GUIDED HISTORY BASED TOURS of RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
Greetings. We are the RICHMOND TOUR GUYS. Established in 2014, we have evolved from a one‐man “show” presenting “Tip‐based, Free tours” to a highly regarded tour company whose guides enjoy telling the Richmond story, one tour at a me. We continue to reimagine, enhance and improve our tours, presenting Public and a broad selection of Private tours in Virginia’s most historic city and are proud to offer the original and most popular City Center Downtown Tour as our singular Public Tour.
You will be captivated by the colorful stories of Richmond’s past and marvel at the hip city it has become. Our tours are acclaimed by locals and visitors alike who discover fun, history‐based stories and embrace ways to experience the River City like never before. The RICHMOND TOUR GUYS are the perfect way to discover why Frommer’s said “While you weren’t looking, Richmond got cool,” and why Richmond was named the No.1 “America’s Best Town to Visit” for 2024 by CNN.
Explore the Capital City of Virginia, America’s Mother Colony with the Richmond Tour Guys guided tours, each distinct and filled with stories, anecdotes based on historic fact and at times, popular fables and yarns. All are woven together to entertain and enlighten.
Tour Choices
A Table of Contents with Clickable Links
Explore Richmond while walking it’s streets, sidewalks, cobblestoned alleyway’s and mews to discover first‐hand the variety of neighborhoods, their distinctive buildings and hear the stories that make up the fabric of one of America’s most historic city’s. Join a Richmond Tour Guys’ guide for the Original Public Downtown Walking Tour or on an expanded Private Walking Tour, in one of four distinct neighborhoods; Downtown, Church Hill, Shockoe Bottom and Canals and the exclusive Capitol and Capitol Square.
PUBLIC WALKING TOUR
The Original Public
DOWNTOWN
WALKING
TOUR
A 100 minute stroll along the historic streets of Downtown Richmond. You’ll walk in the foot‐steps of the Founding Fathers. Beginning at the Convention Center on 3rd Street in Jackson Ward, you’ll start on a stroll in the heart of the city to see and hear about over 50 points‐of‐interest. Highlights include John Marshall’s house, The White House of the Confederacy, Valentine Museum, the Egyptian Building, Monumental Church and beautiful Capitol Square, home to the Thomas Jefferson designed Capitol building, ending at St. Paul’s Church.
Cost: Adults $37.50, Child under 10 $15
Duration: 100 Minutes
NOTE: Please arrive 15 minutes prior to departure time.
Parking: Free Parking is available in the Visitor’s Center “20 Minute” spaces north, up 3rd St. past entrance
Departs: From Downtown Visitor Center on 3rd St. between Marshall and Clay Streets
Concludes: At St. Paul’s Church, Grace St at 9th
When: Public Tour Season, Mid‐March thru Nov. 30th, Thursday thru Sunday, at 10:30 am and 1:30 pm
Original Public Downtown Walking Tour Policies:
Ticket purchase is required. A minimum of 2 Adults is necessary to conduct the tour. Please arrive no later
than 15 minutes prior to the tour to check in, receive your radio and personal earbuds and gather your group
(if this applies.) Please keep in mind the travel Ɵme from where you are to the meet‐up point, parking and
walking to find your guide. Adding that buffer is always a good idea.
We use a ticketless reservation system and all you’ll need is your name at check in. If guests are late to the
beginning of the tour, their place may be released and given to another party at time of departure.
Regarding pets: We love pets. Unfortunately, many guests do not, and many pets may not like the group of
strangers around them. Please, do not bring pets on the Original Public Downtown Walking Tour. We do offer
Private Tours where pets may be accommodated. Registered Service Animals are allowed on the tours if documentation can be provided.
Our Original Public Walking Downtown Tour is 100 minutes and the tour is relatively flat with one short uphill
grade. You may reach your steps goal, but we’re not looking to wear you out.
Refund Policy:
You MUST cancel at least 24 hours before the tour to receive a full refund. NO REFUNDS are available on the
day of the tour.
Cancellation Policies:
If we have only 1 adult registered for a tour, we may cancel. We try to make this decision at least 2 hours
before departure time. All guests will be notified of any cancellations via text and/or phone. For this reason,
please make sure that you have provided us with a phone number to reach you on the day of your tour.
Weather: Our tours happen rain or shine. Please dress accordingly, wearing comfortable walking shoes, sun‐
screen and other sun protection during the dog days of summer. When rain is forecast, rain gear and umbrellas
are helpful. If we encounter extreme conditions and are forced to cancel the tour, you may reschedule for a
later tour or receive a full refund.
PRIVATE WALKING TOURS
The Expanded Private
DOWNTOWN
WALKING
TOUR
On this 2.5 hr. tour, we begin in historic Jackson Ward, the “Harlem of the South,” and continue along Broad Street, the city’s original thoroughfare and downtown’s cultural center. We next stop in the Court End section to see John Marshall’s house, and then on to Clay St., home to the largest extant antebellum collection of houses downtown, the Valentine Museum, and the White House of the Confederacy. We visit Richmond’s first medical school, the ca 1845 Egyptian Building, still in use today; Monumental Church, the site of one of Richmond’s greatest tragedies; explore Capitol Square and the Thomas Jefferson designed Capitol building, the first neo‐classical building in America. St. Paul’s and St. Peters churches, the Federal Reserve Bank and the expanded Carpenter Theatre at nearly 100 years old followed by dining.
Cost: 1‐4 Adults $195 Each Additional Adult $35
Duration: 2 1/2 hrs.
Parking: Free Parking is available in the Visitor’s Center “20 Minute” spaces north, up 3rd St. past entrance
Departs: From Downtown Visitor Center on 3rd St. between Marshall and Clay Streets
Concludes: At Starting point
When: As a Private tour, please call or text to discuss your choice.
Expanded Private Downtown Walking Tour Policies:
Refund Policy:
You MUST cancel at least 48 hours before the tour to receive a full refund. NO REFUNDS are available on the day of the tour.
Cancellation Policies:
All guests will be notified of any cancellations via text and/or phone. For this reason, please make sure that you have provided us with a phone number to reach you on the day of your tour.
Weather: Our tours happen rain or shine. Please dress accordingly, wearing comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and other sun protection during the dog days of summer. If we encounter extreme conditions and are forced to cancel the tour, you may reschedule for a later tour or receive a full refund.
The Private
CHURCH HILL
WALKING
TOUR
Meet Richmond’s birthplace and what some call Original Richmond as it was here that William Byrd II laid out the original city, the first cemetery and the site for Henrico Parish’s new church that a scant, 34 years later became the important meeting place for a secret gathering resulting in a resolution that is said to have “Lit the candle of the Revolutionary War.” You’ll meander cobblestone streets and alleys on this private, guide lead tour, wending through more than two centuries of architecture and rich stories in the River City’s oldest residential neighborhood, the first historic district called the Old and Historic St. John’s historic district filled with early American history.
Cost: 1-4 Adults $195 Each Additional Adult $35
Duration: 2 to 2 1/2 hrs.
Parking: Plentiful On-Street non-metered parking is available near the starting point of the tour
Departs: From In front of the St. John’s Church Steps at 24th and Broad Sts.
Concludes: At Starting point
When: As a Private tour, please call or text to discuss your choice.
Add-Ons may be available to tour the interior of the church. Please call or text to possibly include these elements.
5 minute pop-in $5 per person
30 minute talk $10 per person
Private Church Hill Walking Tour Policies:
Refund Policy:
You MUST cancel at least 48 hours before the tour to receive a full refund. NO REFUNDS are available on the day of the tour.
Cancellation Policies:
All guests will be notified of any cancellations via text and/or phone. For this reason, please make sure that you have provided us with a phone number to reach you on the day of your tour.
Weather: Our tours happen rain or shine. Please dress accordingly, wearing comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and other sun protection during the dog days of summer. If we encounter extreme conditions and are forced to cancel the tour, you may reschedule for a later tour or receive a full refund.
The Private
CAPITOL &
CAPITOL SQUARE
WALKING
TOUR
In 1780, with the Revolutionary War still very active, The Virginia Capitol moved a second time from Williamsburg to Richmond and temporary quarters. Three years later, Attache to France Thomas Jefferson and a Parisian architect drew up the plans, created a model and shipped them to Richmond to build the first neo‐classical, Roman styled “Temple on the Hill,” today’s greatly enlarged edifice still purpose‐used to this day. On this 2‐to‐2.5‐hour tour, you will discover how this building was created, saved from destruction, and greatly expanded not once, but twice.
And, you’ll learn about the interior Capitol Building as guides create the backdrop of the Virginia Story that continues today.
The second half of the tour is on the grounds of Capitol Square, home to a collection of monuments and statuary including the magnificent George Washington Equestrian Monument.
Cost: 1‐4 Adults $195 Each Additional Adult $35
Duration: 2 to 2 1/2 hrs.
Parking: Garages and metered street parking are usually found nearby
Departs: From In front of the St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 9th and Grace Sts
Concludes: At Starting point
When: As a Private tour, please call or text to discuss your choice.
SPECIAL NOTE: The Capitol Grounds and Government offices are “Weapons Free Zones.” When entering the Capitol Building, there will be a security check point that all persons must pass through.
Private Capitol & Capitol Square Walking Tour Policies:
Refund Policy:
You MUST cancel at least 48 hours before the tour to receive a full refund. NO REFUNDS are available on the day of the tour.
Cancellation Policies:
All guests will be notified of any cancellations via text and/or phone. For this reason, please make sure that you have provided us with a phone number to reach you on the day of your tour.
Weather: Our tours happen rain or shine. Please dress accordingly, wearing comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and other sun protection during the dog days of summer. If we encounter extreme conditions and are forced to cancel the tour, you may reschedule for a later tour or receive a full refund.
The Private
SHOCKOE
& CANALS
WALKING
TOUR
On this Private tour of Shockoe & Canals, you visit Richmond’s historic commercial area that is now a dining and residential district surrounded by historic buildings, monuments and memorials and an area steeped in a rich
history. This leisurely tour takes you through the original business district and along Richmond’s one‐time tobacco row and warehouses, canals and millraces, fed by the James River that fueled commerce and helps in telling the industrial story of pre‐20th Century Richmond. You’ll learn about Richmond’s infamous domestic slave trade
market, the second largest in the country, and discover how the James made and reshaped The River City.
Cost: 1‐4 Adults $195 Each Additional Adult $35
Duration: 2 to 2 1/2 hrs.
Parking: Garages and metered street parking are usually found nearby
Departs: At corner of 14th and Cary Sts. at Religious Freedom monument
Concludes: At Main Street Station
When: As a Private tour, please call or text to discuss your choice.
Private Shockoe & Canals Walking Tour Policies:
Refund Policy:
You MUST cancel at least 48 hours before the tour to receive a full refund. NO REFUNDS are available on the day of the tour.
Cancellation Policies:
All guests will be notified of any cancellations via text and/or phone. For this reason, please make sure that you have provided us with a phone number to reach you on the day of your tour.
Weather: Our tours happen rain or shine. Please dress accordingly, wearing comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and other sun protection during the dog days of summer. If we encounter extreme conditions and are forced to cancel the tour, you may reschedule for a later tour or receive a full refund.
SPECIALTY WALKING TOURS
Hollywood Cemetery Tour
Join The Richmond Tour Guy’s “Local Expert” guide for an extensive 2‐hour Private Specialty Tour of Richmond’s famed Hollywood Cemetery, one of the country’s first urban‐garden style cemeteries designed in 1847 and best known as the final resting place for Presidents Monroe and Tyler and Richmond’s many notables
Cost: 1‐4 Adults $195 Each Additional Adult $40
This tour encounters several steep hills and some uneven surfaces.
Richmond Mural Tour
Beginning in 2012, Richmond’s mural culture, or street art, had been celebrated on an annual basis bringing
muralists from around the world to cover buildings, flood walls, silos and a baseball stadium. Today, there
are over 350 works on display.
The Richmond Tour Guys, have developed a nearly 2‐hour tour, centered in the Fan District to take patrons
on a journey to see some of the best works found in Richmond.
Cost: 1‐4 Adults $195 Each Additional Adult $40
Richmond’s Edgar Allan Poe Tour
Many know of Edgar Allan Poe’s Boston and Baltimore connections, but the originator of detective fiction always claimed Richmond as his hometown. On this special tour in Church Hill, on the streets walked by The Raven’s author, You’ll hear about his early life and the people that were important to him including his mother who died and is buried in St. John’s cemetery, his “adopted” family who provided his middle name and the story of his
twice loved and some say twice betrothed Sarah Elmira.
Cost: 1‐4 Adults $195 Each Additional Adult $40
Monument Avenue Tour
This grand boulevard was in the late 1800’s a fairly large farmstead inherited by Otway Allen. He had the brilliant
idea of donating a large circular piece of land to the state to locate a new statue, provided Richmond would allow
an extension of Franklin Street and thus a new housing development. The result is today’s grand street, Monument Avenue which has over the past 100 years evolved and evolved again.
On this tour, you’ll learn about the architects and mansions that replaced the orchards and created one of America’s grandest boulevards.
Cost: 1‐4 Adults $195 Each Additional Adult $40