Get Lost in History: Creating Self-Guided Neighborhood Walking Tours with Maps

Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, with their charming streets, historic landmarks, and vibrant culture, are neighborhoods that beg to be explored on foot. Whether you’re a seasoned New Yorker or a curious visitor, there’s no better way to soak in these incredible neighborhoods’ rich history and artistic energy than by taking a walking tour. And the best part? You can create your own self-guided tour using the wealth of resources available on Village Preservation’s website. Guided tours are offered throughout the year to members and the general public. But there’s nothing quite like setting your own path and pace using carefully researched history and beautifully illustrated maps.

Crafting your own walking tour is quick, fun, and simple when using any one of our interactive maps.

Our interactive maps are invaluable tools. There are dedicated tours such as “NoHo Historic District 25th Anniversary Tour, Part I” and “Hip-Hop’s Second Birthplace.”

The NoHo map features 25 buildings within the approximately 130-building original NoHo Historic District, in celebration of its 25th anniversary. The highlighted buildings represent the range of construction periods and array of building types, styles, and uses that occur throughout the district.

Then there are maps that can be filtered by a historical theme. The “East Village Building Blocks” map lets you select a specific block listing all the buildings on that block and provides a short history of each. Additionally, there are 18 guided tours to choose from, from African American History to Yiddish Rialto. These tours “help us interpret the diverse cultures, architectures and histories found on East Village streets, where tradition meets contemporary life. From the City’s oldest, public, non-sectarian cemetery, to “halls for hire” hosting immigrant traditions and working class gatherings, to spaces that foster artistic activity and civic engagement, the East Village’s built environment articulates layers of New York history, memory and story.”

“Each guided tour on Building Blocks invites you to see small groups of East Village buildings in a new way. Each is idiosyncratic and is curated by an expert on one of the many facets of the East Village.”

Our “Civil Rights and Social Justice Map” guides you to sites of “significance in the history of civil rights and social justice movements in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. Few places in America have made more significant contributions to civil rights and social justice struggles for African-Americans, Women, Latinos, Immigrants, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people than the Village, East Village, and NoHo.”

This map includes seven themes from which to select related sites: African American History, LGBTQ+ History, Women’s History, Social Justice and Other Civil Rights Activism, Hispanic History, Asian-American History, and Disability History. Each site on the map has its own short written history and links to additional resources to learn even more. The colored circles indicate what site is related to a specific historical theme, with many sites have significant overlap to several or all the themes of the map.

Once you’ve chosen a theme, plot your route. The best exploration happens on foot, and the relatively compact sizes of our neighborhoods make it easy to cover a lot of ground in a few hours. Start at a central location like Washington Square Park and work your way through the neighborhood, stopping at key sites along the way.

We have 16 amazing maps to explore, with several of them providing the opportunity to explore specific parts of our neighborhoods based on various historical themes. Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo are full of hidden gems—those wonderful lesser-known spots that aren’t always on the typical tourist radar. Use our maps’ filters to discover these locations. Perhaps it’s a tucked-away garden, a quiet courtyard, or a small, historic building with a big story. These unexpected finds can often be the highlight of your tour.

No walking tour is complete without indulging in some local flavor. Whether it’s grabbing a coffee at Caffe Reggio, where Bob Dylan once strummed his guitar, or enjoying a slice of pizza at Joe’s on Bleecker Street, be sure to end your tour with a taste of the Village’s culinary offerings.

So lace up your walking shoes, grab a map, and get ready to uncover the many layers of these iconic New York City neighborhoods.