passing with my companion the bus driver also made a few comments- and several other passengers said they learned more from the reading and the bus driver's few remarks than they had during the entire guided part of the tour! Very disappointing. Local guides better acquainted with 'spiritual Harlem', or better informed guides with some interest or even some minimal knowledge of Harlem's rich musical history or even architectural, sociological, or political history, any context would have been interesting! Would have made the tour worth recommending. Too bad, because, as mentioned in the beginning, the gospel service and choir were a very moving and interesting experience.

Review by: Alan S, United Kingdom	October 2007
A great 4 hour trip that showed Harlem in a new light. Great bus, 5 star guide and a driver with a magical Gospel service, do it!!!

Review by: Anthony P, Ireland	March 2007
Our guide was what made this experience so good. She was fantastic - a nice lady from Alabama. She sure knows her stuff and was superb! The music was great too. I recommend this trip.