Guided Tour

Guided Tour

What is it? 

A guided tour is the practice of an individual leading a group of people around a point of interest and giving them information about it, which can cover topics such as religious significance, cultural history and how it relates to other locations and events in history. 

What does it involve?

Attending a guided tour basically just involves paying attention! All the work is done for you in finding out the facts and presenting them in an interesting manner; the role of the participant just calls for a level of interest in your surroundings and an eagerness to learn!

Why do it and what are the benefits?

Tour guides can be extremely educational - physically interacting with the place while learning about its history will provide a different kind of academic experience to the classroom by giving the students something more tangible to focus on.

What equipment do we need?

You shouldn't need any equipment for a guided tour, but check beforehand to make sure; some tours involve their participants even further by getting them to write down their own thoughts, or make drawings - so you may need to ensure students have something to write on!

Who is it suitable for?

Guided Tours are suitable for pretty much anybody if you pick the right one - smaller children will find it harder to focus on more complex subjects and will need more visual aids, but if they are engaged correctly they will have a great time! Likewise, teenage students will get bored if the subject isn't engaging enough, so make sure to choose the tour appropriate for the age and interests of the group. 

Costs?

Around £20 or less per person, but it can vary greatly depending on the location of the tour - for example, a minibus tour around a park will cost more than a short walk around a country manor! Make sure to shop around to get an idea of the prices in your area. 

Issues/Things to think about? (unsuitable for age groups, medical conditions etc)

A guided tour should be suitable for all ages, but students with condtions such has ADHD may have trouble focusing for an extended period of time - make sure to be aware of the specific needs of your group. 

How do we include?

Many guided tours have disabled access for those with limited physical movement, but it would be wise to doublecheck beforehand. Those who are deaf and blind can also be included in guided tours but may need more specialist staff - again, you will need to check with the specific establishments. 

Doing it abroad?

There are points of public interest all around the world, so wherever you can find something well known chances are there will be a guided tour available! Foreign tours may be conducted in another language though, so make sure to confirm the specifications of the tour before booking it. 

Main website: 

This website gives a good overview of places where you can go for a tour guide, but you're best looking at the specific areas around you to find out details!

 

See the list below for venues and providers who deliver this activity:

Cromer Museum

Cromer’s past in an enchanting nutshell
Venue Type: 
Museums
Overall Rating: 
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Step inside a tiny fisherman's cottage and imagine life in Cromer at the end of the 19th century. Colourful displays chart the town’s history as an early Victorian seaside resort, resplendent with fine hotels and scandalous mixed bathing. 

The town is in a geological area of international importance. Find out why in the Geology Gallery with its fine collection of fossils, which include bones from one of the area’s most famous finds, the West Runton elephant - Britain's oldest and most complete elephant fossil.

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Cotehele Mill

Working watermill and workshops
Venue Type: 
Factory Visits & Industry
Overall Rating: 
0

This working mill next to the Morden Stream is an atmospheric reminder of the recent past when corn was ground here for the local community. It’s believed that mills have worked in the Tamar valley since medieval times and this watermill dates back to the 19th century. The buildings surrounding the mill were used as stables, cowsheds, a hayloft and a ‘cherry house’ for storing cherries. The last of these buildings was added in the 1890s and they are now set up as a selection of estate and craft workshops.

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Rufford Abbey

Venue Type: 
Religious Buildings
Overall Rating: 
0

The best-preserved remains of a Cistercian abbey west cloister range in England, dating mainly from around 1170. Incorporated into part of a 17th century and later mansion, set in Rufford Country Park.

The roofed porch formed the original main entrance to the Earl of Shrewsbury’s 16th century house. The inner double doors lead into the now ruined Brick Hall, which formed a grand initial reception room for the post-suppression house. This area of the building originally formed the lay brothers’ dormitory.

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Tudor World (Falstaff Experience)

Venue Type: 
Museums
Overall Rating: 
0

This award winning museum is situated right in the heart of the historic town of Stratford upon Avon within a Grade 2* listed historic building.

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Gray's Printing Press

18th-century printing press
Venue Type: 
Factory Visits & Industry
Overall Rating: 
0

Take a step back in time and discover a treasure trove of ink, galleys and presses hidden behind an 18th-century shop front in the heart of Strabane, once the famous printing town of Ulster.

Gray’s Printing Press is now being staffed with local volunteers who have gained expert knowledge about the Press.

Relax and unwind in the beautiful surroundings with afternoon tea or a delicious hot meal in Grays Tea Room.

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Titchfield Abbey

Venue Type: 
Religious Buildings
Overall Rating: 
0

The ruins of a 13th century Premonstratensian abbey, later converted into a Tudor mansion. The church was rebuilt as a grand turreted gatehouse. Information panels tell the story of the monastery and its conversion into a mansion.

The abbey of St Mary and St John the Evangelist was founded in 1232 by Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, for Premonstratensian canons, an order founded at Prémontré in France and known also as the ‘White Canons’. 

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Chislehurst Caves

Miles of mystery and history beneath your feet
Venue Type: 
Factory Visits & Industry
Overall Rating: 
0

Extending some 35km (22 miles), the man-made caves were constructed as an ancient lime and flint mine.

The caves at Chislehurst are a labyrinth of man made tunnels forming a maze covering over six hectares thirty metres below the woodlands above. They were dug for chalk used in lime burning and brick-making for the building of London, also for flints to fire the tinderboxes and flintlock guns of years ago.

First open to the public in the start of the 20th century as a showplace, the guides told the Victorian history of Druids, Romans and Saxons, smuggling and murder.

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Osborne House

Venue Type: 
Historic Buildings & Monuments
Overall Rating: 
0

"It is impossible to imagine a prettier spot" - such were the words of Queen Victoria after her first visit to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

No trip to the island would be complete without a visit to this royal seaside palace where Queen Victoria lived with her beloved Prince Albert and their nine children.

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Eastbury Manor House

Striking Elizabethan merchant's house and gardens
Venue Type: 
Historic Buildings & Monuments
Overall Rating: 
0

Important brick-built Tudor gentry house, completed about 1573, little altered since. Early 17th-century wall-paintings showing fishing scenes and a cityscape grace the former Great Chamber.

Evocative exposed timbers in attic, fine original spiral oak staircase in turret, soaring chimneys, cobbled courtyard, peaceful walled garden with bee boles.

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Jane Austen’s House and Museum

Venue Type: 
Historic Buildings & Monuments
Overall Rating: 
0

Jane Austen is one of the most popular and important novelists that England has ever produced. The house at Chawton is where she spent the last eight years of her life. It is of international importance as the place where she did the majority of her mature writing, but at the same time retains the charm of a village home. A 17th century house, it tells the story of Jane Austen and her family.

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