History tours worth crossing a border for. Booked by the people who went.
The Colosseum floor, the Freedom Trail, Prague under its own streets, a castle on a volcanic rock in Edinburgh. Which guide gets you past the queue, what each walk costs, and how long you will be on your feet.
Four history tours that set the standard.
Rome below the arena, a castle above Edinburgh, Lisbon on foot and Kyoto by shrine gate. The bookings most first-time history travellers build a trip around.
01Rome, undergroundColosseum: Underground and Ancient Rome TourThe tunnels where animals and gladiators waited, then up onto the arena floor. Small groups, timed slots, worth the premium.
02Edinburgh, on the rockEdinburgh: Edinburgh Castle Guided History Tour with TicketsSkip the ticket line and get the sieges, the Honours of Scotland and the one o’clock gun explained on the spot.
03Lisbon, on footLisbon: History, Stories and Lifestyle Walking TourAlfama lanes, the 1755 earthquake and the tram that still climbs the hill. A whole city’s past for the price of lunch.
04Kyoto, by gateKyoto: Fushimi Inari, Kinkakuji, Bamboo Grove 1 Day Bus TourFushimi Inari, the Golden Pavilion and the bamboo grove in one day. The fast way into a thousand years of Japanese capital.
American history, from the Liberty Bell to the Savannah squares.
Revolution in Boston and Philadelphia, the antebellum South in Charleston and Savannah, Creole New Orleans. Four kinds of American history day, and what each costs to join.
Where the Republic startedRevolution and the Founders: History Tour of Philadelphia★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $29
SavannahOak-shaded squares, cotton-port mansions, candlelit cemeteries.
CharlestonRainbow Row, the harbour forts and a carriage at walking pace.
New OrleansThe French Quarter, the Garden District and above-ground tombs.
BostonThe Freedom Trail, red brick line and all, Paul Revere to Bunker Hill.
All 191 American history tours →
Six countries where every history tour has a thousand years to work with.
Imperial Rome and the Renaissance, Moorish Spain, castles and closes in Britain, Lisbon after the earthquake, Japan’s old capitals, and the Greece that started it all.
Ancient history tours that put you on the original stones.
Arena floors, temple steps, the streets of Pompeii and theatres still in use after two thousand years. Guided entry matters most here: the best sections open only to small groups.
History walking tours: the cheapest way into any old town.
A good guide turns a street plan into a story: who built it, who burned it, who is buried under the square. These are the walks travellers book most, with the cities where they shine.
The history tours travellers book most, anywhere.
Every history tour we have reviewed →Museums, arenas, ghost walks and old towns: the history tours that fill first, and why each one earns its place.
1
New York City: American Museum of Natural History Ticket
Spend a full day exploring 40-plus halls at the American Museum of Natural History beside Central Park. Your ticket covers permanent exhibits and the Gilder Center, while selected options add shows such as Invisible Worlds, the butterfly vivarium, or the Hayden Planetarium Space Show. Use the free Explorer App for maps, quizzes, and exhibit stories.
From · $37
Read our review →
2
History and Hauntings of Salem Guided Walking Tour
from $36
3
Colosseum: Underground and Ancient Rome Tour
from $160
4
Lisbon: History, Stories and Lifestyle Walking Tour
from $29
5
London Small Group Tour of Historical Pubs
from $40
6
Prague: Oldtown, Medieval Underground & Dungeon History Tour
from $31
7
Charleston’s Old South Carriage Historic Horse & Carriage Tour
from $50
8
Edinburgh: Edinburgh Castle Guided History Tour with Tickets
from $49
Three kinds of history tour most visitors walk straight past.
Below the street, after dark and behind the Iron Curtain. The tours that tell the parts of a city’s history the guidebook cover leaves out.
Medieval undergrounds
Prague raised its Old Town by several metres in the thirteenth century to escape the Vltava floods, and the old ground floors became cellars. Romanesque rooms, vaults and passages still sit under the shops, and a guide with the right keys is the only way down.
- 1Prague: Oldtown, Medieval Underground & Dungeon History Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 10,277 reviews
- 2Prague Old Town, Medieval Underground and Dungeon Historical Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 3,227 reviews
- 3Templar Tour Convent of Christ & Almourol Castle from Lisbon★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 704 reviews
Dark history walks
Yellow fever, duels, hangings and the city cemetery: the history that day tours skip. In Savannah, New Orleans and Edinburgh the lantern walk is as much a history lesson as a scare, told on the streets where it happened.
- 1Savannah History and Haunts Candlelit Ghost Walking Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 3,235 reviews
- 2Stockholm: Ghost Walk and Historical Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,685 reviews
- 3New Orleans Small-Group Haunted History Carriage Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 2,289 reviews
Cold War and communism
Nuclear bunkers dug under residential hills, secret-police files, a wall that split a city overnight. Central Europe still has the concrete to show for it, and many guides grew up on the other side of it.
- 1Prague: Communism History and Nuclear Bunker Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · 2,417 reviews
- 2Bucharest: Communism and History Guided City Walking Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.9 · 918 reviews
- 3Berlin: Cold War & Berlin Wall History Guided Bike Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 422 reviews
Four history tours that run on the clock, not on your plans.
Most history walks can be booked the night before. These sights ration entry by timed slot, closed day or dress code, and the good times go weeks ahead.
- 01Colosseum: Underground and Ancient Rome TourThe underground and the arena floor open only to small guided groups on fixed slots. In summer those slots go weeks ahead.
- 02Rome in a Day Tour with Vatican, Colosseum and Historic CenterThe Vatican Museums close on most Sundays, and St Peter’s turns away bare shoulders and knees at the door.
- 03Historic Milan Tour with Skip-the-Line Last Supper TicketThe refectory admits small groups for about fifteen minutes at a time. Tickets are released in batches and sell out fast.
- 04Anne Frank and the Jewish History of Amsterdam Private TourThe house itself sells timed tickets online only, released weeks in advance. The walking tours cover the neighbourhood around it.
What a history tour really costs.
Every history tour on the site, grouped by price. A guided walk through two thousand years often costs less than the museum shop.
Old town walks, ghost tours, museum entries and the short guided visits.
Skip-the-line sites with a guide, full-day trips and food-with-history walks.
Private guides, early or after-hours access and small-group days at the big sites.
By country — where the history tours are
By kind of history — ruins, wars, palaces or plates
The newest history tour reviews.
Every new history review →
From Athens: Explore Ancient Corinth & Charming Nafplion
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From Alexandria: Full-Day Guided Tour of Historical Sights
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From Albufeira: Wine Tasting & Historic Silves Tour
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From Abu Dhabi: Grand Mosque, Royal Palace& Heritage Village
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Freiburg: Exciting City Tour with sightseeing and history
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Frankfurt: Old Town Historical Walking Tour with Geo Epoche
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Florianopolis: Walking Tour – History, Art and Gastronomy
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