When visiting a city for the first time, travelers frequently seek out guided sightseeing experiences to understand its history and culture. Exploring on foot alongside a knowledgeable local guide remains the gold standard for discovering an unfamiliar destination. However, as the travel and activities sector has leaned heavily into mass-market volume, many operators have compromised on authenticity and personalized care. Empire Tours has taken the opposite approach, focusing on intimate group dynamics and rich local storytelling.
Although Empire Tours was formally established by founder Steven Garcia in 2017, Garcia brings more than two decades of on-the-ground experience designing and leading walking tours across multiple continents.
From the company’s inception, Garcia sought to ensure the brand moved beyond routine sightseeing, engineering premium experiences that combine small-group access with deep historical narrative.
“You can read every guidebook on the shelf, but until you walk down an alley with someone who actually lives there and knows the backstories, you haven’t really seen the city”, Garcia says. “Walking tours put your boots on the pavement and bring you face-to-face with the real place. That kind of human connection changes how you remember a trip forever”.
Empire Tours originated from a focused cultural deep dive in Taiwan. While living abroad, Garcia immersed himself in the heritage of historic Dan Shway (Tamsui), conducting extensive archival and local research before introducing specialized walking tours. Those historic routes quickly gained acclaim, establishing Garcia’s reputation for rigorous, narrative-driven tour design.
Today, the Empire Tours portfolio spans marquee global destinations. In addition to flagship offerings like New York walking tours, Chicago architecture boat tours, and Washington D.C. monument tours, travelers can reserve curated experiences across London, Paris, Milan, and Amsterdam.
“Once guests take a tour with us in New York or Chicago, the first question they ask when planning their next vacation is whether we operate in Paris or London”, notes Garcia. “They don’t want to roll the dice on a total stranger. They want to know the guide waiting on the sidewalk genuinely cares about doing it right”.
Travelers investing in high-end city vacations naturally expect service consistency and white-glove hospitality. Yet, as Garcia observes, the broader tour industry still lacks the unified quality standards common in luxury hospitality.
“Think about how travel changed over the last few decades. If you check into a reputable hotel or board a major flight, you know what standard of care you are getting”, Garcia says. “Guided tours never worked that out. You book a walking tour in one town, hop on a bus in another, or grab an architecture cruise somewhere else, and it feels like a coin flip every time. You might get an exceptional storyteller, or you might get someone reading bullet points off an index card through a scratchy megaphone”.
Securing an unvetted operator in a new destination can introduce unnecessary friction. Conversely, when guests reserve with Empire Tours, they rely on a vetted standard featuring priority skip-the-line admissions, intimate group caps, and private group options tailored to discerning travelers.
In Manhattan, the brand’s acclaimed Chinatown and Little Italy historic food tour introduces guests to authentic Hong Kong sponge pastries, unpacks Mulberry Street mob history, and concludes with artisanal cannoli and live music inside a celebrated 130-year-old Italian bakery.
Across the Atlantic, the Milan Naviglio small boat canal cruise guides travelers through the city’s historic waterways, while premier London walking tours provide prime vantage points for the iconic Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
While regional itineraries highlight distinct local traditions, the operational standard remains unwavering. Guests travel in small, boutique groups led by seasoned storytellers, with access to tiered private options, skip-the-line access at major landmarks, and seamless itinerary coordination that bypasses conventional tourist traps.
Directing the expansion of Empire Tours across major urban markets has given Garcia exceptional insight into international tourism infrastructure and the critical areas where guest service can be elevated. That operational perspective has reinforced his commitment to establishing a new benchmark for guided travel.
“Travelers are tired of crossing their fingers every time they try to book an excursion in an unfamiliar city”, Garcia emphasizes. “Twenty years of pounding the pavement showed me nobody had stepped up to solve that consistency problem. We decided that standard had to exist, so we are building it ourselves, block by block”.
