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Number 20 of 20 in New York

Harlem: the Apollo, the brownstones and gospel on Sunday

Harlem begins where Central Park ends. It was a Dutch village, then a suburb of fine houses, and from the 1920s the best-known Black neighbourhood in the world.

What it is
Walk
Time to allow
2.5 to 4 hours
Cost
Free
Best time
Sunday morning, for the church services

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    Why Harlem is worth it

    The village was founded by Dutch settlers in 1658 and named after Haarlem in the Netherlands. The streets of brownstone houses that give it its look were built in the building boom of the late nineteenth century. When the boom collapsed, landlords let the empty houses to Black families moving north, and within twenty years Harlem was theirs.

    In the 1920s and 1930s it produced the Harlem Renaissance: the poetry of Langston Hughes, the novels of Zora Neale Hurston, the music of Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong in clubs along its avenues. The Apollo Theater on 125th Street opened its doors to Black performers and audiences in 1934, and nearly every great name in American music has stood on its stage since.

    Harlem is changing fast, and parts of it are now expensive. What draws visitors is still its own: the churches, the music, the food, and the best rows of nineteenth-century houses in Manhattan.

    What to see

    1. The Apollo Theater

      The theatre of 1914 on 125th Street, with about 1,500 seats. Amateur Night, where the audience decides who stays on stage, is its oldest show. The theatre keeps a stump of the Tree of Hope, which performers rubbed for luck.

    2. 125th Street

      Harlem's main street, also named for Martin Luther King Jr.: shops, street sellers, and the Studio Museum in Harlem, which shows artists of African descent.

    3. Strivers' Row

      Two blocks of West 138th and 139th Streets, built in the 1890s by the best architects of the day. Black doctors, lawyers and musicians bought them in the 1920s, and the name stuck.

    4. Sunday gospel

      Many of Harlem's churches welcome visitors to their Sunday services. Abyssinian Baptist, on West 138th Street, is the most famous, and its queue is the longest.

    5. Soul food

      Fried chicken, collard greens, cornbread, sweet potato pie. Sylvia's, on Malcolm X Boulevard, has been cooking it since 1962.

    How to do it well

    • A church service is worship, not a concert. Dress as you would for church, arrive on time, stay to the end, and take no photographs.
    • If you would sooner not join a congregation, the gospel concerts and tours sold online are made for visitors.
    • Walk it by day: 125th Street from the Apollo east to Malcolm X Boulevard, then north to Strivers' Row.
    • The 2 and 3 express trains reach 125th Street from Times Square in about fifteen minutes.
    • Book ahead for Sunday lunch after church. Every restaurant in the district is full then.

    Where it is

    Address

    North of Central Park, around 125th Street

    Nearest station

    125th Street (2, 3) for the Apollo and Malcolm X Boulevard. 125th Street (A, B, C, D) for the west side

    Tickets and tours: Harlem

    Harlem: common questions

    Can tourists go to a gospel service in Harlem?
    Yes. Many churches welcome visitors on Sunday mornings. It is a religious service: dress respectfully, arrive on time, stay until the end and do not take photographs. Some churches seat visitors separately, and the best known have long queues.
    What is Harlem famous for?
    For the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s, when it was the centre of Black American writing, music and art, for the Apollo Theater, for gospel music and for soul food.
    How do you get to Harlem from Midtown?
    By subway to 125th Street. The 2 and 3 express trains take about fifteen minutes from Times Square. The A and D express trains run up the west side from Columbus Circle.
    How much time do you need for Harlem?
    Allow 2.5 to 4 hours. That is this site's estimate for an unhurried visit.

    What visitors say about Harlem

    Rating from Google

    4.6

    8,382 ratings on Google

    Google's figures as read on 7 October 2026.

    Read every review on Google

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