New Amsterdam Walking Tour

When New York was Nieuw Amsterdam!

2025 is the 400th Anniversary of when Fort Amsterdam was built across from Mannahatta, and in 2024 the Bowery Boys New York History Podcast released a mini-series on Amsterdam / New Amsterdam. This walking tour takes you back in time to explore the Dutch roots of New York.

How did the Dutch city of Nieuw Amsterdam become New York City? Who were the first families who came here from Europe and called it home? What was it about the Dutch culture that made this place so different and special?

On this tour, you will walk along the original street grid of New Amsterdam, visit one of Manhattan’s oldest preserved archaeological sites and learn about the complex history of 1600s New York.

Tour highlights will include:

• Learning about the European families who came here and why
• What were the political forces at play in Europe making some people want to leave
• Seeing how many of these families went on to become wealthy through commerce and trade in lower Manhattan
• Walking down the original shoreline of this island, learning how the municipal government was formed, and what industries helped build this place into the international trade center it is today
• Unpacking the Castillo Plan, the long-hidden map of Nieuw Amsterdam from 1660, which tells us who lived where and what they did for an occupation
• Why did the Dutch build a wall, and what was on the other side of it?
• What foods do we enjoy today that were given to us by the Dutch?
• Which Lower Manhattan office building was built over the original Dutch Street and must allow access to the public because of it
• Learn where the enslaved Africans who worked for the Dutch West India Company lived
• Who was Francisco de Niger, an enslaved person who bought his freedom and what did he have to do with the founding of Bushwick Brooklyn?

Book online now!

A review on Google for Ann:

“Ann is a wonderful guide! She showed us bits of New Amsterdam that I never would have found without!. I’m so glad I joined this tour” 

Book online now!

The Tour

This tour walks around Lower Manhattan. It meets inside the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.

Duration

2 hours and 1.5 miles

Book online now!

Please contact us to set up a private tour!

---

Ages

This tour is best suited for ages 12+

Guides

Prep for the New Amsterdam Tour by listening to Bowery Boys episodes on mini-series about Amsterdam/New Amsterdam.