“What the heck is a rat tour?” I wondered as I watched The Drew Barrymore Show playing on a screen while I stood in line waiting to order at McAlister’s recently. “Say what? Is there seriously such a thing?”
I didn’t get to see more. The line advanced, and it was my turn to order. By the time I finished, the segment was over. But I made a note to check into whether rat tours were a real thing or not because I had questions. The first thing I did when I got home was Google it. Here’s what I found out.
NYC Rat Tours
Rat tours look to be a newer sort of thing. I don’t know if that episode of Barrymore’s show was a rerun or not. Possibly. From what I can tell, news about the tours started appearing online in late August this year, like one from Insider. Their headline proclaimed, “Tourists are flocking to New York City to go on rat tours to see the iconic ‘mascots’ of the metropolis, says report.”
The article explained that when Rat Tok “rat influencer” Kenny Bollwerk isn’t live streaming his explorations of “rat-infested parts of the city,” he leads late-night free in-person tours, mostly around Rockefeller Center or in parts of Queens.
Rat-spotting isn’t among the official tours that Luke Miller, the owner of Real New York Tours, offers, but in the Insider article, he said he has stopped “near Chinatown for tourists to see the creatures scurrying about.”
Rat Tour Q&A
The Insider article answered many of my questions, but I had others. Since Bollwerk offered actual rat tours, I used the link in his TikTok to shoot him an email. To my delight, he responded.
How long do the rat tours last?
“The rat tours last approx. 45 min to one hour.”
How many tours do you do per week and how large are the tour groups?
“Tours are small, ranging from 1-5 people in a group.”
Are they seasonal or year-round?
“They are year-round. ”
For More Info
Take an unofficial virtual rat tour by watching Rat Tok on TikTok at @nyc_kb/TikTok. You can also schedule a tour with Kenny Bollwerk via the link on that account.
Real New York Tours doesn’t offer a “rat tour” per se, but owner Luke Miller mentioned Chinatown in the Insider article as a place where he’s pointed out rats during tours. Chinatown is offered as part of their Downtown tour.
Check-In
Would you take a rat tour of NYC? (Or any other city?)
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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Rats are interesting critters, but I’m not sure I’d want to see all the other stuff that goes along with the rats. As in what are they eating, and where are they all pooping?!
I used to work in Washington, DC. When we first moved to that area, when I was younger, I’d go out after work with my co-workers, as young people do, to eat out. If it was late enough we’d see rats – big ones – running around outside of Federal Triangle or en route to the Adams Morgan neighborhood. My co-worker used to call them ‘Crats’: rats as big as cats. Sometimes they’d jump out of the shrubbery punching each other out, squeaking and squealing all the while.
Absolutely I would!!!
OMG, Vera!!!! That is usually a question I would ask because I have a fascination (so says my husband) with bodily functions, but I didn’t even think of it until I read your comment! ACK!!! But now that I have…ewww! How many unsuspecting people step in “innocent” looking “nuggets” thinking they’re just random pebbles or something? lol
Maria, what an AWESOME share with your own personal adventure with rats…like your own informal rat “tour” just as part of your everyday life. lol I love that you took the time to share it. And the “crats” cracked me up! Those are some big rats! The NYC ones don’t look that big…or they just look smaller on the videos. The biggest one I ever say was in Vietnam. Luckily we were on a bus during a tour. I saw it scramble under a food cart and was stunned at how big it was. Truly “crate” size. Like a very big cat. lol