West Harlem Tour: Gospel Music and Architecture

New York

Experience the vibrant culture of West Harlem on a tour filled with inspirational gospel music and stunning turn-of-the-century architecture. Discover the rich history of the area, from the Alexander Hamilton National monument to the iconic Harlem Renaissance figures. Book now!

Duration: 2 hours, 15 minutes

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

West Harlem - Spend a Sunday morning in Hamilton Heights, West Harlem. Visit a historic African-American church and worship with the locals (1 hour) followed by a guided walking tour of one of New York City’ most desired neighborhood (1 hour).

What's Included

Guided walking tour by a licensed and local Harlem resident.
Visit to an iconic church.

What's Not Included

-Gratuities (optional, but appreciated).
-Contribution to the church’s offering plate. We suggest a minimum of $5 each.

Additional Information

Enjoy inspirational and classic choir gospel music.
Discover the historical district displaying architecture from various developmental phases.
Experience the rich past of historical sites like the Alexander Hamilton National monument, which inspired Broadway’s ‘Hamilton’, and the city’s neo-Gothic university campus.
Explore and educate yourself on…

Location

145 St

Meet guide at the North East corner of St Nicholas Avenue and W. 145th Street, in front of 700 St Nicholas Avenue.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

4.2

(14 Ratings)

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1 star

Alberto_r

Sep 8, 2025

Emotional experience! It... - Emotional experience! It was our first time and we really enjoyed it. We do recommend it if you visit Harlem

Review provided by Viator

Jnkrnhrdt

Apr 14, 2025

Super enjoyable and insightful walk with local Debi - I loved the Sunday Service and the walk through Hamilton Heights and West Harlem afterwards. Debi is the nicest guide and provided us with historical and architectural insights and at the end of the tour also gave us a great restaurant recommendation. She answered all our questions and even extended the tour for a couple of minutes. Loved this experience!!!!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Travelinclination

Aug 7, 2023

Great Harlem experience - Very knowledgable tour guide that did a good job representing his neighborhood. Even though the event was scheduled for two hours, it took more like 3-4 hours, partly due to the church service being somewhat longer than expected and partly because we were intetested in learning more about Harlem. Can fully recommend this tour, if you’re intetested in the history of Harlem and want to experience a Harlem church service, including gospel singing.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

743abeg

May 24, 2023

Lovely tour - An impressive and experiential visit to the church. The accompanying tour of Harlem with Keith was also interesting and educational.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Trek05435051272

Apr 10, 2023

Harlem is beautiful! - We totally agree with the previous comments. We took the tour on Palm Sunday. Church was very interesting and well organized. After the service our guide Keith Taylor took us on a fascinating tour around Harlem. We never knew that Harlem was so beautiful and thoroughly enjoyed Keith‘s commentary. He cares a lot for his neighbourhood and knows a lot about the rich history. We appreciated the extra time he spent to show us around.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Barbara_p

Oct 29, 2025

Off To Church - The Church Covenant Ave Baptist Church has a youth choir on the last Sunday of the month which is not what we were hoping to hear. However the service, some of the singing and the entire atmoshere of the church was welcoming and very friendly. The sermon by Dr Cynthia was exceptional. We also were able to see several baptisms. It was a wonderful experience. It was unfortunate that Frederick Douglas Park as well as Hamilton's house were closed because of the government shutdown. But we walked the beautiful sights of Hamilton Heights and the beautiful Brownstone houses. We were guided by a very knowledgeable man who was sprightly and knew a lot of the history and organization of Harlem. He made sure that know one strayed off the tour route

Review provided by Viator

Esmeralda939

Aug 21, 2023

It was a good tour - The tour was very good, excellent tour guide . He was knowledgeable ! The gospel experience was not as we expected. We attended a full service in the church , but the sermon was too long and the choir only sang few songs

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Roam436174

May 29, 2023

Harlem gospel - Lovely experience ….very beautiful gospel…different from other Gospels….perhaps I would have preferred a more traditional than technological Gospel….

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Cliente_000577

Aug 21, 2023

Good experience - A good experience to cleanse the culture of the church and religious during a mass with the gospel choirs, the sermon lasted for over 25 30 minutes drastically reducing the duration of the tour (only 30 min) Don't be late for the indicated appointment (30 minutes before the tour) otherwise you will have to find the church yourself because the guide leaves

Review provided by Tripadvisor

D347izsabinek

Jul 27, 2025

Takes much longer than stated; bad music! - Attention: takes much longer than stated; and bad music!! Meeting point was at 9:30, 2 minutes from the church. The Mass began at 10:00 and lasted until 12:15. I don't know if there was another walk after that, because we didn't have time. The gospel choir in the church sang very wrong and only 3 songs. Paying 26 euros per person for this was wasted money.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

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From $30

up to 6 guests

1 - Adult