It's an all-day tour of NYC highlights and history. Lunch is provided, but nothing to write home about. Got off the bus to go on the ferry to Ellis Island. Since 9/11, the Statue of Liberty is closed, so the tour doesn't allow you to get off the ferry except at Ellis Island. We also got off of the bus to see St John the Divine Church which is the largest cathedral in the world. The tour also takes you through all the famous boroughs. During the week you can go to either the Lincoln Center or UN for a tour; on weekends you are given tickets to go up to the Empire State Bldg Deck.

The tour is quite complete with friendly, knowledgeable and professional tour guides. New York is overwhelming with all it's neon lights and advertisement, yet on this tour, one can actually single out the specific landmark. Also we were pleased that the tour guide while being knowledgeable in the City's history, also knew about other things. For example, she showed us where a few of Seinfeld episodes were filmed; How many elevators were in the empire state building (72); where Barbara Streisand made her debut; the first hotel to have television in each individual rooms and lots of other fun trivia.

All and all, this tour is a great overview of the city.

This is a great way to see the city in a limited amount of time. The fully narrated tours are given aboard double decker buses giving you a bird's eye view of the sights of the city.

At the time we were in the city there were three tours to choose from, the Uptown, Downtown and Night Loops. The cost was $40 per person. A tour of Brooklyn was scheduled to begin sometime in late summer or early fall. In addition to bus tour tickets, you may also purchase tickets to other attractions at the Gray Line desk in the Port Authority Building or in Times Square. More to come...

The Gray Line Hop on/Hop off double decker bus tour is a great alternative to a regular bus tour. It is very flexible in that you can get off at any of the stops and stay as long as you want. The day pass cover 5 different routes including a Brooklyn loop that operates seasonaly, and a night loop that hits the restaurants and evening entertainment venues.

The downtown loops, start at the Empire State Building on 34th Street and has stops at Greenwich Village, Soho, Chinatown, Tribeca, and Battery Park, for excursions to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

The midtown loop makes stops at Central Park, Rockefellar Centre, Times Square, the New York Public Library and Grand Central Terminal. If you are staying in midtown Manhattan, you can save this loop until last if you have time, as most of these stops are within walking distance to the midtown hotels.

The uptown loop starts at Central Park and goes completely around Central Park, as far north as 125th street in Harlem. The highlights of this loops are the many museums that New York has.

This tour gives an excellent overview of Manhattan, and the guides provided us with wonderful tips on everything from how to use the subway, to popular restarants and nightsclubs, and those which should be avoided.

I would not do the tour again, as I now have a better concept of how to get around on my own, but it was definitly worthwhile for a first time visitor.