For over thirty years, Guelph Arts Council has promoted the cultural heritage of Guelph by offering six different walking tours on selected Sundays from April to October (excluding July). The tours are a unique opportunity for tourists and locals alike to learn about Guelph’s history while taking in the beautiful architectural and natural features of the city. Available on each tour is a booklet of historical information and architectural drawings, which allows self-guided tours and serves as a wonderful keepsake.

 

Start time: 2 p.m.

Start location: see tour descriptions

Tour duration: 2 hrs

Weather: rain or shine

Cost: $5/person in cash to the guide (exact change appreciated)

Booklets: $5/booklet, available for purchase from guide

 

This tour encircles the original Market Square area of almost twenty-four acres laid out by John Galt in 1827. Serving as the focal point for Guelph's early social and business life, the area also contains the sites of many of Guelph's first buildings.

 

The present downtown centre of Guelph, with its wide main street, provides a compact walking tour, which includes many buildings and sites of considerable historical and architectural interest.

 

Participants will explore the slopes of the Speed River between Norwich and Macdonell Streets, where many of Guelph's largest and most distinguished historic homes are located.

 

Visitors will get a glimpse of the Victorian era in Guelph. Covering the area west of Norfolk Street, between Essex Street and London Road, the tour includes several historic stone churches and many historic homes representing a variety of architectural styles.

 

June 21 and October 4
Tour starts at 2 p.m.
Leaves from McCrae House, 108 Water Street 

Participants will be taken to the south side of the Speed River to explore one of Guelph's early industrial sections, formerly known as Brooklyn, as well as the College Hill area that developed around the Ontario Agricultural College. The tour includes some of the city's best examples of masonry and stone carving.

 

This tour of the area southeast of the downtown, between the Speed and Eramosa Rivers, reveals the rich variety of historic architecture and the diversity of peoples who formed Guelph. Particular attention is devoted to residential/industrial proximity and the city's early Italian community.