Bringing History Alive
A town less than an hour from London with over 1000 years of history involving the terrible King John, the curious imagination of Lewis Carroll and the dramatic life of code-breaker Alan Turing.
The best way to experience the fantastic heritage of Guildford is to join one of our guided walks.
The award-winning Guildford Town Guides are knowledgeable volunteers who are passionate about the heritage of Guildford and exploring our past with visitors.
Summer programme
2025
Plenty of interest for all ages and tastes
We have free walks:
- Every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from May to September
- Every Sunday from July to September
- At other times throughout the year
Full details of the programme are set out in the 2025 Free Guided Walks leaflet.
In the meantime, we have free walks on selected dates during April 2025
- Saturday 12 April at 11 am – Guildford Story
- Saturday 26 April at 11 am – Fake or Fortune
Scroll down to the next section for more information on these walks, or to book go to the Guildford Town Guides page of Eventbrite.
Numbers are limited on all our public walks so, it is better to secure your place by booking online on the Eventbrite page linked above. Our interactive Encounter Walks book up quickly – prebooking is essential.
For a modest fee, you can also arrange a private tour by appointment at any time during the year.
Each Regular Walk takes place 3 or more times during the summer months. Guildford Story is the exception as this takes place weekly.
Click on a walk below for more information on Regular Walks. Click on the tabs above for our exciting ENCOUNTER WALKS and SPECIALIST WALKS.
Guildford Story
Fake or Fortune
Royal Guildford
Hidden Guildford
Pubs & Inns
Medieval Guildford
Law & Disorder
Lewis Carroll in Guildford
Mount Cemetery
Brief Lives
Join us on an Encounter Walk and meet characters from Guildford’s past as they step out of the history books and onto our streets.
Encounter Walks are great fun but places are limited, so please reserve your space early.
Click on a walk for more information.
Alan Turing
The Fantastical Mr Carroll
Prayers, Plots & Poison
Some guides are interested in subjects outside of our repertoire of Regular and Encounter Walks. A few walks on these specialist topics are included in our public walks programme.
Each specialist walk may happen just once or twice during the summer months so look out for these if you are interested.
Click on a walk for more information.
Georgian Guildford
Kings, Worthies & Scoundrels
World War II – Life in the Town
The Guildhall
Private Group Walks & Talks
By appointment at any time of year
If you would like to get a group of people together, a private tour may be the ideal way to explore the town with friends, family or colleagues.
On the other hand, one of the guides can come to you to give an illustrated talk.
Click below on the category which applies to you for more information.
Charities
Each year we raise funds for a local charity. Our Charity of the Year for 2025 is:
Phyllis Tuckwell provides palliative and end of life care for local patients who are living with an advanced or terminal illness, such as cancer. Every day they support over 250 patients, relatives and carers, through medical and nursing care, therapies, counselling, social work advice and practical support.
As the NHS/Government only cover 25% of their costs, they have to raise over £25,000 every day to provide their services, which are given free of charge to patients and their families and carers.
Previous charities of the year:
2019 Oakleaf
2020 & 2021 Guildford Street Angels
2022 Halow Project
2023 Skillway
2024 The Therapy Garden
£25,000 raised for local charities in the past 15 years
The Guides
A small band of unpaid volunteers who are enthusiastic about Guildford’s past
The guides today are an independent group, supported by Guildford Borough Council.
Our knowledge of Guildford’s history is largely based on the ‘History of Guildford’ course devised by Matthew Alexander, Honorary Remembrancer of Guildford. In 2024, we have joined with Guildford Museum Heritage Service to continue this course. This is a great way to delve into the town’s history in more detail than is possible on one of our walks.
We normally aim to recruit a few new guides each year. If you would like to join us, contact us by email at enquiries@guildfordwalks.org.uk and we will be happy to explain how this works.
We were delighted that our efforts to introduce new ideas was recognised nationally by the award of The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2019.
