School Tours of York

What We Offer Visiting Schools:

Choose from my topic-specific tours.

· Roman Tour – soldiers, emperors and life in the Roman town. See the towering remains of the mighty fortress and other sites.

· Medieval Tour – see the amazing Shambles, Clifford’s Tower, and Minster. Learn about the monks, kings, soldiers and people who came to medieval York.

· Invasions Tour – Explore the turbulent history from the Romans to the Normans, including Viking invasions and medieval battles!

· Crime & Punishment – Guy Fawkes, Margaret Clitherow, Dick Turpin, and others. Horrid punishments! Consider some tough questions about fairness and justice.

· Victorian Industries – Railways, chocolate and hidden reminders around the city of printing, gas lamps, and flour milling, plus quirky and useful inventions.

· General Sightseeing Tour – covering 2000 Years of History and all the top landmarks.

· Make Your Own – Perhaps you would like to do some sketching on the tour? Or link to your school topic about tourism? Or include geography, literacy, religious education, or other eras of history. Contact me to discuss!

· Coming soon: Medicine Through Time – York Tour

Full details of what’s included in each tour are on my website. All my tours include: walking to see some marvellous sights of York, as well as some of the lesser-known parts; engaging facts and stories linked to the places you will visit; frequent opportunities for interaction and QA.

Tours can be flexible to adapt to your subject and your group’s requirements.

You can also book me for workshops which link to the tours.

Why Choose Us for an Educational Visit:

With School Tours of York, you get an educational focus to your tour, designed especially to fit with the topics your children are studying. My background includes working in schools, as well as delivering museum workshops to school parties. I am also very flexible with meeting points, routes, and fitting my tour into your trip itinerary.

Subjects and Topics Covered:

Options to include in tours:

History: Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Medieval, Tudors, Georgians, Victorians, crime and punishment, religious history and medical history.

Geography: rivers and flooding, tourism,

Literacy: creative writing and persuasive writing for tourism projects. Dickens links in a Victorian Tour. Shakespeare links are also possible. I am a professionally published author of fantasy stories, so I’m always happy to provide links to creative writing!

Art: sketching-focused tours

Group Sizes Catered For:

Groups should ideally be up to 32 pupils, with a ratio of at least 1 adult per 8 pupils. For a larger group, it will be best to split your group into 2 groups within the same day – please contact me to discuss pricing deals for booking more than one tour, and to discuss or plan an itinerary. Smaller groups are also possible!

Itineraries, Resources, and Workshops:

Please see my website for details of the tours. In addition to the tour, I can add workshop elements into the tour; I can also present workshops in school, on aspects of York history linked to my tours.

Risk Assessment:

I provide every school with my risk assessment & public liability insurance details.

Education Department Information:

School Tours of York are led solely by me, Chris Geeson. I’ve been working as a tour guide in York since 2020 – I love showing people around the city, spotting unique and quirky details, and sharing fascinating stories! I’m a learning facilitator in museums, delivering activities to visiting school groups. I’ve also led 1000+ crafty workshops for children in schools and libraries, as Chris Geeson Creative Clubs. I’m registered as self-employed with HMRC. I have public liability insurance for workshops and guided tours, plus a subscription to the DBS Certificate Update Service.

Pricing Information:

The price for a standard tour of 1hr 30mins-1hr 45mins is £100. This is for a group of up to 32 children/young people maximum, accompanied by 4-6 adults.

For larger groups of more than 32 children, spread across 2 separate tours, the price is £170. For small groups of up to 16 children/young people, the price is £70.

I’m always flexible, so please contact me to arrange shorter or longer tours, or to discuss larger or smaller group sizes.

Accessibility and Disabled Facilities:

My tour routes are mainly on level pavements, with short sections on flat grass. A couple of my tours include short sections of city wall footpaths (including stairs) and these are listed in the tour descriptions on my website, but I can plan an alternative route for you, if needed. Route details can be provided in advance, as well as details of toilets.

Other Information:

I can suggest picnic areas nearby and provide up-to-date details of toilets and coach parking/drop off points. 

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