Lights, camera, Manhattan: Bus tour offers holiday color, movie sites

With Christmas season cranking up all over, one of New York City’s busiest bus tour operators will soon be offering “Holiday Lights & Movie Sites” tours of Manhattan.

The tours, which begin Nov. 29, include locations from “Miracle on 34th Street,” “Home Alone,” “Elf” and “Scrooged,” among many others. And while it’s true you might be able to find 34th Street and Rockefeller Center by yourself, these 2 1/2-hour journeys may make it easier to admire the Fifth Avenue window displays, Central Park scenery and the Lincoln Center Christmas Tree, since you won’t be walking on slushy sidewalks or driving in thick traffic or negotiating with a taxi driver.

Each bus tour, the people at On Location Tours promise, will be narrated by “a local New York City actress.” The tours will run on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays through Jan. 4. Buses start at Columbus Circle (the southwest corner of Central Park). Start time is 6 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Last stop is Herald Square, home to (spoiler alert) Macy’s and 34th Street.

The cost is $38 per adult and child aged 10 or over; $28 per child aged 6 to 9. Lap-children aged 5 and under are free. Details here.

On Location Tours, founded in 1999, has made a specialty of filming-spot itineraries. Other offerings have included locations from “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City” and “Gossip Girl.”