nyc walking tour

April 8, 2005 1:27 PM

Can you help me plan a little NYC walking tour? What's the most interesting, scenic, and fun way to walk from Greenwich Village to Chinatown, and what are some places we shouldn't miss?

I'm going to be in NYC for the day with friends tomorrow. They've never been there. They want to see GV, SoHo, Little Italy, and Chinatown. I know they're all more or less "in a row", but what streets specifically should we walk along? Where are the best shops and galleries and interesting things to look at in SoHo, and where's the best place to have lunch in Little Italy? A cafe that served great coffee and cannoli would be nice, too. I want to end up at Grand and Bowery in Chinatown to buy durian to take home with me, so assume we're starting somewhere around NYU and want to end up in Chinatown.

posted by iconomy to society & culture (8 answers total)

where's the best place to have lunch in Little Italy?

Most of the restaurants in what remains of Little Italy are touristy, but Ferrara's is great for espresso and cannoli.

The East Village is generally speaking more fun than the West so a trip to St. Marks Place would be fun. Also, Lunch at Katz's Deli on Houston & Ludlow is a must. Chinatown streets like Mott and Grand are the best for wandering, and Christopher Street is still a trip, too.

Have a Mars Bar at A Salt & Battery on Greenwich and think of me.
posted by jonmc at 1:44 PM on April 8, 2005

If the weather is nice, start off in Washington Square. You can do some people watching (and dog watching, in the dog runs).

Little Italy = Mott St, which is a few blocks east of SoHo. And although there has been some Mefi controversy regarding my next statement: La Mela for lunch.

on preview: The East Village is generally speaking more fun than the West- Agreed. You could go up from Washington Square to Union Square, over to 3rd Ave, and then walk down 3rd Ave for awhile. Lots of cool places to see there.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:47 PM on April 8, 2005 [1 favorite]

iconomy, you may want to visit the local volksmarch chapter.

Trail / Event Description: Greenwich trail not only visits the "Village" but also Chelsea , Chinatown , Little Italy and Washington Square . Quite possibly the "coolest" NYC walk to do.

Know it says event. Usually this is a mapped route that is provided all year round by the volksmarch's association. I never had to pay a fee which usually includes an embroidered patch of the walk. There should be a starting point at a coffee shop or other type retail store(think here it is the NewBalance store) that will have a book placed in the store’s location containing the walk’s mapped route with distance and time table. I did this with my brother in Newport Ca; so sorry I’m not fully aware of the full specifics here.
posted by thomcatspike at 1:57 PM on April 8, 2005

Another place that you can ask is at Ask Locally New York. It's sort of like a localized version of Ask MeFi that is just getting started for NYC.

http://nyc.asklocally.com.
posted by AhBook at 3:14 PM on April 8, 2005

Excellent - thanks guys! I love AskMe.
posted by iconomy at 6:22 PM on April 8, 2005

If it's not too late, try a few minutes at New York Architecture Walks - Soho. I've mentioned it in AskMe before, but the late-19th-century cast-iron facades that dot certain streets in SoHo are very cool. If any of you like architecture, they're a must-see.
posted by mediareport at 7:15 PM on April 8, 2005

Having just stopped by Maribelle Chocolates thanks to a recent AskMe answer, I would totally recommend getting an Aztec hot chocolate in the back room. Heaven in a cup.

And stop in around the corner at Leekan Designs for interesting and reasonably cheap browsing.
posted by CunningLinguist at 10:10 PM on April 8, 2005

I don't know if anyone will ever stumble across this comment, but my little walking tour was quite an eye opener. SoHo is like one gigantic strip mall now. I was so depressed. Gone are all of the charming little neon fixture places and the struggling artists and the wonderful galleries. In their places are Gap and H & M and J Crew and Ann Taylor and Benetton and on and on and on. It's a huge shopper's mecca of mid price chain stores. And since it was the first beautiful day of the year, there were about 100 people per square foot on the pavement. Ridiculous.

Other things - Tic 'N Tac are doing the same tired routine in Washington Square. Little Italy is so run-down and depressing. Chinatown smells like dried fish. No one walks around in the West Village anymore - they've all gone someplace else and won't tell me where. The West Village is nothing but flea markets and shoe stores and graffiti, and all of the stores have such filthy, dirty windows.

But I still heart NY.
posted by iconomy at 6:26 PM on April 12, 2005