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A Gilded Age Audio Guide of New York's Millionaire's Row
Starting From
From $19.99 per person
Current Project Expedition rate
Experience inventory, live availability and secure booking provided by
Project Expedition
The Experience
What your day looks like
Opposite New York’s Central Park is the world’s most prestigious address: Fifth Avenue, where grand mansions were built by Gilded Age robber barons and their heirs. And with outrageous fortune came outrageous behavior. This walking tour begins outside the members-only Metropolitan Club, founded by J.P. Morgan, the man who inspired Monopoly’s Rich Uncle Pennybags. As you stroll along Millionaire’s Row and Museum Mile, you’ll hear extraordinary stories of love and loss, epic battles over status, and deliciously petty squabbles over the rules that governed society in the late 1800s. Our final stop is the Met (Metropolitan Museum of Art), founded by Gilded Age millionaires who filled it with treasures from their European Grand Tours. There, you’ll learn why its grand entry remains unfinished and how its design is actually a form of architectural revenge.
At a Glance
The experience, in brief
- Admire the architecture and savor the scandals of Fifth Avenue’s old money set
- Learn the true meaning of the term “Gilded Age,” coined by Mark Twain as satire
- Visit the reallife corner where the Russells and van Rijn families built their mansions
- Discover how Caroline “Lina” Astor (THE Mrs. Astor) climbed the social ladder
- Admire the cunning of Alva Vanderbilt, who bounced back from poverty
- Be a fly on the wall at the most extravagant and ostentatious parties of the era
- Learn why Fifth Avenue was the premier New York address for over a century
Detailed Itinerary
The journey, in full
Metropolitan Club 5th Ave Knickerbocker Club Central Park The Arsenal Berwind Mansion Beekman Mansion Emily Thorn Vanderbilt Sloane White Mansion The Frick Collection The Richard Morris Hunt Memorial Herbert N Strauss House Ralph Lauren Mansions Sloan Mansion Huguette Clark Edward S Harkness House Madison Ave Stuyvesant Fish James B Duke House Payne Whitney Mansion Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion King Mansion The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Your Itinerary
Your day, step by step
Day 1
New York City
City/Town Tour.
Before You Go
What to know before booking
Included
- Directions to the starting point so the tour begins when you’re in the right place - Unlimited, lifetime use of this tour before and after your booking date - Virtual playback option so you can listen to the tour like an audiobook from anywhere - Flexibility to explore at your own pace with a self-guided GPS tour - Offline access to audio, maps, and geodata
Not Included
- Smartphone and headphones
What to Bring
- Camera - Sunglasses - Sunscreen & Hat - Bag for Essentials - Comfortable and warm clothing/footwear
Restrictions
The tour follows city sidewalks and is fully wheelchair accessible, except for one bit of jaywalking on 80th Street. If needed, you can cross at the corner curb cuts instead.
Meeting & Pickup
Metropolitan Club - East 60th Street, New York, New York, NY.
Languages Offered
[object Object]
Planning Notes
Minimum age: 6 Hotel pickup offered: No Confirmation: Automatic
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