NYC Contrast Tour

Side by Side

The table below lines up the borough tours on the figures that matter for booking: the per-person card price, the duration you buy, the guide language and the end point. Prices are the US dollar card prices from the catalog, and the $42 is a from price across six options. All three start in Midtown Manhattan.

None of the shared tours lists lunch, hotel pickup or attraction entry as included. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before applies to all three. Group sizes run up to 50 on the Four Boroughs tour and up to 55 on the Amigo tour.

Which One Suits You

Pick the Four Boroughs Bus Tour if you want the deepest coverage: 6 hours, a 20-minute lunch stop at a food hall with murals, a 20-minute stop in DUMBO and a stop at an empanada shop in the Bronx, for up to 50 people. Pick the Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem and Queens Bus Tour if Coney Island is the point, because only its 7-hour option gives 60 minutes at the beach, and it starts at 8:30 AM outside the Grand Hyatt next to Grand Central. Pick the Contrasts Tour of Harlem, Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn if you want the most Bronx content: it stops at the Joker stairs for 15 minutes, Yankee Stadium for 15 minutes, the Big Pun mural for 30 minutes with a coffee break, and an I Love The Bronx mural by Tats Cru.

It is also the only one that lets you choose your ending point. If you only care about Brooklyn, a Brooklyn-only open-top option exists: the Brooklyn and DUMBO Open-Top Bus and Walking Tour runs 3 hours at $69.

The Apollo Theater on 125th Street

The Apollo Theater reopened as the 125th Street Apollo Theatre on January 26, 1934 with a Benny Carter and his orchestra show, and Wednesday Amateur Night began that same year. Ella Fitzgerald won Amateur Night on November 21, 1934 at age 17. Today the Apollo's Soundstage venues include the 199-seat Victoria Theater and the 99-seat Jonelle Procope Theater.

The Four Boroughs Bus Tour stops here for 15 minutes and walks the Harlem Walk of Fame, the Amigo tour stops for 10 minutes, and the Contrasts Tour passes it without a listed stop. Your ticket does not include a show or a theater tour, those are bought separately on site.

1520 Sedgwick Avenue and the Birth of Hip Hop

1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx is the address widely cited as the birth of hip hop: DJ Kool Herc hosted a back-to-school party there on August 11, 1973. None of the listings here names it as a stop. The Contrasts Tour spends the most time on Bronx stops, with Joker Stairs, Yankee Stadium, the Big Pun mural and the I Love The Bronx mural.

Yankee Stadium and the Joker Stairs

Yankee Stadium stands at 1 East 161st Street and opened in April 2009 across from the original stadium, which operated from 1923 to 2008. Its capacity is quoted two ways: MLB's current guide lists 46,543 while Wikipedia and Ticketmaster list 46,537. The stadium's own Classic Tour enters at Gate 6 at 161st Street and River Avenue, but that is a separate ticket your bus tour does not include.

In Highbridge, the Joker Stairs connect Shakespeare Avenue and Anderson Avenue at West 167th Street in Highbridge, a filming location for the 2019 film Joker and its 2024 sequel. Sources disagree on the count: some say 131 steps, others 132. The stairs sit near the 167th Street station on the 4 line.

A resident has complained about tourist crowds, so keep your visit brief and quiet.

The Big Pun Mural and Tats Cru

The Big Pun mural sits at Rogers Place and Westchester Avenue near the Intervale Avenue station. It was painted by Tats Cru, an aerosol art collective based at The Point in Hunts Point, and it is refreshed each year around the rapper's death anniversary. Note that other listings give the corner as 163rd Street and Westchester Avenue.

The Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem and Queens Bus Tour stops here for 10 minutes, while the Contrasts Tour pairs the mural with a 30-minute coffee and bathroom break. The Contrasts Tour also stops 10 minutes at the I Love The Bronx mural by Tats Cru. On the Four Boroughs tour the Bronx stop is 10 minutes of street art, though its exact walls are not stated.

Flushing Meadows Corona Park and the Unisphere

All the tours stop in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens. The Unisphere, the park's steel globe, is 140 feet tall, 120 feet wide and weighs 350 tons. It was dedicated March 6, 1964 for the 1964-65 World's Fair.

The walking time is similar on each tour: 20 minutes in the park on the Four Boroughs and Amigo tours, and 20 minutes in the park plus 10 minutes at the Unisphere on the Contrasts Tour. What the tours do is give you the park and the globe, and that is enough for most half-day schedules.

Williamsburg and DUMBO

The Contrasts Tour stops 15 minutes in Williamsburg, a Brooklyn neighborhood the other two tours list on their route without a timed stop. DUMBO is the Brooklyn anchor on every contrast tour: 20 minutes under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Amigo tour, 20 minutes on the Four Boroughs tour, and the optional finish point on the Contrasts Tour. DUMBO's cobblestone streets and bridge views are the same skyline angle you get on the dedicated Brooklyn and DUMBO Open-Top Bus and Walking Tour, which pairs the ride with a guided walk.

If Brooklyn is your priority over the other boroughs, that 3-hour, $69 tour covers it in more depth than any contrast option.

Coney Island: the Wonder Wheel and the Cyclone

Only the Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem and Queens Bus Tour reaches Coney Island, and only on its 7-hour option, with 60 minutes at the beach. Two rides define the boardwalk. The Wonder Wheel was built from 1918 to 1920 and opened May 31, 1920.

The Cyclone opened June 26, 1927, was designed by Vernon Keenan, became a New York City landmark in 1988 and joined the National Register in 1991. Luna Park says its Cyclone has reopened and that park hours vary by day and weather, so ride availability on your 60-minute stop is not guaranteed. Ride tickets are your own cost, not part of any tour price.

The tour's beach visit is listed as included on its Coney options.

What It Costs and How It Works

The NYC local bus and subway fare is $3, and MTA gives one free transfer within two hours of paying your fare. Pay with OMNY, because MetroCards can no longer be bought or refilled since January 1, 2026. OMNY fare capping stops charges at $35 over 7 days for subway and local bus, and after 12 paid rides on the same card or phone within seven days, further rides are free.

Express buses cost $7.25, and Select Bus Service routes cost $3 paid before boarding at any door or a stop machine. Each ride costs $3, against $40 to $84 for a guided contrast tour.

The Lines You Need

The Bronx stops sit on lines you can ride directly. The 161 St-Yankee Stadium station is served by the 4 and D trains, plus the B on weekdays only. The Joker Stairs are near the 167th Street station on the 4 train.

The Big Pun mural is near the Intervale Avenue station. For Coney Island, the D, F, N and Q trains all reach Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, and the boardwalk is across Surf Avenue. Harlem's 125th Street is served by Manhattan subway lines, and the M4 bus runs along 5th and Madison Avenues, while the M15 runs on First and Second Avenues between South Ferry and East Harlem.

Check the weather and practical guide before riding, since stations and platforms vary.

What You Lose Without a Guide

The subway gets you to the same corners, but nobody tells you that 1520 Sedgwick Avenue hosted the party where hip hop began, or that the Big Pun mural is refreshed every year. You also lose the fixed sequence. A contrast tour links Harlem, the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn in 4 to 7 hours by coach, while the same loop by subway means several rides with waiting in between, and no commentary in Spanish and English.

On the other hand you control the clock, you can spend an hour at the Apollo instead of 10 minutes, and the whole day costs a few fares. If your priority is DUMBO at length rather than four boroughs at a glance, the DIY route or the Brooklyn and DUMBO Open-Top Bus and Walking Tour both beat the contrast format.