New York City Layover Tours

Tailoring each experience to your wishes by locals who love their city

Top 10 layover tours & experiences around the world

From exploring cool neighborhoods to eating with the locals to seeing iconic sites, these are some of our favorite experiences

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The best private layover tours & experiences with locals

If you’ve got a long layover at JFK airport, there’s only one thing to do: escape the airport and see the city on the ultimate New York City layover tours with a native New Yorker leading the way! When the Big Apple is at your doorstep, you have to take the opportunity to see it, no matter how little time you have. And who says you can’t see the best of the city in just a few hours? NYC layover tours with City Unscripted are 100 percent tailored to your schedule, and we plan incredible experiences that squeeze in everything you want to see and do, whether you love art, culture, architecture, food, or all the above. The city is waiting – are you ready to explore it?

Meet some of our local hosts around New York City

Kamilla

New York

Vibrant New York host, history lover, and food enthusiast with insider tips on New York’s best spots for drinks, dining, and hidden gems.

Maurita

New York

Fun New York local host with expertise in art and immigration history, providing unique insights into the city's cultural fabric and heritage.

Creative art-enthusiast, always up to meeting new people

See NYC on your layover

JFK Airport is nice and all, but do you really want to spend hours hanging around in the airport with a pretzel and a magazine when there’s a world-famous city surrounding you? Of course not! On New York City layover tours with City Unscripted, you’ll get a whirlwind experience of the city that perfectly fits your flight schedule. A local guide will take you to the heart of the city and show you some of the most famous attractions, from the Met and the MoMA to sprawling Central Park on the ultimate NYC layover tours. Now doesn’t that sound better than spending hours in an airport?

A local to lead the way

When you have a flight in a few hours, the idea of exploring an unfamiliar city can be daunting. The last thing you want to do is miss your flight. But luckily for you, we couldn’t make New York City layover tours more effortless if we tried! A local host will come pick you up at the airport and be by your side every step of the way. On NYC layover tours, you don’t have to worry about a thing – we’ll make this travel experience 100% stress-free and one to remember. Plus, you won’t have to grapple with a GPS or guidebook, because your guide will play the role of both!

Get a tour tailored to you

It’s not an exaggeration to call New York one of the most iconic cities on earth. A cultural behemoth of North America, the Big Apple is overflowing with entertainment that caters to every traveler. That’s why we tailor our New York City layover tours to your interests and personality. We understand that no two travelers touching down in NYC are the same, so we plan NYC layover tours according to what you want to see and do. All you have to do is tell us what excites you most, and a local insider will show you all the highlights and hidden gems you’ll absolutely adore.

New York City travel tips and inspiration from our Travel Magazine

Find the best things to do, places to eat, must eat foods and lots of travel tips in New York City recommended by our local hosts

Latest reviews from our guests

Maurita was a wonderful tour guide! We greatly appreciate her giving her day to us and battle the heat to show us as much as we wanted.

June 2025

Shannon P
This tour was such a treat. We did the four hour tour with Olga. It was worth every penny. Olga was a kind, intelligent person. She made sure we were engaged and having fun. I will certainly be booking another of her tours in the future. The best thing about this tour, outside of Olga, was how exclusive it felt. We passed dozens of group tours, and you could tell they were limited in what they could do because of the size of the groups. We were able to move in and out of smaller spaces to see some off the beaten path stuff. It felt like we had a “friend” in New York, showing us around.

June 2025

Jonathan S
We were lucky enough to get Olga as our tour guide. She was such a pleasure to spend time with. She is extremely knowledgeable & so interesting. We visited so many different & beautiful little places that a normal unaccompanied tourist wouldn’t have seen. Her knowledge & the history of the places we visited was outstanding. We covered so much. Even now after arriving back at hotel she’s sending me so much helpful information for places we mentioned we’d like to visit. Olga is an absolute gem. Thank you

June 2025

Karen B
Ross was our tour guide and he was fantastic. He listened to what we wanted to see and made sure we packed it all in - even though it rained much of the time! We came prepared. Ross was an excellent and very helpful communicator prior to our meet up as well. Highly recommend!

May 2025

Wendy F