The TV series The Sopranos may have finished its run on HBO, but it still lives on A&E and in the hearts of its fans. Fans from all over the world are now able to take a trip through Sopranoland, courtesy of On Location Tours. The four-hour bus tour is led by actors who have worked on the set of The Sopranos as either stand-ins or extras.
The Sopranos Sites tour includes more than 40 locations. These include a stop at the diner where Chris Moltisanti was shot on the steps, a visit to the Bada Bing, the gentlemen’s club used in the show, and a chance to sit in the booth where Tony ate at Holsten’s during the last scene of the final episode. Tour guides share little known facts about the filming and behind the scenes information.
You will also pass familiar sites from the opening credits shots of the long-run series:
- The exit of the Lincoln Tunnel.
- Manhattan Skyline.
- The Muffler Man.
- Pizza Land
- Valley Landscape Silo.
- The ramp into the Pulaski Skyway seen at the end of every episode.
- A building in the center of the Meadowlands Tony passes
- More than 15,000 people from 40 countries have taken the tour, including thousands of Garden State citizens, who are proud that New Jersey was chosen as the backdrop for the show. The tour is $40 per ticket and the bus departs from mid-town Manhattan. The bus is boardedat the Needle & Button statue on 7th Avenue and 39th Street in the Garment District. This is a convenient location for anyone from New Jersey who is coming in from the Port Authority building at 40th St. or Penn Station at 34th St. and 8th Avenue.
The luxury bus includes a restroom and TV monitors where you can watch clips from the series that highlight the various locations you visit on the tour. These range from the batting cages where Pussy, AJ and Kevin talked, the golf driving range where Tony took his first Prozac to the bridge where Christopher whacks the guys he hired to hit Carmine. And no, you won’t be going down to the Pine Barrens (two hours away) where that Russian guy was able to escape from Christopher and Paulie Walnuts. That scene was actually shot in Harriman State Park over the border in Orange County, New York. But you will see plenty of Pizza Parlors, homes, parking lots, diners and other places where New Jersey’s most famous fictional Mafia family hung out.
The tour of Sopranos sites runs every Friday at 10am and Saturday at 2pm. Tickets must be purchased beforehand. Telephone Zerve at 212-209-3370 or purchase online at www.screentours.com. This is just one of several On Location tours the company runs.
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