Scammy, unresponsive, and complete trash! Ordered the 9/11 museum tour for 5 people - $395. Was told to download the app to access the tickets. Fast forward to the day of the tour. I open the app 40 minutes before the tour. It tells me the tour starts at the church next to the One World Trade. Ok so we trek over to St Paul's chapel at 9:45. No one to be found. Waiting around until I check the app about 9:55ish (tour starts at 10) and notice it says to message in the app messenger for specific meeting location. So I shoot a message. I wait until 10:15 and still no response at which time I decide to just go ahead a go buy new tickets. I don't get a message back from Nina B until 1:45pm (3 hours and 45 minutes after the tour starts ) telling me it's my fault I didn't check the email even though the app tells you to communicate and get the tickets in the app. She would not accept any responsibility and refused a refund. So I had to do a charge back, which I obviously won. See my communication times and screen shots below. BEWARE AND DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. I told you I would get my money back Nina B read more

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We did the 5 Borough tour and had the most AMAZING guide!! Solange Rodrigues was so knowledgeable and personable. She was a wealth of information on every place we saw. My granddaughter and I throughly enjoyed our tour. She also took photos for us and our group at any of the stops. She was so professional and we highly recommend her and this company. read more

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Excellent! Easy to book, locate and follow along. Our tour guide, Maya was FANTASTIC! She was super knowledgeable, relatable and friendly. She has a personal connection with 9/11 and she is a great storyteller. read more

ExperienceFirst - Our AWESOME tour guide, Maya and me! - Walking Tours Near Me

Our tour guide Dan was amazing! Very friendly, funny and knowledgeable. We were very impressed with his perspective and insight. We were nervous about doing a tour but it was definitely the way to go! I highly recommend Experience First. read more

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This company is a scam. Avoid them at all costs, as they do NOT give refunds, even if they completely fail to do what they promised to do. Read their terms and conditions: the ONLY refund they will give is to cancel, which must be over 24 hours before. If you actually show up, and they don't, they say they have NO responsibility, and will NOT give you any sort of refund. I bought their tour for Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and learned what they are doing is selling you a ferry ticket that you can buy for a fraction of the price from the NPS website. In theory, the multiples more you are paying for is the guide. But they will NOT give you a refund even if the guide does not show up at all, or leaves without you. That's what happened to my tour group: several of us checked in with the tour guide, and we got in line together, but then the guide and a few others maneuvered to ahead of us in the line and left without us. Afterwards, when I requested a refund, that's when they told us that there are NO REFUNDS, even if they totally fail to fulfill their end of the bargain. Complete crooks. AVOID. read more

On 9/30/21, I went on an ExperienceFirst Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tour where the tour guide took a group photo in which I was included. I told the tour guide that I did not want my image in the group photo. The tour guide said that he could cut me and the person I came with out of the group photo, because he thought that we were at the end in the group photo. The person I came with said that they thought that we were in the middle in the group photo. The tour guide told me that he could Photoshop the group photo to blur my face. Blurring my face would still keep my image in the group photo albeit with my face blurred. I knew that the redaction of text can involve covering text with black rectangles, so I had the idea to request a black rectangle on my face and body instead. I figured that if the tour guide could Photoshop the group photo to blur my face, he could easily put a black rectangle on my face and body instead. On 9/30/21, I called ExperienceFirst with my mobile phone, and I talked to a representative. Over the phone, I told the representative that the guide told me that he could blur my face, but I told the representative that I would like to change that to a black rectangle on my face and body. Over the phone, the representative told me that, if they could not do the black rectangle on my face and body request, they would just not post the photo. On 10/4/21, the Operations Manager told me in an email, "As we were not able to modify the photo we have not published it." On 10/4/21, I asked the Operations Manager in an email, "Did ExperienceFirst distribute any copies of the group photo?" On 10/7/21, the Operations Manager told me in an email that the tour guide had shared the group photo via email to the tour group. Even though the Operations Manager said this, the tour guide had not shared the group photo via email with me. The tour guide cannot un-email the group photo to other people in the tour group, but the copyright owner of the group photo can legally restrict usage of the group photo. An attorney who practices law in New York and is knowledgeable about intellectual property law told me that the copyright owner of the group photo is probably the photographer, and it may be the company the photographer works for. I had a process server serve a letter on the tour guide on 12/8/21 that said, "I request for you to email the members of the tour group with whom you shared the group photo via email, and tell these people in the email that you neither permit them nor any other person or entity other than the copyright owner to: (1) reproduce the group photo, (2) prepare derivative works based upon the group photo, (3) distribute copies of the group photo to the public, and (4) display the group photo publicly. I request to be emailed a copy of the group photo that you shared via email to the tour group. My email address is [Redacted Email Address]. I look forward to a response to this letter in thirty days. Thank you." Thirty days after 12/8/21 is 1/7/22. From 12/8/21 to 1/7/22, I have received no response from the tour guide or anyone else at ExperienceFirst. I sent a letter via USPS Certified Mail to ExperienceFirst's service of process address that was received on 1/13/25 that said, "I request for ExperienceFirst to email the members of the tour group with whom [Tour Guide] shared the group photo via email, and tell these people in the email that ExperienceFirst neither permits them nor any other person or entity other than the copyright owner to: (1) reproduce the group photo, (2) prepare derivative works based upon the group photo, (3) distribute copies of the group photo to the public, and (4) display the group photo publicly. I request to be emailed a copy of the group photo that [Tour Guide] shared via email to the tour group. My email address is [Redacted Email Address]. I look forward to a response to this letter in forty days. Thank you." Forty days after 1/13/25 is 2/22/25. From 1/13/25 to 2/22/25, I have received no response from the tour guide or anyone else at ExperienceFirst. read more

Great experience. Had a problem with a booking schedule and Nina went above & beyond to help me. Great customer service.

As I was reaching on various tours in New York City, I ran across, "Full-Day New York: Must See- Small Group Tour plus One World Observatory Ticket via Viator's website. I opted to sign up for this tour. Viator had emailed me all of the information about the tour and about the company, ExperienceFirst since they will be giving the tour. ExperienceFirst emailed me directly more about what to expect. The day prior to the tour, I received a follow up email about the meeting location. The morning of the tour, Mindy, tour guide, had texted me where to meet in the Time Square area. The six-hour tour (majority of walking) included Times Square, the Broadway Theater District, Grand Central Terminal, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty via the ferry, and much more. Mindy, was very engaging with all of us guests. The tour, itself, was very great! I would highly recommend ExperienceFirst tours for future tours. Incredible shout out to Mindy for being an incredible tour guide. read more

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We booked our tour through Expedia, which was super easy. It's always a little bit of a challenge finding the meeting place and connecting with your group, but this was super easy and efficient. We connected with our guide Liam. Who was friendly, funny and very informative (even though he is a Brit). His knowledge of the Statue of Liberty and its building the stories he told made for a memorable experience for our family. He even took our pictures which came out pretty decent. Thank you, Liam for a great experience! read more

I don't usually review tour companies on Yelp, but we really enjoyed the NYC small group city tour. Jim our tour guide had so much energy, breadth of knowledge, and enthousiasm. Wonderful tour! read more

Yesterday we had a wonderful walking tour through NYC Soho, Little Italy and Chinatown. Our guide Steve was an elderly funny man, native and that's why the best guide you could have. He lived all the changes the districts and the whole City we're going through the last 70 years - he had interesting stories from behind the scenes, lead us to the best cheese cake in town, shared personal experiences. It was an amazing afternoon, we learned a lot, each cent worth it! read more

I've taken two tours with this group--both S of L and Ellis Isl--booked through Viator. Both guides were very good and experienced. I was very please with the directions Viator put in the emails and text along with the follow ups they provided. read more

Today, we went on a ExoerienceFirst walking tour of New York City notable locations, followed by catching the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I am not one to give glowing reviews unless they are earned. Our guide, Amy, was nothing short of wonderful. Knowledgeable, easy to understand, responsive to questions from those on the tour, and just a delight to be with. On a scale of one to 10, Amy was a 15. The tour was just the right amount of time, took us to several places of interest, and deposit does at the entrance to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferry boats. I highly recommend the tour and suggest that you request Amy as your guide if she is working on the day of your choosing. read more

My husband and I bought tickets for tour of Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz. Amanda was our guide; she has lavender colored hair. The tour was informative, but Amanda forewarned us of an issue with our Alcatraz tickets. She told us she would wait until we got our tickets at the booth. As soon as we got in line, Amanda vanished. POOF! There were no tickets, and we had to pay for a second set. We immediately requested a refund from ExperienceFirst chat. While we were on Alcatraz island, my husband received an email saying the tickets were sent to the ticket booth. This was 1.5 hours after we purchased new tickets. We called the next day. They told us because we were sent new tickets AFTER WE BOUGHT NEW ONES, they were unable to refund the cost. They also could not verify our story with Amanda, who did not answer her phone. They also said they could not verify that we never picked up the new tickets. This company sucks. They left us without tickets, without recourse, and without a refund. avoid this company and Amanda, the tour guide with light purple hair. read more

I signed up for a walking architecture tour in Barcelona through the GoCity pass with Experience First. It was supposed to be yesterday 9/29 at 4 pm. I was early to show but their guide never showed up. I immediately chatted with them through their app they make you download to get updates and notifications for tours. They claim they messaged me through the app, and emailed me that the tour was canceled, but I did NOT receive a cancelation in any form. What i did receive were two emails and several app notifications to remind me it was almost time for my tour the day of. This messed up my late afternoon and evening as I spent an hour and a half killing time waiting for that tour instead of doing something else with my pass. You also have to book these in advance so I invested a lot of faith this would happen - planning other things around it. Experience First's customer service was not helpful and did not offer to make anything right and all they would say is we sent a cancelation. If they sent it, i did not get it and why wouldn't they cancel the event through the app so I wouldn't continue to get reminders it was happening. Very frustrating. Obviously I could have booked something else during that time so I missed out on something else. The only thing they did offered was to let me reschedule the tour for 5 days later on October 4th. I don't many people who would be around five days later when traveling. I had two days to work with after the promised tour I could have rescheduled. Beware and at least call the day of to make sure your event is happening. Or better yet, don't use them. read more

9/11 Memorial on Memorial Day 2024!!! Pouring rain I mean serious downpour. Our Tour Guide Richard was really amazing. Gave away his umbrella and poncho and got DRENCHED I mean dripping soaking wet and carried on as if it was nothing. Very impressive. Great stories, very considerate of the group and individual needs due to the weather. We literally RAN into the museum and he got us in the back entrance so we didn't have to stand in the torrential downpour. People probably forgot to tip him till it was too late. Kudos to you and your hard work today. You really earned your pay! Thank You read more

I had some visitors in town and they wanted to do a "tour" of the Statue of Liberty. Skeptical though I was (I've been on some sleepy NYC tours, and my first reaction was "why not just book a ticket on the ferry?") I was totally won over on the Statue of Liberty "Express" tour with ExperienceFirst. Our terrific tour guide Emily engaged our whole group of ~20 in the tour, weaving in wonderful stories about New York and the statue. It was a hot day, so I especially appreciated that we stopped in shady areas along the way. read more

Angela gave us a terrific tour! My son and I are born and raised in NYC and we learned so many interesting things about our own city. This is the tour to take if you're interested NYC's musical, artistic and intellectual history. I enthusiastically recommend Angela and this tour. read more

We were looking so forward to touring the 911 memorial with this company. But our flight from Chicago was cancelled due to state of emergency in New York City due to flooding . This company would not refund our money and instead offered a credit if we ever come to New York and want to take the tour. Unfortunately that was probably the only chance I will get to go so I'm out of luck. According to the news the city is literally under water but supposedly it doesn't affect their tours read more

This company is nothing but a street hustle with a website. I booked a Ground Zero Tour. I realized when I got there that these are the people who have hard working New Yorkers out on the street in people's faces peddling tours of public landmarks with information you can google off the internet. They are not even allowed in the museum. (If you buy the museum ticket they will "escort you to the line "to make sure there is no confusion) We checked in and were immediately met with a man trying to sell us a magazine full of pictures of the 9/11 tragedy. If you are going to book a tour regarding 9/11 please book through the official site for the 9/11 museum. (Experience First even uses the same logo the offical museum site uses only changing the color of of the number 9 from blue to black). The only reason I did not ask for a refund was because I did not want to take money away from the 2 men leading the tour. They were very nice and respectful. I have taken the offical tour both of Ground Zero outside and the 9/11 Museum inside through the official 9/11museum site, and it is amazing. Every American citizen should have the opportunity to take it. I am sorry for the folks on the ground doing the real work but I felt it was important for people to know the difference. It is about honoring not exploiting. read more

We did two tours with Experience First. Our Ground Zero tour guide was Daniel and our Statue of Liberty tour guide was Liam. They were both excellent and we would highly recommend both. Our endorsement of these two guides in particular is very high by their own merit but especially when compared to other guides we encountered along the way either in passing or by witnessing and eavesdropping on other tour groups nearby. If you are able to get either Daniel or Liam you will enjoy the experience subsequent to what you will learn and the pleasant delivery from two good guys. read more

We had a great time with Jett as our guide. He was well versed and knew so much. His presentation was great with his use of humor. Highly reccomend him. read more

We did the Ground Zero tour with Richard and I have to say he was extremely interesting, patient, and responsive. Good sense of humor and I walked away feeling like I had a more intimate understanding of what happened that day in the city. I didn't give 5-stars ONLY because our 9-year-old granddaughter thought it went a little long, so if you have young children with you, they might get bored. I still would recommend it though because bored as she says she was she still learned something that might stick! read more

If you are looking to experience the 911 Memorial, save yourself time and misery. The tour is a joke and you spend more time listening to the guide ramble on about themselves. Great you were a bartender when 911 happened - great your girlfriend (now wife) was calling you. This was a guided tour of 911 Memorial. We all have a story about where we were when the tragic event happened. Opt for a guided tour offered by the Muesum and the Observatory. read more