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!
An impressive archive of documents, genealogical records, photographs, video and audio recordings and artefacts.
This collection comprises some 500 artefacts illustrating the social, economic, cultural and religious life of Ness. Its strengths lie mainly in the fields of domestic life, social life, fishing and the sea. The material dates from the 19th and 20th centuries.
A new museum and archive will create a major visitor destination and a gateway to the Gaelic-rich cultural heritage of the Islands. Located in a modern purpose built extension to the restored Lews Castle it will open in the summer of 2015.
Exciting new galleries will look at the stories of the Islands and Islanders. Visitors will be able to
Little is known of the early history of this Northern Scottish town but there is ample evidence in the surrounding countryside of Neolithic/Bronze Age settlement and the shelters and defences of succeeding Ages. However, it was the Vikings that gave Wick its name (from the old Norse vik = bay).
Situated in the High Street in the heart of the historic town of Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, The West Highland Museum’s collections tell the story of the region and its history. Our most renowned and unusual collection relates to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite cause.
Award-winning Highland Museum. Housed within a unique former Telford Parliamentary Church, it provides a stimulating insight into the life of a Highland parish. Large screen audiovisual presentation of Lochbroom. Local archives, records, genealogy and photos. Touchscreens. Exhibitions. Six European languages.
Timespan was founded in 1987 with the main aim of providing the community and visitors with an insight into the fascinating history of Helmsdale and its surrounding area. It has since developed from a small local heritage centre into an award-winning museum and the only (non-private) contemporary art gallery in Sutherland.
The Highlanders’ Museum (Queen’s Own Highlanders Collection)covers three floors of Fort George’s former Lieutenant Governors’ House. The museum has roughly 20,000 artefacts and an estimated 10,000 documents and photographs. The museum is the largest regimental museum in Scotland, outside of Edinburgh. Browse through the menus to feel the experience.
Fort George is one of the most outstanding fortifications in Europe. It was built in the wake of the Battle of Culloden (1746) as an impregnable base for King George II’s army. It took 21 years to complete, by which time the Jacobite threat had been largely extinguished.
The Tarbat Discovery Centre is a museum, learning and activity centre dedicated to displaying and preserving the heritage of the Tarbat peninsula. Housed in the refurbished Old Parish Church, it is the site of the only Pictish monastic settlement excavated in Scotland to date.
Tain & District Museum is an independent, volunteer run museum in the North of Scotland. We serve the area of Easter Ross; helping to perserve and interpret our past and provide locals and visitors alike with a high quality experience when they visit.
Once a church, this highland museum contains a fine collection of objects depicting a past way of life in this remote but magnificent part of Scotland. One room contains Clan Mackay memorabilia. Posters painted by local children tell the story of the Strathnaver clearances. The churchyard contains the Farr Stone which dates from the 8th-9th centuries.
Nairn Museum offers visitors and locals alike a fascinating insight into the life and times of the town and surrounding area over the centuries. The wide range of permanent displays featuring various aspects of Nairn's history are well laid out and informative and, in addition a huge collection of archive material is available for study.
Discover the history of the Highlands and Islands through the story of Clan Donald, its most powerful clan, at our award-winning museum.
Twelve centuries ago, West Lochaber was a buffer zone between native Picts, Norsemen and Scots. Briefly part of the Norse Kingdom of Man, it then became the eastern boundary of the powerful Lordship of the Isles.
Learn about Scottish history and discover how the Highlands are linked with the rest of the world.
Experience Highland contemporary art and crafts and unlock a medieval chest.
Hugh Miller's Birthplace Cottage & Museum in Cromarty celebrates prominent 19th-century Highland polymath, Hugh Miller - an eminent geologist, writer and social commentator.
HISTORYLINKS is dedicated to the history of Dornoch and the surrounding area. It is the only VisitScotland 5 Star Museum in the Highlands and one of seven museums in Scotland to have gained this prestigious award. The permanent exhibition includes the Cathedral, feuding clans and Scotland’s last witch.
The museum is located in Strathpeffer's charming old Victorian station where trains brought visitors to the village in it's heyday as a spa. Telling the story of childhood across the Highlands of Scotland, the displays reflect the stories of children, crofters and townsfolk and explore the customs and traditions.
At the Highland Folk Museum we give our visitors a flavour of how Highland people lived and worked from the 1700s up until the 1960s! We do this by displaying over 30 historical buildings and furnishing them appropriate to their time period. Some have been built from scratch on site and some have been moved here from other locations.
Our lovely museum is an outstanding centre for Pictish and Celtic Art in Ross-shire. The unique display is focused on 15 carved Pictish stones which all originated in the village, an important centre of early Christianity.
The exhibition tells the story of the town’s development using audiovisual and traditional displays. The Resource Centre provides internet access and family history research facilities for local people and visitors.
Glenfinnan Station Museum is a restored West Highland Line railway station on the ‘Iron Road’ to the Isles from Fort William to Mallaig.
The Glencoe Folk Museum was co-founded by Miss Barbara Fairweather MBE and Mrs Rae Grant in the 1960s, and for both ladies it was a life's work. In 1971 the museum was gifted the two cottages, which create the main building, by the late Hugh Grant.
The museum takes you on a journey through time showing how local people lived and worked in Gairloch through the ages.
● Marvel at how stone age and bronze age people existed with relatively limited technology and (to us) primitive utensils.
● Fathom the mysteries of a Pictish symbol stone.
The Bushcraft Company offer residential school trips with a difference, taking students into the wild and giving them real back-to-nature experiences they will never forget.
A 15-year-old boy fell 60ft over the edge of a cliff whilst on a geography school trip, miraculously only suffering minor injuries.