Frommer's 24 Great Walks in New York

by Peter Caine

Features 24 walking tours of New York

Genres: Travel, New York

176 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2008

About the author

Peter and Oriel Caine run Paris Walks, a company that gives walking tours of Paris in English. They are both qualified guide lecturers. Peter has a degree in history and art history and Oriel has a master's degree in history and French literature.

Reviews

[Danielle]

I can’t wait to take some of these walks once we are going back into the city. For now it was a great mental vacation in the city I love.

[Steve Gores]

This is a generously illustrated book that punctures myths created for tourists. For instance, Nevius points out that what is now touted as Teddy Roosevelt's house is a re-creation, since the original was demolished. The focus of this book is architectural, which is, I suppose, appropriate since it's about "walks" rather than offering a tour guide about what to see within museums, galleries, libraries, etc. I read the 2009 volume, so it's a bit outdated--nothing on the Highline here, for example.

[Jill]

Not gonna rate this one until I've tried some of the walks.

Update:
Now that my New York trip is complete and I have tested out several walks, I can give this a proper review. I really did enjoy this book as a guide. Its maps and directions are easy to follow and it gives some interesting information on many of the sites it takes you by. Often my brother (a New York resident) would start to fill me in on a location and I would already know the backstory from having read it in the book. I definitely found it a useful and likeable travel guide for Manhattan.

There are a couple of drawbacks though. First of all, there is no overall map of Manhattan, not even of the entire Manhattan subway line, which I found a bit hampering on some occasions. Second, the book is only a couple years old, but that is already too old. Several locations have changed. Some subway stops are no longer the same, especially around the World Trade Center area, and that will change more soon as two lines are currently being expanded. My younger brother and I also had the experience of searching out one of the recommended restaurants on the Financial District walk only to find it had been replaced by another. The new restaurant was similarily priced and we did enjoy it, but that did highlight that the guide needs a bit of updating. Also, there is the obvious limitation that the book covers only Manhattan, and not even all of Manhattan at that (one of my favorite sites of the trip, The Cloisters, was in an area not even mentioned in the book). This is a forgiveable drawback as the neighborhoods of Manhattan are diverse and interesting enough to keep you extremely busy with just the 24 walks covered. However, if you're looking for more, you won't find it here.

So, a limited book in need of some updates, but interesting and pretty useful with easy-to-follow directions.

[Daniel Eggert]

We only completed one of the 24 walks in it's entirety on our 4-day jaunt through New York, but I really enjoyed this books wonderful balance of must-see sights with historical context. So often, tours and tour guides only focus on the last twenty-ish years or what's on TV right now. This book is simultaneously showing you art from the 1960's and mentioning architecture & events in the 1870's and 1920's. The directions from spot to spot were easy to follow, even in Central Park where it can be very easy to get lost!

I enjoyed it so much that I gave it to my cousins who live in brooklyn because they are interested in trying to complete all 24 walks!

I highly recommend this book and think we'd pick up another edition/title when we visit Rome, Paris or London, etc.

[Kerry]

I have tried MANY versions of walking guides for various cities. This one was surprisingly good. Easy to follow, interesting things to see and most importantly, easy to follow. (worth mentioning twice as that is where these types of books usually go wrong)

[Jonathan Lopez]

Terrific set of walking tours!