Tour of a historical or cultural site undertaken on foot, frequently in urban setting SHD
This article is about tour of a historical, or cultural or artistic site. For tours involving walks in the country, see
Hiking
.
A
walking tour
is a tour of a historical or cultural site undertaken on foot, frequently in an urban setting.
[1]
Short tours can last under an hour, while longer ones can take in multiple sites and last a full day or more. A walk can be led by a
tour guide
, as an escort.
Precursors
[
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]
A
pilgrimage
is a religious journey traditionally taken on foot, to a location of significance to the walker's faith. Chaucer's 14th-century narrative poem
Canterbury Tales
certainly indicates that a pilgrimage can involve pleasure.
The
Camino de Santiago
route to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain is a famous example, and remains popular today.
In Iraq, the
Shia Muslim
20-day
Arba'een Pilgrimage
to
Karbala
attracts many millions of pilgrims each year.
[2]
[3]
[4]
The
Grand Tour
, undertaken in Europe in the 17th through 19th centuries, as part of a wealthy young man's education,
[5]
involved visits to cities, historic and cultural sites.
There are also similarities between walking tours that involve long hikes and
backpacking
.
Tours of cities and cultural sites
[
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]
With guides
[
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]
A walking tour is generally distinguished from an
escorted tour
by its length and the employment of
tour guides
, and can be under 12 hours, or last for a week or more. They are led by guides that have knowledge of the sites, or the landscape, covered on the tour, and explanations and interpretations of the site can cover a range of subjects, including places with historical, cultural and artistic significance. Walking tours, of various kinds and length, are universally part of the tourism industry, and can be found around the world.
Many walking tours involve a payment to the guide, although some operate on a
tip
system.
[6]
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.
[7]
Narratives
[
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]
Several cities now have groups that are employing dramatic spectacle to add interest to their tours. Usually guided by actors in costume playing a role, these walking tours create the feel of
living history
as guests walk in the footsteps of those who came before them. These tours, which blend history and dramatic narrative, share "history in a non-academic, very accessible fashion."
[8]
These tours are similar in nature to
promenade theatre
. Although the theatrical nature of these tours is similar to
museum theatre
in that it makes use of
first person interpretation
, the fact that these tours take place outside of traditional museum settings and requires the audience to move through urban environments makes this style of walking tour a genre of its own.
[
citation needed
]
Self guided tours
[
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]
Self-guided
tours, utilise a range of methods to aid travel through a place, or landscape, such as books,
[9]
[10]
maps, pamphlets, and audio material.
[11]
Day tours with specific locations
[
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]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Article title
[
dead link
]
Oxford Dictionary 1
- ^
Dearden, Lizzie (25 November 2014).
"One of the world's biggest and most dangerous pilgrimages is underway"
. The Independent.
Archived
from the original on 25 September 2015
. Retrieved
4 October
2015
.
- ^
Philipson, Alice (2015-01-19).
"The ten largest gatherings in human history"
.
The Telegraph
.
Archived
from the original on 6 October 2015
. Retrieved
3 October
2015
.
- ^
Chandra Kharel, Gopi (13 December 2014).
"Arbaeen 2014: 20 Million Pilgrims Flock to Karbala [PHOTOS]"
. Ibtimes.
Archived
from the original on 4 October 2015
. Retrieved
4 October
2015
.
- ^
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary
(1998), and
New Oxford American Dictionary
.
- ^
Molnar, Agnes (2014-04-25).
"Strassenokonom ? die Stadtfuhrerin"
.
Capital
(in German). G+J Wirtschaftsmedien GmbH & Co. KG
. Retrieved
2016-01-25
.
- ^
Baker, Vicky (2013-06-12).
"The rise of the 'free' city tour"
.
the Guardian
. Retrieved
2016-01-25
.
- ^
Handley, Gen.
"Forbidden Vancouver tour reenacts Gastown's gothic adventures"
.
The Westender
. The Westender
. Retrieved
11 June
2015
.
- ^
Frommer's walking tours. Paris
, Prentice Hall Travel, 1993,
ISSN
1081-3381
- ^
Legarde, Lisa (1993),
Frommer's walking tours. San Francisco
, Prentice Hall Travel,
ISSN
1081-3403
- ^
Wooldridge, Denyse. (Narrator); Dee's Audio Walking Tours (1996),
Manhattan Midtown West
, Dee's Audio Walking Tours
, retrieved
19 April
2013
Further reading
[
edit
]
- MacCannell, Dean.
The Ethics of Sightseeing
. University of California Press, 2011.
- Pond, Kathleen Lingle.
The Professional Guide: Dynamics of Tour Guiding
. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1993.
- Ruitenberg, Claudia W. "Learning by Walking: Non-Formal Education as Curatorial Practice and Intervention in Public Space."
International Journal of Lifelong Education
31, no. 3 (2012): 261-275.
- Wynn, Jonathan R.
The Tour Guide: Walking and Talking New York
. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2011.
- Wynn, Jonathan R. "City Tour Guides: Urban Alchemists at Work."
City & Community
9, no. 2 (June 2010).
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