A walking tour usually refers to either, # A guided walk of a historical or cultural site, usually in an urban setting, or # A long walk over several days in the countryside. Also called

backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...

Definitions

(1) Also included are a walking tour of the town of Nantucket, cocktails each evening and round-trip fast-ferry. OED (2) Walking ... in the Tyrol with the Austrian Alpine Club. ... hut to hut walking tour, 16 days. OED

History

An early example of a walking tour was a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

. This was a religious journey, often taken on foot but sometimes e.g. on horseback, to a location of significance to the walker's faith. Chaucer's 14th-century narrative poem ''

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse (poetry), verse, as part of a fictional storytellin ...

'' depicts such a pilgrimage. People still undertake such journeys, of which the most famous is the

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tra ...

. Many pilgrimage routes now coincide with

long-distance trail A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exc ...

s. Such trails are a recent form of a walking tour or

. One example is the French

GR 65 The GR 65 is a long-distance walking route of the Grande Randonnée network that extends from the French Prealps, across south central France, through the Pyrenees. The French name for this GR route is the ''Chemin de Saint-Jacques'' and th ...

path, Chemin de Saint-Jacques (in Spanish the Camino de Santiago francés), an important variant route of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Early examples of extended walking tours were undertaken by the

Romantic poets Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Neoclassical ideas of the 18th c ...

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

and

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

. In 1790 Wordsworth set off on an extended tour of France, Switzerland, and Germany, which he describes in his autobiographical poem ''

The Prelude ''The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem '' is an autobiographical poem in blank verse by the English poet William Wordsworth. Intended as the introduction to the more philosophical poem ''The Recluse,'' which Wordswort ...

'' (1850). In 1798 he walked through Wales and he and Coleridge, in 1799, undertook a three-week tour of the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

, who belonged to the next generation of

began, in June 1818, a walking tour of Scotland, Ireland, and the Lake District with his friend Charles Armitage Brown. Walking tours were popular in the 19th century, and a famous example is

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

's '' Travels with a Donkey'' (1879). Stevenson also published in 1876 the famous essay "Walking Tours". An early American example is naturalist

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the national park, National Parks", was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologi ...

's ''A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf'' (1916), which describes a long botanizing walk, undertaken in 1867. Another early type of tour was The Grand Tour, undertaken in Europe in the 17th through 19th centuries, as part of a wealthy young man's education, this involved a lengthy tour of Europe, with visits to cities, historic and cultural sites, which would involve similar walking tours as those undertaken by modern tourists. Modern young people often undertake a similar, though cheaper, form of touring. There are also

self-guided tour A self-guided tour is a tour in which the participant is not escorted tour, escorted by a tour guide, guide. As with escorted tours, self-guided tours may be conducted walking, on foot or driving, by vehicle. Audio tours are frequently presented i ...

s, which aid travellers by means of books, maps, pamphlets, and audio material.

Tours of cities and cultural sites

With guides

A walking tour is usually much shorter than an

escorted tour Escorted tours are a form of tourism in which travelers are escorted in a group to various destinations; they differ from a self-guided tour, where the tourist is not part of an organised group. Escorted tours (in US English) are also known as ' ...

, which may last for a week or more. They are led by guides that have knowledge of the places covered on the tour, and their historical, cultural and artistic significance. Many walking tours involve a payment to the guide, although some operate on a tip system. The "pay what you want" model started around 2004, and can be found in many countries. The UK-based Guild of Registered Tour has criticised the system for not requiring any training or certification of its guides.

Urban theatre

Several cities now employ dramatic spectacle to add interest to their tours. Usually guided by actors in costume, these walking tours create the feel of

living history Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...

"in a non-academic, very accessible fashion." These tours are a form of promenade theatre, as well as

museum theatre Museum theatre is the use of theatre and theatrical techniques by a museum for educational, informative, and entertainment purposes. It can also be used in a zoo, an aquarium, an art gallery, and at historic sites. It is generally performed by ...

in that it makes use of first person interpretation.

Definitions

History

Tours of cities and cultural sites

With guides

Urban theatre

See also

References

Further reading