Taking a walking tour is a great way to explore a new city. Here are some tours that you won’t find in the brochures.

Big Apple Greeter is a unique organization that will pair you with a local who will show you practically any neighborhood, from Queens to Coney Island.

The 300 volunteers are not tour guides, they are die-hard New Yorkers who want to show off their city from their point of view.

They want you to meet new people and make visitors feel at home in a big city.

The walks are free, but here’s the catch – they have become so popular that you have to book at least six weeks in advance.

Then there’s a company called Foot! Tours. They trace an eccentric route through San Francisco’s offbeat neighborhoods.

Tours have names like “Hobnobbing With Gobs of Snobs” in the Nob Hill neighborhood, and “Nude, Lewd and Crude,” an evening tour of the North Beach area, which discussed the rise of strippers, beatniks and comedians in this bohemian area.

Tours cost $30-$45 and last about two hours.

Check out our Off the Brochure Travel Guides for more unusual activities.

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