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I planned this tour for members of my extended family ages 21-60, none of whom had been to Concord before. Although I paid more for a private tour AND gave a generous tip, we all agreed we felt VERY uncomfortable being badgered over and over again about buying Joel's books; I cannot stress this enough. We all enjoy history but the guide seemed tired, irritable and without humor. A protégé (Micheal), who is a Thoreau scholar, was along for the tour and hopefully he will be taking over soon and be less pedantic. Luckily a few of us had attended the North Bridge Ranger tour which was much more entertaining and brought the history of the area to life (Joel read from his book at the North Bridge!). I would suggest avoiding this tour and doing your own walking tour of the town (or going through the Visitor Center if you want to pay) and attending all the Minuteman National Parks events and Ranger talks. We were disappointed after all the great reviews.…
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Date of experience: August 2016
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from Joel_Andrews28, Manager at Concord Guides Walking Tours
Responded 1 Sep 2016
Hello, I am sorry that our Concord Walking Tour did not meet your high expectations. I also apologize if my offering my books about the American Revolution and Literary Concord bothered you. I didn't intend to "badger" you about buying the books, but to offer you signed and personalized copies. If you say "no," that's it. In 20 years of giving the tours, I have never heard this complaint before. On the other hand, many visitors express regrets that they were not offered the books to read before the tours. I hope that, if you return to Concord you will have a more favorable experience on our tour.
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I recently was in the area with a group of Boy Scouts who were in the area learning about early American history. I didn't realize beforehand the mix of history that we would be getting in the tour, which included both the history of the town and it's role in the American Revolution (which was our primary reason for being there). It was an incredibly hot day and we really appreciated that our guide constantly found places of shade to tell us about the different sites. It was very evident that he "knows his stuff" about the history of Concord. While the tour is not one like you might have from a company in Boston where they dress up and insert all sorts of humor, you will get a good quality tour by an expert guide. This tour is more suited for older children and adults. Once we reached the site of the Battle of Concord our Scouts were really interested. I had no idea they had such a beautiful park and memorial here. At the end, our guide offered his book up for sale. I wish I would have known about the book before we had already toured Boston and the rest of the area. It's like a travel guide of sorts to all the historic sites in the area....it would have really come in handy for us! Great tour overall.…
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Date of experience: July 2016
Helpful
A walk round the charming and historic town of Concord, taking in all the military and literary places of interest. Then a short journey to the battlefield site at the North Bridge. Joel has a fantastic knack of being able to bring the past to life. Rather than a 'talk at you' approach Joel encourages debate and conversation around the topics, which helps draw the characters from the dusty pages of the history books and into the here and now. And, as we'd travelled all the way from the UK and had an extremely tight itinerary, Joel offered a bespoke tour to suit our schedule. Extremely enjoyable and informative.…
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Date of experience: July 2016
Helpful
Response from Joel_Andrews28, Manager at Concord Guides Walking Tours
Responded 26 Jul 2016
Thank you very much for your kind review, Simmon. It was my pleasure to showcase our unique village of Concord to you and your delightful family. Both you, your wife, your daughter and son really "got it"...the extraordinary colonial, Revolutionary and literary aspects of Concord and Concord's important historic and its continuing connections with the UK.
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Well worth the long walk , guide was excellent and very knowledgeable . The history of the area was wonderful .
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Date of experience: July 2016
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Response from Joel_Andrews28, Founding Director at Concord Guides Walking Tours
Responded 23 Jul 2016
Thank you, Edward. I am glad that you enjoyed your Concord tour. ~JL Andrews
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+1
We got a private tour of Concord from Joel Andrews, M.D., Author and Founding Director of Concord Guides Walking Tour! This was our favorite stop on our New England vacation. Very informative and knowledgeable, Joel took us back in time to April 19, 1775! He gave us a historic tour of Concord which ended on the old north bridge. We were introduced to a British Soldier, with which we had a nice conversation about the war. Joel then gave us autographed copies of his books! Highly recommended!…
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Date of experience: June 2016
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Response from Joel_Andrews28, Manager at Concord Guides Walking Tours
Responded 2 Jul 2016
Robert, Thank you very much for your kind review. I am very glad that you and your family enjoyed your Concord Guides walking tour so much. I enjoyed showing you around our extraordinary village. ~Joel Andrews/ Founding Director, Concord Guides
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