Portland: Hidden Histories Walking Tour

Discover the hidden histories of Portland on this inclusive walking tour. Explore the city’s diverse past and learn about the people who shaped it. Join top-rated guide Dugan Murphy for an engaging and surprising experience!

Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Downtown - We’ll walk the Downtown District, visiting major landmarks and a few hidden gems. Highlights include: Wadsworth-Longfellow House, Monument Square, First Parish Church, Portland City Hall, and gobs of boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, museums, bookshops, and other spots to explore!
  • Old Port - We’ll stroll through Portland’s…
What's Included
  • 10% off water tours with Portland Paddle (instructions at confirmation)
  • Two hour fully narrated guided tour
  • Donation toward restoring the Abyssinian Meeting House, America’s third-oldest standing Black church
What's Not Included
  • A tip for your guide!
Additional Information

Discover Portland and its diverse inhabitants, who with their intellect and determination, have shaped the city into Maine’s biggest metropolis. Listen to the intriguing, unexpected, and utterly incredible stories from your local guide, stories widely omitted from history books. Prepare yourself to explore a new perspective of what Portland and Maine…

Location
Post Office Park
Middle Street
Meet at the corner of Middle and Exchange Streets by the small boulders in the park. Your guide will be holding a sign that says "Portland by the Foot." Check-in time is 10 minutes prior to the scheduled tour time. The park is one half mile from the cruise ship terminal.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(399 Ratings)
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Caitlin_m
Nov 10, 2024
10/10 Recommend - We recently took this tour on a girls trip to Portland and it was one of the best parts of our itinerary. I am a huge history nerd and purchased the tour as a Christmas gift for my three friends on the trip with me and it was well worth the money. Dugan is a fantastic tour guide, I can definitely see why he is so well ranked! We asked a variety of questions on the material and his answers were informative each time. We also really appreciated his commitment to including stories about the influence that women have played in the history of Portland. I would definitely recommend adding one of Dugan’s tours to your Portland itinerary!
Review provided by Viator
Danawa5363vz
Nov 9, 2024
Engaging, Fun & Insightful Tour - My husband and I live in Portland and figured it was time we took a tour of our own home city. We love taking walking tours in cities we visit. Dugan’s was by far the best we’ve experienced. We’d heard great things about the Portland by the Foot tour and it did not disappoint. Dugan’s knowledge & obvious passion about history was engaging, insightful, and highly entertaining. I was not interested in history throughout my early schooling years, but had Dugan been my history teacher, I would’ve appreciated history at a much earlier age, and it was fun to experience it with him today. 10/10 would recommend! Looking forward to doing the Women in Portland and Black History tours in the future.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
768ginap
Nov 6, 2024
Perfection in Portland - This tour was fantastic! Dugan was so knowledgeable about the history and very entertaining in his delivery! Would highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dale_t
Nov 5, 2024
Walking at a relaxed pace and drinking in the culture and history of an important city. - Our guide was an incredibly well informed historian who showed us a city he loves. Great sense of humor and flexibility.
Review provided by Viator
Seanpf3302eu
Nov 5, 2024
Great way to better understand Portland with a knowledgeable, witty and engaging tour guide! - I'm only in Portland for a few days and wanted a walking tour to cover off the main sights in and around downtown and Old Port. This was a great tour to better understand Portland, its history, its people and its place in the world. Dugan didn't shy away from the bad parts of its history as well as the good Portland gave the world which I felt made the tour more comprehensive. Dugan was engaging and informative and kept the momentum going throughout the whole two hours. His stops were well timed and well spaced out as well. I can't imagine its easy to keep an entire walking tour engaged but his humor helped guide us along. In among the historical detail he also was great at adding in recommendations and tips for local food and drink around the area. Can confirm one of his recommends - the Standard Baking Company - was worth the short hop from the tour's end point. Thanks Dugan!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Joanne_l
Nov 5, 2024
Interesting Walking Tour - Dugan is a very entertaining and informative tour guide. We enjoyed learning some history and also enjoyed hearing a little about Dugan’s memorable experiences as someone who has lived in the area.
Review provided by Viator
Annamariag484
Nov 3, 2024
Engaging and Insightful Tour—Didn’t Want It to End! - Dugan, our tour guide, was both informative and entertaining. He shared fascinating hidden histories of this charming town and answered every question with impressive knowledge. I didn’t want the tour to end! I highly recommend this experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
William_t
Nov 2, 2024
Dugan Is a Superior Guide - Dugan is an outstanding guide. The information presented has a logical flow. His stories are interesting, yet he is careful to separate historical facts from legends. He significantly raised my opinion of Portland. In fact, I am glad that my cruise line decided to substitute this port of call for Bar Harbor. I myself am a Licensed Battlefield Guide at Gettysburg, and I rate Dugan as one of the superior tour guides I have encountered in my travels.
Review provided by Viator
Andyl88888
Nov 2, 2024
You won't find a better tour than this - Having spent months meticulously planning a New England road trip, this tour was the highest rated activity per Trip Advisor on our itinerary. Expectations were therefore sky high and could only result in disappointment, right? Wrong. Dugan is an incredible guide who clearly loves what he does. Throughout the two hour experience he recounts endless nuggets about the area which is clearly the result of meticulous research, and the hard work really shows. Alongside the history he weaves in some truly terrible jokes and anecdotes which all adds to the fun. What really makes the tour stand out is simply that Dugan is one of the nicest people you could hope to meet. You immediately feel at ease in his company and he is a master of getting people involved. Our group had people from all of the world on it and everyone appeared to be having a great time. As of writing this he has 313 reviews of which 308 are five stars. That's now 309/314 and if I could give him 6 stars I would.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
409nancyw409
Oct 30, 2024
A must-do experience for history lovers - I was delighted with the Hidden History Tour. Dugan is a fantastic and entertaining storyteller with a wealth of historical information. I especially appreciated his inclusion of notable women in his tales of Portland of yore—so rarely done on historical tours. I highly recommend signing up for a tour with Portland by the Foot.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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