How to build a tour of your local area

Some people become a local tour guide because they have an interest in local history and want to share this passion and knowledge.

Others become local tour guides because they enjoy going on tours when abroad, and they want to try their hand at it.

Whatever your motivation, if you’re interested in trying it out yourself – there are several stages to building a fun, interesting tour of your area. This could come in useful if you wanted to sign up to Freebird Club and discuss becoming a guide for visitors!

Where to start

There’s a difference between being an official tour guide and a local tour guide.

An official city/town tour guide needs to go through a certification process to demonstrate the level of knowledge, and the ability to recount it effectively – around specific tourist sites such as stately homes, or city tours.

A local tour guide isn’t necessarily certified, and is more likely to be a resident that enjoys taking people around their area.

For the purposes of this piece, we’ll be focusing on being a local guide.

Building a local tour

Start researching the area. You may already know some tidbits about the history and points of interest, but if you start to scratch the surface you’ll likely discover more detail.

You can start by looking online – many areas have websites dedicated to them – and fellow historians may have put useful information up on the internet. Look at old maps and overlay them to explore the change that the land has been through.

It’s a good opportunity to connect with local friends, or start making new connections. Knock on a neighbour’s door and explain that you’re keen in learning more about the area and ask if there’s anything they know that might be of interest.

Depending on how deep you want to go, another source of information could be your local town hall. Your local library likely has a ‘local’ section ripe for delving into too.

When exploring, think about what questions you want to know the answers to, and consider what tourists to the area would be interested in. This will help filter out the compelling information!

Tell the stories

When you pull the tour together, make it about what you find interesting.

You should ideally have a mix of facts and story. You can’t walk around merely spouting stats and brief history – your guest could discover that themselves – what makes a tour especially enjoyable is stories.

Maybe a local entrepreneur developed toilet paper after getting tired of the alternatives. Perhaps a kind soul prevented a disaster, or maybe a street corner was where a famous scene from a movie was filmed.

People generally want to understand what makes a place what it is. What’s the history, who lives (or lived) there and what attracts people to it. To make an engaging tour, talk about events and locations that won’t be found on other tours or the internet. Your passion as you speak is almost as important as what you speak about.

Plot the route

Now you’ve found the stories and the points of interest for your sightseeing, find the perfect balance between interesting and exercise. The ideal walking tour is about 2 hours (including breaks). Ideally you want it to be a loop around the area so your guest arrives back at home, or can be left in a place of easy access.

Try walking the route yourself and time it. Maybe try it with a friend and get their feedback. Make sure to stop at each landmark and talk through your knowledge so you know how long it takes.

You could then set up the route in Google Maps or Maps.me – to help you visualise it, and to send to guests ahead of time to allow the excitement to build – and provide any more info from their side on what they might like to hear more about.

Considerations

When plotting the route, take into account the prospective weather, and refreshment breaks. If it’s going to be a particularly hot day, find shady areas to stop at. Make sure to pass cafes, shops or public toilets to allow for comfort stops.

It’s also worth thinking about other local tours – perhaps the more official ones. You could tie your route to end at the start of an official one.

Local business involvement

To incorporate your friends and neighbours, you could discuss your tours with some local businesses. Perhaps arrange stop-offs at a cafe or shop – and encourage the owner to get involved and tell their own stories (and maybe offer a discount….?)

Tailor your tours

To keep things interesting for you – and to offer different starting points – you could create a number of different tours based upon your guest’s interests, or starting at different places along the route.

You could have a general tour focusing on an overview and the ‘top-ten’ of the area, or if your area has a specific history, one that focuses on that. Whatever the local experience you wish to offer, having a number of options means that you can switch it up to add variety for each guest.

Practise your knowledge

At home, run through each piece of knowledge. Practice it as if it’s a play – because it is a performance. Committing everything to memory will make it a lot easier and more natural enroute.

Offering to be a guide, providing commentary on sightseeing, architecture and the history of your local area is a great way to get to know you where you live in deeper detail.

The Freebird Club offers the opportunity to meet many like-minded souls to show around your area. Sign up today to see who’s out there!