ExperienceFirst · Lower Manhattan
A New Yorker with a personal link to 9/11 walks you around Ground Zero, then hands you timed tickets for the 9/11 Museum and One World Observatory. Pick it if you want the whole site in one day without queuing for three separate things.
This is ExperienceFirst's complete Ground Zero day. The guide meets you inside the Oculus, the white transit hall at the World Trade Center, wearing an orange hat. From there the group walks the site: the Oculus, the FDNY Memorial Wall, the Survivor Tree, the two reflecting pools and St. Paul's Chapel. Reviewers keep coming back to the guides: New Yorkers who tell you where they were that morning.
Then the guide leaves you at the 9/11 Museum with a skip-the-line timed ticket. The Museum part is self-guided, and the listing allows about two hours. If you want a docent inside too, the VIP option at checkout adds a small-group guided Museum tour. The day ends at One World Observatory on floors 100 to 102, where you stay as long as you like.
Two caveats. The Observatory ticket is timed and set by the operator: the listing says the 10:30 a.m. tour usually gets a 2 p.m. Observatory slot, the 1 p.m. tour a 4:30 p.m. slot, and either can shift with availability. And the walk runs rain or shine. If a downpour cancels it you get a refund for the tour, but the Museum and Observatory tickets are date-and-time specific and cannot be moved. The private version covers the same ground with only your group.
Go to L'Arte del Gelato on the main level inside the Oculus, 185 Greenwich St. The guide waits there in an orange hat.
The walk starts with the transit hall itself and what stood here before it.
The FDNY Memorial Wall, the Survivor Tree, St. Paul's Chapel and the two reflecting pools with the names of the 2,983 people the Memorial honors.
Skip-the-line entry at your timed slot, then the exhibitions at your own pace. With the VIP option, a docent leads a small group.
Your timed ticket takes you up to floors 100 to 102. Stay as long as you want; the visit ends there.
★★★★★Amy, our guide was excellent bringing first hand knowledge to the tour in a sympathetic but very informative manner. Ground Zero was very moving. We were then able to walk round the museum at our own pace and spend time learning more about 9/11. The final part of our trip was a visit to the One World Tower and should not be missed. [...]
★★★★★My husband & I recall 9/11 clearly, but our daughter wasn’t yet born. It was very touching to walk the grounds & hear the stories from this ground zero perspective (literally). [...] The tour was informative & moving.
★★★★★Our tour guide James is very knowledgeable, he took us to the Trinity Church/ St. Paul's Chapel in which he talks about Chaplain Mychal Judge and Welles Remy Crowther. He walked us around the area by the new tower, the Reflection Pools also to Fire House #10 and by the Oculus [...]
★★★★★It’s a BIG day. Allow 4 hours minimum. [...] The 9/11 Museum is an odyssey. Brilliantly put together.
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Yes. You get a skip-the-line timed ticket and visit the Museum at your own pace after the walk. A docent-led Museum tour is an extra VIP option at checkout.
About five hours: roughly 90 minutes of guided walking, about two hours in the Museum and about an hour at One World Observatory. Guests report it can run longer if you linger in the Museum.
Inside the Oculus at 185 Greenwich St, by the L'Arte del Gelato stand on the main level. The guide wears an orange hat.
The walk runs rain or shine. In a downpour the operator may cancel and refund the tour, but the Museum and Observatory tickets are fixed to their date and time. Our timing guide helps you plan the rest of the day.
Ready to book
A guided Ground Zero walk, skip-the-line 9/11 Museum entry and One World Observatory in one booking, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Private All Access 9/11 ExperienceYour own guide for the Ground Zero walk, with skip-the-line Museum and One World Observatory included.★ 4.9 · 3 hours · from $300
9/11 Memorial & Ground Zero Walking TourThe most-reviewed Ground Zero walk: a local guide, groups of 15 at most, Museum entry only if you add it.★ 4.8 · Up to 4 hours · from $29
9/11 Memorial Tour with One World Observatory OptionThe guided Memorial walk, then the One World Observatory view if you add it. No Museum.★ 4.8 · 3 hours · from $29