We wanted to expand on our reply to Alyssa’s question about the framed map seen on the shelf in the photo below. That piece is one of the cards from the boxed set City Walks: New York, and it makes a small but meaningful piece of framed map art for a gallery-style display.
The City Walks series is a compact collection of walking-tour cards for cities around the world. Each box contains roughly 50 cards, and every card outlines a unique walking route complete with a small map, step-by-step directions, and a handful of local facts. The cards are designed to be practical guides for exploring neighborhoods on foot, but they also have a simple, graphic quality that lends itself well to low-cost framed art.
I received the New York edition as a gift when I first moved to the city. After relocating to Richmond, the box of cards came along with our other keepsakes and sat on a shelf for a while. When we needed inexpensive artwork for our first apartment, the cards offered an easy creative solution: each roughly 4×6 card fit neatly into an inexpensive white frame from IKEA. We selected several cards that marked neighborhoods and routes meaningful to us—places where we lived, worked, or simply loved to wander—and arranged them into a small collage above the dining room table.
Because the cards are printed with simple maps and clean typography, they create a cohesive gallery wall without overwhelming a room. The white frames help unify the set, giving each card a consistent margin and visual balance. This approach to framed map art is budget-friendly and highly customizable: you can choose cards that represent personal memories, favorite city routes, or visually striking map sections to match your decor.
The City Walks product line covers a wide range of cities and regions. Editions include Washington DC, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Paris, London, Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Vancouver. There are also kid-friendly versions and smaller “Village Walks” sets that focus on regions like Tuscany, Provence, and Ireland. Because each boxed set is affordable, the cost per card is low, making it an economical option for creating a personalized gallery wall or framed map collection.
When styling a cluster of small framed maps, consider a few practical tips: choose frames with a uniform color and mat size to achieve a cohesive look; group cards by theme (neighborhoods, memories, or visual similarity); and experiment with different layouts on the floor before nailing holes in the wall. Lighting can make a big difference too—positioning the collage near natural light or adding a small picture light will highlight the maps’ details and subtly draw attention to the display.
Beyond décor, the cards continue to be useful as walking guides. If you enjoy exploring by foot, keeping a set on a bookshelf means you have compact, inspiration-driven routes at hand when you want to wander a city without overplanning. For anyone looking to add personal, travel-inspired framed art to their home, small-format walking-tour cards like these offer both visual charm and sentimental value.
We’ve kept eight cards that reflect the places and memories from our time in New York, and they’ve moved with us through multiple homes and displays over the years. For anyone who loves maps, travel, or affordable DIY gallery walls, turning these small walking-tour cards into framed map art is a simple idea with a lot of personality.