Best Practices For Walking Tours

Best Practices for Walking Tours 3.0

Made by Orion Couling local tour guide. Follow Orion on instagram at nawlins _crawlins

there will be a fair amount of walking involved. Most routes cover between 3/4 of a mile to 1.25 miles.

If your experience would be enhanced by using something that assists you in that walk, such as a cane with a seat, by all means, use it.

comfort over cute should be the rule. You want your absolute most comfortable walking shoes.

in a perfect world guests would wear closed-toe shoes. The odds of you stubbing your toe on our sidewalks or curbs are pretty good.

If your ankles are weak at all, I encourage you to wear an ankle brace.

Mobility assistance. Bring those collapsible hiking poles. Bring your cane. We want you to feel stable.

The weather can swing wildly. I really strongly endorse you bringing at least a light rain jacket.  I strongly recommend you use an SPF umbrella while walking that day. Go on promenade with that umbrella. It’ll make a world of difference. Bring a personal fan. $20 gets you a high end rechargeable one. Do it. There is no need for you to be hard-core. Be kind to yourself.

if you are too drunk to enjoy walking a mile, reschedule your pub, crawl, or walking tour. One of the goals is to get drunk while you’re on the experience if you’re already approaching critical before the experience starts and you will not enjoy yourself. If you notice that you are so drunk that you need to go relax at a bar, no problem. Please tip your guide before you leave.

smoking. Please consider the wind. Smoke downwind of the group. This includes Mary jane. (It’s decriminalized not legal)

When your guide is telling a story it’s very disheartening to watch you on your phone. Of course take pictures but if you have to scroll try to do it before or after or on the way to a stop.

Here’s an odd one. Mind your unkind friend. I can not tell you how many times I walk by other tour groups hearing belligerent guests attacking the tour guide. It’s very very common. Especially in ghost pub crawls. If your friend isn’t into it, encourage them to head out. Everyone will have more fun, including them.

If you would be benefited by being close to the guide for hearing purposes or lip reading, do not hesitate to ask.

3rd party vendors will include perks in tickets sometimes that tour guides won’t be informed of. Make sure you bring up any perk when you check in.

put eyes on your check in venue. Know where it is. This will save you and the guide a lot of stress.

Read the tour description on the -company’s website-Concierge’s make promises that sometimes are impossible . A great example is promising entrance to St Louis #1 when literally only one company has that access. So if you are using a concierge or a 3rd party ap (get your guide) look at the actual company website to confirm and manage expectations

*************In summary ***************

A walking tour takes mild effort and moderate courtesy. The town requires a flexible mindset to explore. Be actively kind to yourself and others and let us unfold the magic of this town together!