School travel itineraries include several important details. The itinerary tells the group leader when to check in at each attraction and how long the group can stay there. It details contact information for the reservations that have been made and gives transportation details as well as security ones, such as what will and will not be allowed on the premises of various museums, government buildings, etc.
Professional guides are an important detail as well. Museums, for instance, can be explored several ways, and the itinerary can help you keep this straight. Sometimes groups want to enter together but explore the facility as individuals, setting a separate pace based on varied interests. In this case, the itinerary would detail a time to re-group in order to make it to the next reservation. Another and often more enlightening way to explore a given attraction is with the leadership of a knowledgeable guide. We recommend this for many historical sites, walking tours, museums, and national landmarks (such as the monuments and memorials on the National Mall). If you use a guide, the itinerary will always include their contact information and when and where to meet them each day. Here are some of the reasons we recommend this popular addition to any school travel tour.
Tour guides have a wealth of information. They know more than you – almost certainly. In order to be certified, they have studied and been tested on the geography and history of a given city. You’ll be surprised how every single attraction – and perhaps the road to get you there – comes to life and remains more memorable by the trivia your guide adds to the experience.
Watch your students truly engage with the sights as your knowledgeable guide helps them find connecting points to other attractions, to lessons they’ve learned in school, and to their own lives. This is why we want our students to travel. This is the excitement for learning you’ve been looking for.
Enlisting the help of a guide adds the entertaining to the educational. Tour guides are trained to engage their listeners with the information they’re presenting. You’ll find your students laughing, see them wide-eyed as their guide recounts tall tales and fascinating surprises behind every attraction. We work personally with every guide we book, determined to help your group find the perfect match.
A tour guide’s expert familiarity helps them improvise. You’ve probably traveled enough to know things don’t always go as planned. Unfortunately, this theory is only compounded by the added numbers involved with large group travel. Having a professional guide is always a joy but will become invaluable should the unexpected arise. They can suggest alternatives on a rainy day, find the quickest route from A to B when the schedule becomes too tight, and suggest itinerary changes when the truly surprising makes an attraction unavailable for the day, (e.g., last-minute security issues, construction, etc).
All of our school travel tours are fully customized and truly exciting for students and group leaders alike. A professional guide, however, can make them unforgettable. If you’re interested in this addition to your school travel itinerary, let us know in the comments section when you send your request.
*Perhaps you don’t need a fully-customized tour. If all you need is a guide, you can also contact us to reserve the perfect travel guide for your group.
