Geography School Trips & Tours to New York

Located in New York City, the world's first and foremost vertical metropolis, The Skyscraper Museum celebrates the City's rich architectural heritage and examines the historical forces and individuals that have shaped its successive skylines. Through exhibitions, programs and publications, the Museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence.

The 9/11 memorial was dedicated on September 11, 2011 in a ceremony for victims’ families. The memorial honours the 2,983 who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. The memorial allows visitors to come together again in the spirit of unity and courage that emerged in the wake of 9/11. The memorial consists of two pools set in the footprints of the Twin Towers, surrounded by a plaza of more than 400 trees. The names of the victims are inscribed in bronze around the pools.

This 90 minute tour will focus on the wide range of businesses that call the Yard home, including small and large firms in industries like metal working, technology incubators, and movie and television production. You will explore the vast 300-acre property along Brooklyn's industrial waterfront and go to the Yard's visitor and exhibition centre, which showcases many of the products made in the Yard.

The High Line, also called New York City's park in the sky, is a public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to West 34th Street, between 10th and 12th Avenues.

On this guided tour around the UN Building, your students will learn about the organisation, its structure and history. Your group will leave feeling enlightened about the broad range of fundamental issues dealt with here, from sustainable development, democracy and human rights, to governance, economic and social development, and more.

Highlighting the experiences of poor 19th century and early 20th century immigrants from different cultures, the museum tells the stories of one tenement apartment that was home to nearly 7,000 working class immigrants.

Tours also available including Irish Outsiders, Meet the Residents, and Hard Times.

Alongside the ultimate landmark of New York and one of the most universal symbols of political freedom and democracy, the Ellis Island Museum is dedicated to the history of immigration and the important role this island claimed during the mass migration of humanity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A 45-minute audio tour invites students to relive the immigrant experience as if they were the new arrivals and includes artifacts, photos, interactive displays and videos including the award winning ‘Island of Hope, Island of Tears’.

You will visit the island as part of a short boat cruise passing the Statue of Liberty, which was the first sight for the millions of immigrants.

The Museum of the City of New York, a history and art museum in New York City. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923 to preserve and present the history of New York City, and its people.

The American Museum of Natural History consists of 45 permanent exhibitions including the famous dinosaur halls and is home to 30 million artefacts. The star attraction of the Museum is the Rose Centre for Earth and Space, home to the planetarium, which exhibits the history of the universe.

New for 2023 is the Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation. Featuring scientific collections and immersive experiences, this spectacular facility will allow visitors to understand more about the natural world and global cultures.

Here, just a few yards from 5th Ave, you’ll find over 130 different species ranging from snow leopards to tropical birds.

The 104 storey building stands on the World Trade Center site in Manhattan - giving amazing views of the city as well as interactive exhibitions on the building and the city. Groups will ascend to the 102nd observation floor in under 60 seconds in one of five sky pod elevators!

RiseNY pairs museum-style galleries with an amusement park-quality ride.

Begin your adventure with an immersive film by an award-winning documentarian that transitions to an interactive self-guided walkthrough tracing tipping points in history that helped shape Music, Fashion, TV, Theater and more in each dedicated gallery:

• Discover the rise of Wall Street and The New York Stock Exchange in the Finance Gallery.
• Learn the history of mass media with Telsa’s Coil in the TV/Radio Gallery.
• Understand the law of physics through the Otis elevator brake in the Skyline Gallery.
• Visual, language and performing arts come to life in the Fashion, Music, Broadway and Film Galleries.

Then, board an extraordinary elevator experience that transports you to a spectacular virtual soaring ride! Feel the rush of wind in your hair as you “fly” over the world’s most stunning skyline.

Explore three levels of mind-bending multi-sensory immersive experiences. With magnificent views over the Manhattan skyline, Summit takes the concept of an “observation deck” to entirely new heights.

Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere, a marvel of architecture, engineering, and technology with panoramic views of New York City. Edge combines the pulse-quickening excitement of leaning out over a 100-story outdoor balcony with the warm welcome of elevated food & beverage service in a unique social space.

There are free downloadable STEM resources to take students on a virtual adventure into NYC’s newest and most forward-thinking neighbourhood. Get students thinking like community builders and changemakers by harnessing the Design Engineering Process, a simple tool you can use to elevate Reach for the Sky resources and ground student explorations in project-based learning.