^TM

Peddle Through The Heart of New York

Bike the Big Apple tours takes riders
beyond the typical tourist routes.

Wheel your way into the heart of the city with Bike the Big Apple tours. Peddle through all of the boroughs of New York City on an exciting trip beyond the congested midtown and downtown areas. Experience extraordinary and unexpected sites not seen on your typical tours with the only commercial bike touring service in town.

Take a tasty bite out of the Big Apple on The Chocolate Delight Bike Tour. Set aside a day to go beyond the regular trails into the heart of a city of diversity. The Chocolate Delight Bike Tour will take riders through the historic Lower East Side. Wheel past a live poultry market and view historic photo’s along the way before riding over the Williamsburg Bridge on its own bike path.

On the way you’ll ride through neighborhoods that continue to change and become the next "hip" and "in" place with the young and the artistic crowds. Check out The Brewery in an artfully restored old building or what is considered by some to be the best steakhouse in the city. Wheel through time as you enter the Hassidic neighborhood, pass by the abandoned navy yard where 70,000 New Yorkers worked during WWII and inner city housing projects. Along the way you’ll enter another new and "hip" neighborhood – DUMBO, where the tour will stop at a world class chocolate shoppe filled with tempting delights for all to enjoy. Catch an upward glimpse of the Brooklyn Bridge from the old Fulton Ferry Landing before crossing it and learning more about the fascinating story behind its construction.

The founder of Bike the Big Apple, Joel is a native of New York, and a former high school Social Studies teacher with extensive knowledge of the city. With the help of Joel and his knowledgeable guides guests learn intimate details about the history of the neighborhoods while on the tour. Riders on the tours experience the intriguing history and continuing transformation of the city that never sleeps.

For those who enjoy the bright lights and nightlife the Night Owl Special tour is just for you. Spend a Sunday evening pedaling around midtown when there is less traffic. Enjoy a ride through Central Park and Strawberry Fields before heading west at dusk to the beautiful new bikeway along the Hudson. The night is filled with bright lights like those strung along the suspension cables of what was once the longest structure of its kind in the world, the monumental George Washington Bridge.

Glide through midtown Manhattan and Times Square, aglow with the dazzling electronic billboards. The tour passes famous structures that come to life at night like Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Continue on your cruise through the beautiful residential neighborhoods Beekman Place and Tudor City. As the tour continues you can view the spectacular lights high over the East River that outline the Queensboro Bridge. This unique opportunity to view the night side of the big apple is just one another of the exciting tours available.

Climb a gentle upgrade to the highest natural point on Manhattan Island on the High and Low, The New and the Old - Upper Manhattan and Harlem Tour. Learn about Fort Washington, the site of a major defeat for General Washington. Now an urban area filled with an eclectic blend of "yuppies," artists, gays and Dominicans. Head down to the bottom of the George Washington Bridge where you’ll find wonderful views of "The Palisades," a marvelous geological formation. Delve deeper into the tale of the intriguing little red lighthouse, the only one left on the island. Listen to a dramatic reading, with pictures, of the classic children’s book, "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge."

The tour continues along the Hudson on the most beautiful stretch of the new Hudson River Greenway bikepath. Ahead you’ll travel into central Harlem in the midst of a new transformation before visiting the oldest residence in Manhattan, a mansion built by a British officer before the American Revolution! Before heading to the only remaining natural forest in Manhattan Island you’ll head onto the Cloisters, a unique "new" medieval castle that holds a great collection of old medieval art.

Tour One Great Bridge, a unique, faster paced tour that challenges riders as they cruise along each of the dedicated bike path on the bridges. Enjoy a "Bike and Bite" lunch at a unique Peruvian restaurant or The Surprising Bronx Bicycle Tour. On this tour fascinating sites await around every corner before you stop for lunch at Arthur Avenue indoor market in the Little Italy of the Bronx. After a bountiful lunch the tour takes a relaxing pace on the ride to Poe Cottage where you learn the fascinating story of Edgar Allen Poe. Listen to a dramatic reading of his incredibly powerful poem, Annibel Lee, written upon the death of his wife in this very cottage.

Explore the most populate borough of the city, Queens on the "Oh my Gods!" Ethnic Queens Tour. Experience the East on your cruise through downtown Flushing, with its overwhelming East Asian population. On past a Muslim mosque, the tour enters another part of this fascinating neighborhood. Tucked within this large Indian immigrant community is a glorious Hindu temple you’ll visit on the tour. Onward to Kissena Park, home to the only velodrome in the city and Flushing Meadow Park where you’ll bike around the remnants of two World’s Fairs, the unique Unisphere, and the controversial Arthur Ashe statute. You’ll find plenty of interesting sites to view along the way before heading onto Coney Island. Here you’ll find the legendary amusement center and beach, which is now a new thriving Russian Jewish neighborhood.

Tour hours vary. Cost includes the bike, a helmet, and a licensed tour guide. Night tours include front and back bike lights that are required by law. Rates are less for those who use their own bikes. Custom Tours are available. For further information on Bike the Big Apple offering Guided Bicycle Tours of New York City please email request to Explore@BikeTheBigApple.com or visit: http://www.bikethebigapple.com/toursd.html. You may also call: (201) 837-1133.

Visit http://www.travellady.com/Special/special.htm for links to a variety of special travel information. Explore more exciting travel reviews on New York at: http://www.travellady.com/Destinations/east.htm#New%20York. Exciting weekend getaways can be found at: http://www.travellady.com/Special/weekend.htm.

Edited By Melody Schubert

Back to TravelLady Magazine