Flatiron District Walking Tour

Every Sunday at 11 am, the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership offers free guided walking tours of the Flatiron District. On a “90 minute journey through this vibrant neighborhood,” anyone with appropriate footwear and time can set out with to learn about 46 Manhattan landmarks in the Ladies’ Mile and Madison Square North Historic Districts. Yet many like sleeping late on a Sunday, do not enjoy traveling in packs, have difficulty hearing tour guides address dozens on busy streets, or otherwise want to avoid the tour scenario. The Partnership has these people covered: the self-guided version online.

While easily downloaded, the self-guided tour brochure layout is difficult to print and, as it is formatted for a larger page, can be difficult to read when reduced to standard paper size. The PDF itself can be opened on BlackBerry and iPhone devices for the eco-conscious user—though only when emailed as an attachment.

This tour is an excellent resource for visitors seeking a comprehensive rundown of the neighborhood’s many historical points of interest. That being said, several stops are rather minor. In fact, some are both minor and no longer exist. The written material does not do much to bridge the historical and the contemporary in a neighborhood that has drastically changed over the 156 years accounted for in the tour. The result is somewhat dry and requires a bit too much imagination to appreciate the bygone buildings.

For those seeking a historically rich experience and a thorough grasp of the origins of the Flatiron District, there is a wealth of information in this self-guided tour. The tour would also make a great leaping-off point for any Flatiron visitor to learn about some of the iconic buildings it holds, and for the price, you can’t complain.


The guided tour version is held every Sunday at 11 am and meets at the Southwest corner of Madison Square Park at 23rd Street and Broadway.