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NYC Tours & Photo Safaris
See New York City. Have fun. Get some great photos.
Epicure & Culture editor Jessica Festa is a certified New York City tour guide and professional photographer. Born and raised in New York, she loves showing visitors what makes her home so special through local bites, historical facts, cultural tidbits and lesser-known sites.
Along with offering custom NYC tours — you can read more about her experience becoming a certified tour guide by clicking here — she is currently leading photo safaris through some of the city’s most scenic areas, whether you want to explore the parks, do a bridge walk or wander a neighborhood. Along the way, she’ll offer ideas for scenes and sites to shoot as well as advice on how to capture the best possible photo and navigate your camera’s settings.
Custom NYC Tours
Born and raised in New York, I love showing visitors what makes my home so special through local bites, historical facts, cultural tidbits and lesser-known sites — with high resolution photos of your group always included. I offer custom NYC tours based on your interests and trip goals. If you’ve never been to NYC I can show you highlights like Rockefeller Center, Times Square and the historical Grand Central Station, or maybe you want to explore a particular neighborhood, getting to know about its unique heritage. We can also make the nearby journey into Brooklyn — my home borough — to explore art, culture and history across the bridge.
It’s all up to you.
For some humor, make sure to read about Jessie’s experience becoming a certified NYC tour guide.
Price: $60 per hour, per group (not per person); price increase if food is included. High resolution photography of your group is always included.
Order: To book or make an inquiry, please use the form below, or email jessieonajourney (at) gmail (dot) com.
NYC Photo Safaris
Along with offering custom NYC tours, I lead photo safaris through some of the city’s most scenic areas, whether you want to explore the parks, do a bridge walk or wander a neighborhood. Along the way, I’ll offer ideas for scenes and sites to shoot, advice on how to capture the best possible photo and navigate your camera’s settings, and some interesting history of the places we’re visiting. Both experienced and beginner photographers (including iPhoneographers!) welcome on this fun and educational trip.
Price: $60 per hour per group (not per person). High resolution photography of your group (yes, I’ll be taking pictures of you taking pictures, as well as beautiful group shots) are included.
Order: To book or make an inquiry, please use the form below, or email jessieonajourney (at) gmail (dot) com.
NYC Photo Follow
Do you ever wish you had a professional photographer following you around for the day with a camera capturing every moment of your trip? Now you can. This package is less of a tour — although I’m happy to make suggestions of fun things to do — and more about me following you around with my DSLR (professional-grade camera), capturing shots of your group as you explore the city. You choose the locations and activities, and I capture them on film.
At the end of the tour I’ll make you a private folder containing hundreds of photos — often over 1,000, depending on the length of the photo follow — so that you can download or print your trip memories to keep forever.
Price: $45 per hour
Order: To book or make an inquiry, please use the form below, or email jessieonajourney (at) gmail (dot) com.
Bushwick Street Art Instagram Walk
Bushwick is NYC’s most up-and-coming neighborhood — not to mention it’s where I’ve lived for the past 2.5 years — and a hub for experimental design, creative concepts, street art, and artisan food and drink. We’ll spend 90 minutes-two hours wandering the colorful streets, gritty yet inspiring blocks full of character, architecture, artwork and history filling up your camera roll. Along with local knowledge, you’ll get tips on upping your Instagram game and mobile photography. The tour ends with a craft beer (included), apt as this neighborhood has a rich German brewery heritage.
Price: $50 per person, minimum 2 people. For 1 person the price is $90. Price includes a beer.
Order: To book or make an inquiry, please use the form below, or email jessieonajourney (at) gmail (dot) com.
Testimonials
“I enlisted Jessica’s help for my vacation trip to New York City. We agreed to spend 6 hours together to visit the Empire State Building, Grand Central, Times Square, Brooklyn Bridge and the New York Public Library. Jessica brought pictures from history of the attractions that we saw. She provided interesting facts and information about these places. I managed to see everything that I wanted in less than a day, which was terrific! I would highly recommend Jessica as a tour guide. She is intelligent, considerate and self-aware. She didn’t make assumptions about what I wanted and asked pertinent questions to ensure that we were doing what I wanted to do. To conclude, if you want to visit New York City and require a tour guide, Jessica is the perfect choice!” -Asif, Saudi Arabia
“My boyfriend organised a NY tour with Jessie as a surprise. Probably one of the best surprises I’ve had. Jessie was an amazing guide, so knowledgeable and easy going that it felt like we were walking around the city with a friend. A skill that definitely sets her ahead of the pack is that she is an incredible photographer and takes photos you and all the places you visit, which for us was extremely handy because we don’t take my photos and we don’t always ask people to take them of us. So now we have an album of amazing memories that we will have forever. This was the best way to see NY, Jessie knew all the best places to visit, eat and drink and even gave us a list of places to visit during the remainder of our stay. I couldn’t recommend anyone more, she made us feel so comfortable and we genuinely had a great time with her taking us around the city (a stop over in the bar also helped our feet after 6 hours)! Thanks again Jessie for making our time in NY a memorable one.” -Alice, Australia
“After decades of visiting NYC and mostly just exploring downtown to midtown, I stepped out of my comfort zone (albeit, carefully) by engaging Jessie for a custom, morning tour of Bushwick in Brooklyn. Her neighborhood knowledge is first rate and she asked what I wanted to see and photograph and adjusted the tour on the fly to make the experience even better for me that day. Give her a shot!” -Rusty, California
Book Your NYC Tour, Photo Safari or Photo Follow
Interested in booking a private tour, photo safari or photo follow? Contact Jessica using the form below to arrange your perfect day in New York City. It’s guaranteed to be an experience like no other, and one you’ll never forget.
Discounts Available
Want to save money on your NYC tour, photo safari or photo follow experience? I offer a 15% discount to my Airbnb guests. Check out Cozy Brooklyn Room For A Discount Price (listing 1) and Large Sunny Room In Artsy Bushwick (listing 2) on my Airbnb profile to learn more about the accommodation and see if you’d like to book a stay with me.
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