Underground Railroad Walking Tour in NYC
Trace NYC’s Freedom Trail and Underground Railroad history on a guided walk
Highlights
Explore New York City’s history of slavery and the Underground Railroad on a guided walking tour. Visit key sites and hear stories of revolts, escapes, and the New Yorkers who helped people seek freedom.
- Meet your guide at 1 Bowling Green, outside the National Museum of the American Indian
- Visit an archeological site and memorial honoring enslaved Africans in colonial America
- View a former station connected to the Underground Railroad
- Learn about riots, revolts, and dramatic escapes during the era of American slavery
- Discover stories of real New Yorkers who risked their lives and property to help others
Things to know
Arrive 15 minutes early; the tour cannot wait for late arrivals. Wear comfortable walking shoes, as you will be on your feet for most of the tour. Guide tips are customary and up to you.
Cancellation Policy
Tickets are non-refundable. Cancellation or rescheduling requests made less than 48 hours before the departure date are not accepted. If you do not show up for the tour, we reserve the right to use your booking information to collect payment or to scan your pass.
FAQs
No. You do not need tickets; show up with your confirmation email.
Dress for the day’s weather and wear comfortable walking shoes since you will be on your feet for most of the tour. You can bring a bottle of water and light snacks.
Yes. Use the restroom ahead of time.
More about the National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian sits in the grand Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House at the southern tip of Manhattan, just steps from where the NYC Slavery and Underground Railroad Tour traces some of the city's most consequential history. Housed in a Beaux-Arts landmark overlooking Bowling Green, the museum offers a powerful counterpoint to the financial district that surrounds it, reminding visitors that long before Wall Street rose nearby, this land belonged to the Lenape people. For anyone drawn to the layered, often-hidden stories of Lower Manhattan, the National Museum of the American Indian is an essential companion stop to a tour that already pulls back the curtain on the city's complicated past.
Inside, soaring rotunda murals give way to galleries filled with Native art, textiles, regalia, and contemporary works from communities across the Americas. The quiet, contemplative atmosphere is a striking contrast to the bustle of nearby Battery Park and the busy streets where the slavery and Underground Railroad tour unfolds. Walking from cobbled corners that once held auction blocks and safe houses into the hush of the National Museum of the American Indian, you feel the weight of multiple histories overlapping on the same few blocks. The sensory shift, from city noise to the soft echo of the rotunda and the rich color of woven art, makes the experience linger.
This pairing is ideal for thoughtful travelers, history enthusiasts, educators, and families wanting a fuller picture of New York than the usual skyline tour provides. Visitors who care about civil rights, Indigenous voices, and the deeper roots of American identity will find the National Museum of the American Indian deepens everything the Underground Railroad tour reveals about resistance, survival, and community. Admission is free, which makes it easy to add before or after your walking tour. Step from the streets where freedom seekers once moved in secret into the halls of the National Museum of the American Indian, and let Lower Manhattan tell you the rest of its story.
