Harlem Sunday Morning Gospel Tour

From

$80.00

Duration

4 hours

Min Age

Languages Support

English, French

Overview

Visit world-renowned Harlem and witness its ongoing renaissance on our Harlem Sunday Morning Gospel Tour. You will learn about its origins as a rural Dutch community and its transformation into a summer retreat for New York’s most prominent families. Enjoy a guided bus tour through Harlem’s charming, tree-lined streets and historical districts. You will also experience the soul-stirring power of gospel music and praise as you join a local congregation during their Sunday worship service in a neighborhood church.

If you are not available for a Sunday service, you can take our Wednesday Morning Harlem Gospel Tour!

Highlights

Stroll along the famous 125th street and see the Apollo Theater (20-minute stop).
Join a local congregation for a Sunday gospel worship service.
View iconic Harlem landmarks like City College, Morningside Heights, Sugar Hill, the Morris Jumel Mansion, Sylvan Terrace, Strivers Row, and Hamilton Grange.
Visit the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, one of the largest research libraries about African American history.

To discover more of Harlem, take a look at our complete range of Harlem tours!

What's Included

Harlem bus tour
Photo Stops at key points of interest
Church service

Soul Food Brunch
Tips/gratuity for guide and driver
Other meals and beverages

Harlem Sunday Morning Gospel Tour Details

Price	Adults: starting at $79 (ages 12 and up)/ Children: starting at $59 (ages 5-11)
Duration	4 hours (5 hours with brunch)
Departure Time	9 AM
Meeting/Dropoff Point	690 8th Ave, 10036 New York County, New York, United States
Dress Requirements	No shorts or tank tops are accepted at the church service. Masks may be required.
Supported Languages	English & French *based on availability - German, Italian, Spanish

If you already have a group of people to travel with, check out the Harlem Spirituals Group Travel Services!

Additional Information

Guests can take brief walks during stops in the neighborhoods visited. The average stop is about 15 minutes.
Church services may be held in the north of Harlem or the Bronx, but the tour will cover the Harlem itinerary.
Child seats are not available.
The tour is not suitable for pets.
Proper dress is a requirement. Harlem Spirituals Inc. reserves the right to refuse boarding customers, who are improperly dressed and will not refund the service.
For passengers with no mobility and or on wheelchairs, we recommend giving us at least 4 weeks’ notice so that we can secure a coach with a wheelchair lift if available.
A maximum of one person in a wheelchair can be accommodated per bus and this service is subject to confirmation.
Wheelchair lifts are 49" X 28" and can carry a maximum weight limit of 700 lbs. We kindly ask that you submit the dimensions and model of the chair as bus lifts may not be able to accommodate scooters and other large-sized electric chairs.
Many of the churches that we visit have steps. To accommodate their wheelchair-bound congregation members, churches use portable mobility ramps or lifts.
With advance notice, wheelchair-bound customers with some mobility can be accommodated in the front rows of the tour bus with their wheelchairs folded away in the luggage compartment. Someone must accompany customers with special needs to assist them on the coach.
Check out our terms & conditions for more information.
Contact Us for other questions or requests.

Cancellation Policy

All cancellations must be put in writing and sent to tours@harlemspirituals.com.

Cancellations received 2 days before the tour date will be assessed a processing fee equivalent to 50% of the initial reservation.
Cancellations received less than 24 hours before the tour date will be assessed a 100% cancellation fee.
Unused tickets are non-refundable. No-shows are not refunded.
Customers will also receive a full refund or credit in case of operator cancellation due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances.
Unused tickets are non-refundable. No-shows are not refunded.
Contact us by phone to cancel or inquire about a cancellation.

Looking for the right answers? Check out the Harlem and NYC FAQ to find out what you are looking for!

I don't even know what I expected of this tour but I am really glad we booked it. I assumed it would be a smallish church with a small choir and it was. The tour before the church service was excellent. I learned a lot about the area thanks to Mahalia. She did an excellent job speaking in both English and French! We went to a small church and it was such an authentic, moving experience for us. The ladies I ran into that were attending there were so welcoming and kind. The singing was very good and up lifting. We left after the worship part was over and off we went to The Cotton Club. We were entertained by a talented Gospel/Jazz trio. Again, I was moved by some of the songs and others were so up lifting. Before I knew what had happened, I was up dancing in a Conga line! The food was very good and hot. They were putting it out when we got there. It was a great day and a very nice way to wind up our trip!

This was amazing. The church service at The Greater Highway Deliverance Church was outstanding. The energy, thankfulness and talent was transformative. The brunch at the Cotton Club was made exceptional by the music of Ms. Helen Stiles and her band. We danced to her gospel music and celebrated being alive. It was fabulous. BUT the most magnificent thing about the tour was Duane. He is the most amazing tour guide in the world and should be promoted to tour guide extraordinaire. Multilingual, personable, Ivy educated- he’s exceptional and brilliant in his telling of New York history. DO THIS TOUR!!!!!!

Great experience in this one. Our tour guide Alvin provided us with many interesting information for the Harlem area. The gospel was out of this world for believers or not. The passion in the room lifts you to another level and it really is a unique spectacle. The locals are welcoming and heart warming to all the visitors. We had 10 days in New York with 4 small children and this was the activity they engage with the most. Much better time investment than any of the passive "instagrammic" experiences. We did not take photo or video but we will have this one inside of us for a very long time.

Learning about Hamilton. The Tour Guide shared extensive information about the founding father in two languages and kept us, tourists, engaged throughout the entire trip. Fascinating, well informed and great story teller Tour Guide.

This was a great way to see the real Harlem and an authentic Harlem Church Service. The tour leaves from just behind Times Square on a very comfortable coach and our guide, Anthony, was a real New Yorker who had lived most of his life in Harlem and his local knowledge as well as his knowledge of New York history and even what movies were filmed where, made this an amazing trip. If you want a little insight into the real Harlem and to experience a genuine Harlem Church service (I was sceptical and thought this might be a little fake - it really wasn’t) then this is well worth it. We didn’t do the Sunday brunch buffet so can’t comment on this. Thanks Anthony for all your top tips and advice about NYC generally as well as being a great guide for this tour. 5 stars ⭐️

Alvin is a warm, enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide and focuses on African American luminaries and their personal connections to Harlem and the Bronx, as well as the early history of these districts. I understand there is a commercial element to the Church service and I had been prepared for something staged specifically to funnel tourist money into struggling communities. If that was the case, I didn't notice and the whole experience felt genuine and welcoming. The gospel singing (choir and congregation) was excellent. The tour bus was clean and comfortable and has an onboard rest room (important, as very few public ones in Harlem). I think you could skip the optional Cotton Club lunch element without missing the best of the experience. The entertainment was well executed but felt dated. The food was welcome but not standout. The European waitresses are there for their language skills with the mostly European customers, but they need a little more training in how to communicate with paying customers. Overall I thought the whole morning's package was good value for money.