Become a Tour Guide Volunteer - Guide Historic Walking Tours of Boston!

Do you love discovering new sites and stories around Boston? Channel that energy by becoming a Boston By Foot volunteer tour guide!

About the Role

Boston By Foot, Inc. seeks engaged, lifelong learners to join its community of volunteer tour guides. Tour guide volunteers learn to give urban walking tours, exploring Boston history and story with diverse audiences. *APPLICATIONS CLOSE: March 2, 2024*

Major Responsibilities:

• Complete Volunteer Training from March 18 - May 4, 2025
• Guide at least 8 Boston By Foot historic tours in Boston’s downtown and surrounding neighborhoods during the summer and fall
• Interpret Boston’s multi-layered history and story to diverse audiences
• Provide excellent customer service
• Manage tour groups on busy city streets
• Be dependable and punctual: Arrive reliably for scheduled tours

Time commitment:

Attend Volunteer training from March 18 - May 4, 2025. The 7 week training includes everything you need to become a Boston By Foot Tour Guide Volunteer

• Six 3 - 3.5 hour In-Person Group Practice Session led by an experienced Group Leader (accepted applicants can choose to attend weekend or weekday sessions)
• Five Tuesday evening Zoom learning sessions (Boston History, Architecture, Storytelling and more!)
• Weekly At Home Learning using the Guide Training Workbook
• Fun! Community! Camaraderie! and Support Every Step of the Way!

After completing guide training, tours are typically 90 minutes long. Different tours are offered at different times and days of the week, including mornings, evenings and weekends, so you can choose tours scheduled at times that work well for you.

Qualifications:

Boston By Foot is seeking new volunteers of all ages, backgrounds, races and orientations to share their love of Boston and help tell our city's many stories! Applicants must be willing and able to participate in and complete the multi-week Boston By Foot Guide Training program. You do not need any experience or expertise in Boston history, architecture or tour guiding to become a volunteer. Our volunteers come from all walks of life! While some are historians or architects, we have volunteers whose day jobs include engineering, data science, graphic design, teaching, marketing, administration, and beyond. Our comprehensive Tour Guide Training is designed to prepare you to guide Boston By Foot tours. All you need is a passion for learning and a desire to support our mission to inspire visitors and locals to discover and appreciate the stories of Boston by exploring together!

While most tours are given in English, BBF welcomes bilingual and multilingual volunteers with opportunities to guide tours in a range of languages including Spanish, Mandarin, French, German, Italian and more.

About our Organization

Boston By Foot, Inc. is an educational nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring locals and visitors to discover and appreciate the diverse stories of Boston by exploring the cityscape on guided walking tours presented by volunteer tour guides.

Vision

We envision a city whose residents and visitors have a deep understanding and appreciation of the city’s complex and diverse history, geography, and communities.

Mission

We inspire locals and visitors to discover and appreciate the diverse stories of Boston by exploring the cityscape together.

Values

• Appreciation for Boston: We work to create tours that help visitors and residents alike discover or deepen their appreciation for our multi-layered city.
• Education: We are lifelong learners; committed to sharing thoughtful storytelling through the exploration of our city’s past and present.
• Quality: We are dedicated to rigorous and thorough research that creates meaningful, engaging, and entertaining experiences.
• Curiosity: We seek to uncover untold stories, encourage new perspectives about the city of Boston, and ignite continued exploration.