This is your guide on how to become a New York City Tour Guide. Always refer to the current NYC.gov sites for the most up-to-date qualifications.
Do you love meeting new people and being their “New York City expert”?
Do you have friends who come to visit New York City and you are the first person they ask to be their personal tour guide?
Did you grow up in the New York area and have a true passion for New York City and its history?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, you are a great candidate to applying for the NYC tour guide License and becoming a New York City tour guide.
Becoming a sightseeing guide is a simple process, but there are ways to make the process even easier. By following these steps, you will be a tour guide in no time.
But it doesn’t just stop with taking a test and flashing your tour guide ID card around town; you must continually be learning. Keep reading for some top tips to skyrocket you into your new sightseeing guide role.
There are a plethora of tours in NYC.
The magnitude of choices gives you the power to decide what type of tour guide you want to be. Popular topics of discussion for sightseeing guides include:
- NYC history
- Food and Beverage Niches (ethnic food, desserts, taverns)
- Fitness Tours
- Celebrity homes/ movie film locations
Before you decide which niche you want to tackle, you need to become licensed.
The law states that “You must have a Sightseeing Guide license to guide or direct people to any place or point of public interest or to describe, explain, or lecture about any place or point of public interest to any person in connection with any sightseeing trip or tour within the city.” – The department of consumer’s affairs
You can take Mike and Sarah who are visiting from Kentucky around NYC without being licensed, but most tourists want to know they are being led around by someone who is licensed.
Even if you decide to create your own tours, legally you cannot take more than 20 people around NYC without the license. Plus, if you decide to work for a tour company, most of them require you to have a license. The NYC tour guide license also shows business owners and tourists that you take pride in your job, and are serious about your new position. Check out a walking tour of FiDI here.
The Application Process for the NYC Tour Guide License:
- Go to the NYC Consumer Affairs website to start gathering everything you will need.
- Items required to get your NYC tour guide license include: a photo ID, passport photo, approximately $50 (depending on when you apply), and the application filled out online, or in person.
- You must be a NYC resident with proof and a social security number to apply
- PRO TIP: You must take the test within 30 days of applying! Don’t apply, and then start studying. The test is heavily based on historical moments and very specific sculptural questions, as well as traffic laws for buses. Do not give yourself only 30 days to study, you will regret it.
Studying Options
Consumer Affairs can provide you with a list of studying materials for the NYC tour guide exam. The problem is that some of the books are VERY outdated on the list. The Ethnic New York book was written in the 1980’s, so unfortunately most of the restaurants they speak of, have long closed. The number one book all tour guides will tell you to read is the Blue Guide. The book is very factual but boring.
There is also always the easy way out, you can use Cram. People who have either previously taken the test, or have access to the test, complied 500 questions that may or may not be on the test. Search “NYC sightseeing guide” on the website for the cards you will need.
The NYC Tour Guide Test
You will take the test in person at the DCA Licensing Center, 42 Broadway, in Manhattan. The office resembles a DMV, you take a number and wait to be called. From personal experience, the room was very hot, so make sure you bring water.
You will be told that you are not allowed to leave the room until you have finished unless it is an emergency. Be prepared to be seated next to someone, taking the same test as well.
The exam consists of 150 questions.
You must answer a minimum of 97 questions correctly to pass the NYC tour guide exam. If you answer over 120, you get a special asterisk* next to your name saying that you are a smarty pants. They will tell you immediately if you pass or fail, right there in the licensing office.
You’ve Passed the NYC Tour Guide Exam! Now What?
Now that you have passed congrats! You now have two options, work for a tour company or lead your own private tours. **Don’t worry if you don’t pass, you will be allowed to take it again for free one more time.
If you decide to be an employee of a NYC tour company, it will either be paid by tips from the guests on the tour, with no base pay; or you will be paid a base pay per tour, by the tour company itself.
Take some tours on your own or head to Little Italy in the Bronx for my self-guided food tour!
Both have advantages and disadvantages.
There tend to be more people on the free tours, so you have a greater chance of making more money, approximately $5-$10 per guest on the tour. However, the downside is that if the weather is not ideal, fewer people will show up, as it is “free”, so people tend to cancel without alerting the tour company. Also, if you do not keep the guests entertained, people may leave in the middle of the tour, or not tip you at all.
The advantage of working for a base-pay tour company is that you will be guaranteed money if people show up, (whether they like you or not), plus the guests may even tip you themselves, on top of what they paid for the tour. The disadvantage is that these tours tend to be smaller, so you have less chance of making additional tips, on top of your base pay from the tour company.
The third option is to run your own tours privately. The advantage is that you can set your own hours and prices, and the disadvantage is that you need to find clients. A website that can help you put your profile out to the world is called Show Around.
Whichever path you decide to take, the learning begins after you pass the NYC tour guide exam.
There are millions of resources out there to learn about New York City. Check out this list for some reference materials. The overall process of becoming a NYC tour guide is simple.
What will set you apart from other guides is to be engaging, and knowledgeable, and offer suggestions before and after the tour on where to dine or visit.
Many people on tours want to know more about this amazing city, or some have never been to NYC before and just want to meet a local.
Live, Eat, and breathe the Gotham City and you will succeed!
About your author
Gina has been a tour guide since 2015, running a wide range of tours in NYC on topics such as history, food, and prohibition. When she was living in the New York area, she also ran fitness tours through Central Park with Fit Tours NYC.
New York City Guides
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