Last week, I joined On Location Tours for the Sex & The City Hotspots Tour and saw more than 40 locations in New York City which served as a location in smash hit HBO tv series. It’s the first tour I’ve done in New York, and was valuable not just for the SATC location hopping, but for touring Manhattan in general!

We started the tour at the beautiful Pulitzer Fountain outside the Plaza Hotel. I immediately recognised it as the location where Carrie delivers the “Your girl is lovely Hubble” line to Big, after his engagement party at The Plaza. We hopped on board, and met our wonderful tour guide, Lou. I was very relieved to find our bus was a regular private coach, rather than the hot pink double decker bus I’d seen used for tours on an episode of Newsroom.

Inside the bus there were screens for viewing clips from the show, as we drove past the relevant locations. I won’t share them all – there were too many! – but we did get to check out Buddakan, where Carrie & Big had their ill-fated rehearsal dinner, perused the store where Charlotte first encounters The Rabbit, sipped Cosmos in Steve & Aiden’s bar, saw Charlotte’s gallery and Carrie’s stoop, chowed down on delicious cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery and saw tonnes of restaurants, parks, shops, hole in the wall cafes & pizza joints and bars which Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda frequented in the show.

The best stop was in West Village, one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Manhattan. We got a free Magnolia cupcake as part of the tour, and I’d already visited on my first day in New York, but this didn’t stop me from taking home a box of cupcakes as well. Just around the corner is Carrie’s stoop, which is roped off by the owner – who lived there before the show even began!

Our final stop at “Scout”, or Steve & Aidan’s Bar, is not actually called Scout, nor is it on Mulberry Street. The bar is a block away from Mulberry Street, and the crew pinched the street sign for the scene when Carrie brought a mulberry plant as a bar-warming gift. Normally I avoid sickly sweet Cosmos, but the ones they dished up here were actually drinkable – delicious, in fact. I have a sneaking suspicion they might have made one or two before.

As well as seeing dozens of locations from the show and movies, Lou kept us entertained with behind the scenes trivia and clips from the series while we drove around Manhattan.

The tour also gives you a voucher for 20% off Michael Kors’ at the Bleeker St store, a complimentary Champagne or Cosmo at Buddakan and plenty of other perks – not to mention, very generous discounts on their other TV & movie location tours in New York & Boston.

If you’re a fan & visiting New York City, the tour is a super fun way to spend half a day and see lots of Manhattan while you’re at it. You can read more about the tour & book here.

A big thank you to On Location Tours for having me along on their fabulous SATC. Of course, all opinions are my own! If you’re reading about it on The Wanderbug, it means it’s something I’d recommend to my own friends and family – the praise doesn’t get much higher than that.

Genevieve Lauren

Hello! I’m an Australian travel blogger, living in Melbourne, Australia. I grew up in Brisbane, studied in Paris, lived & worked in New York City and now live in Melbourne, Australia.

I love sharing specific and useful recommendations, itineraries and guides for the most beautiful things to see, do, experience & eat wherever I go.

My favourite travel destinations are Australia, New York City & surrounds, France, Greece & Japan, but I’m always excited to explore somewhere new!

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