Yale Historic Walking Tour: Self-Guided Smartphone Experience

Embark on a self-guided walking tour of Yale University’s historic spots in New Haven. Explore the old campus, visit the New Haven green, and discover the secrets of Yale’s secret societies. Pause the tour to explore the Yale Art Gallery or the Beinecke rare book Library. Download the app now!

Duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Battell Chapel - The tour starts outside the chapel and you’ll learn about its history and about Elihu Yale, the man who Yale is named after. From there you’ll walk to the Old Campus and be guided step by step through New Haven.
What's Included
  • Flexible schedule, tour at your own pace
  • Visit Yale’s historic landmarks
  • Discover stories behind Yale’s history
  • Self-guided tour with our mobile app
  • Tour access with no expiration date
What's Not Included
  • No food, drink or admission into buildings (Most are free), it’s all outside.
Additional Information

Established in 1701, Yale is the third oldest educational institution in the United States, often described as the most mysterious.
During our exploratory journey, I’ll escort you to some of New Haven’s historical sites, incorporating Yale’s ancient campus, the New Haven Green, and the birthplace of the Hamburger, Louis Lunch, among others, including the…

Location
Elm Street & College Street
The tour starts at the corner of Elm and College in front of the Battell Chapel and across from the New Haven Green. You will hear about the chapel, the Green and how Yale was named after Elihu Yale.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.3
(35 Ratings)
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Kathydo5153bx
Oct 26, 2025
Tour New Haven - Great trip and narrative. The best part was being g able to stop and visit the places, restaurants and museums. Plenty of shopping in the area too!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Amanda_s
Oct 15, 2025
Totally worth it - Totally worth the $10. Very informative and easy to follow along. Took us on a beautiful trek through the Yale campus.
Review provided by Viator
Experience187015
Aug 31, 2025
Solo in New Haven - This was a great tour. It kept pace with where I was regardless if I stopped, paused or sped up. It provided a lot of interesting history but also include more recent information. I will be looking for one of these tours in every city I visit.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Stacy50
Jul 29, 2025
Perfect introduction to New Haven - A very nice way to tour New Haven and Yale. The audio was easy to follow and had some great info. Allowed us to have a base for what to see on campus. Would recommend to anyone who has not been here before.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Candace_r
Jul 15, 2025
Easy to navigate and very informative! - Very easy to figure out directions, great information, just the right amount of history. I absolutely love this and have already looked up tours for when I am in Dublin and London later in the fall! Highly recommend!
Review provided by Viator
Stephanie
Jul 14, 2025
Great Choice! - The tour was excellent! Very informative, and it was wonderful, seeing all of the old buildings and hearing the history.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Melissa_t
Oct 25, 2025
Good tour - Good voice and informative tour. Liked you can pause and begin where you left off even if you close the map. Nice they have a live map option too so if you go off path you can see where you are
Review provided by Viator
Norma_a
Sep 17, 2025
Code provided online... - Code provided online louis2780 is not accepting when clicking apply. I paid $9.95 but did not do phone self guided. I visited Yale visitor center on which I registered for a free tour in the afternoon at 1 pm.
Review provided by Viator
P9085pqbrendab
Sep 2, 2025
Good value for what it offered. - We only had time for a few stops but we did learn a few things about New Haven. The navigation on the app was a little confusing and some of the stops were more like directions than stops. I didn’t love the voice of the tour guide and the music in the background was a bit distracting. But there was value in being able to take a tour at our own pace at any time of day, and I look forward to completing the tour when I have more time!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Laura_w
Oct 11, 2025
Disappointing tour - After reading the reviews we had high hopes for this tour. The guide gave a nice description of the chapel, but no d I rection on how to enter it. He took us down streets so that we could see vegan restaurants, hamburger joints, and the theater district. After 20 minute of that we turned off the guide. He also d I rested us to a statue if Nathan He also that wasn't there. A complete waste of money
Review provided by Viator
From $10
up to 15 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).