The Demlers: Our World Famous Lower Manhattan Walking Tour

Alright, for those of you who aren't quite so familiar with Manhattan, the first lesson is it's really easy to get around on foot. Because everybody knows NYC as the big city, it's a huge misconception that it is actually a "big" city. It's actually a very small city. It's just a really condensed city (i.e., crowded).

So, we've mapped out a great walking tour that will cover most of the key sites you will want to hit in the lower half of the city. I have done this a couple times, once with my sister and brother-in-law, Megan and Mark, and again I think with my parents. Anyway, it's fun and while it's a hefty walk, it's not terribly tiring. It's much better than looking like a moron on one of those double-decker buses.

The first step is to take the subway to the South Ferry stop, which is the southern most tip of Manhattan - either via the R & W (yellow line), the 1 (Red Line), or the 4 & 5 (Green Line). It's essential to grab a map too, but you can find one at any newsstand or corner store.

Now, follow along on the maps provided right here (2 parts) with each number corresponding to a point of interest. These are taken right from Google maps if you want to look closer.

1) Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty - Right when you get out of this subway, you will see a park on the water. This is Battery Park, which has a great view of the Statue of Liberty. If you want to take a boat out to the Statue, this is where you can do it, but you can snap a nice photo from the park and save yourself a trip.

2) Within Battery Park you will also find the Castle Clinton Memorial. This should provide a solid 15 seconds of viewing pleasure.

3) Follow the pink path on our map out of the park to #3 and you will find the giant bronze Wall Street Bull in Bowling Green Park. This is great for pictures too. You will know why once you see it.

4) Keep following the pink line down along to Stone Street and take a left on Broad. As you round Broad and approach Wall Street, you will see the New York Stock Exchange (actually on Broad Street). The Old Stock Exchange is across the street on Wall Street as well.

5) Take a left on Wall Street and walk up the hill about a block and you will see an amazing church ( even though it's covered in about 200 years of soot). There's lots of ornate details and you can find Alexander Hamilton (the guy on the Ten Dollar Bill) in the cemetery.

6a) Break time. There is a nice Borders bookstore here with a coffee show, or;

6b) There's a bar down Broadway called Suspenders on the left a little further.

Follow along broadway for a few blocks and take a left at Liberty. Follow it for two blocks...

7) Marvel at the progress and resolve of a nation as you stare into a gaping abyss where the World Trade Center Towers once stood. There's also a famous giant discount clothing and show store across the street called Century 21. It's huge. You can't miss it.

8) Continue to head north from Ground Zero and take a right on Barclay Street. Follow this a block or so and you will find yourself in the City Hall Park with the City Hall building in the center. This is indeed where Mayor Bloomberg takes care of business.

Also, to the east of City Hall you can see (and walk on if you want) the Brooklyn Bridge. There's a great path across it where you can take great photos of the skyline. I didn't mark the line though, because that makes the walking get a little excessive.

9) Continue the trek north on Centre Street through the city's red tape center. While these look like impressive stately buildings, they are full of all the worst things like Jury Duty and DMV related nonsense. Still, it's a pretty interesting area.

10) Keep on heading north on Centre until you hit Canal Street. You'll know when you get here, because it's Chinatown. Canal Street is the main drag, whereby a variety of black marketeers peddle their wares, fake designer bags and watches, pirated bootleg DVDs, knock off shoes, and various tourist trinkets. It's worth a stroll through here just to watch the police mess with the vendors. They waltz through every twenty minutes or so and every single time the vendors pack up their good and run for it. It's also worth following one of the fake handbag vendors to their lair. They come up to you with a picture of the bags, then you follow them into this crazy secret room built into the subway station underground. It probably sounds like a dumb idea, but it's quite amusing. My parents and I did this not too long ago and got a real kick out of it.

11) Our map instructions are pretty screwy here, but you basically want to keep heading north. I was basically trying to say to just roam around these areas. Broadway, Mulberry, or Mott all all good choices to head further north. This will take you to the heart of SoHo (South of Houston St.), which is a major shopping hub packed with every retail store under the sun. A lot of the big name designers and brands have their flagship stores in this neighborhood. It's pretty packed on the weekends, but if you want to shop, this is one of the most famous shopping areas in the world.