Beyond the [Liberty] Bell History Walking Tour

A lot of great history. The guide was very informative and knowledgeable. I would reccomend this tour for anyone visiting the area.

Pro: your money supports this unique small-, woman-owned business that is competing against all the other established tour operators in town. They answered the phone. When a problem arose, the owner did come out to handle it herself. Area for improvement: they didn’t seem to have a system set up to ensure their guides actually turn up. Maybe they can fix that for practical and safety (for the guides) reasons. Our guide never came so we waited in the intense sun and heat in Washington Square, unsure what was going on. It wasn’t until we called after the tour was supposed to have started, that we found out there is no system of accountability (check-ins) for the guides. The tour was therefore a half hour late to start and then, for the rest of the time, it felt rushed to end on time since those on the tour had other pre-planned afternoon tours. I had hoped that we would get a bit more “untold stories” history but only about three such longer-form histories were relayed. The rest was: “Here is the Liberty Bell. This is Independence Hall. There is the original Wall Street. Here is so-and-so” without much detail as to the significant contributions from blacks/(former) slaves, POCs or members of the LGBT+ community that were likely critical components of the success (or failure) of those sites. The tour does not even point out that there were trials at Independence Hall for captured slaves, so the fact that the ideal of US independence was signed there that afforded this for some—not all— would have been a terrifically educational and powerful point to make in front of Independence Hall. One stop was more theoretical than grounded in fact. Some NPS bashing happened which sometimes seemed unnecessary. In the end, they refunded half the ticket price for the late start but only after I later inquired if they were willing to take greater responsibility for what happened. Increased proactiveness to make it right with guests would have been appreciated. Overall: the potential for excellence exists and hopefully this was a learning experience for the company.

Amazing tour that we (husband and me, ~20 year Phila residents) enjoyed as much as our out-of-town guest did. Our guide, Joey, was so personable and knowledgeable, and was very good at communicating complicated stories in ways that made for deep emotional connections. He was very considerate and asked on several occasions how we were doing - like if we wanted to wander on our own or stay with him (we all wanted to stay with him and hear his stories!), or skip the last site since we were running long (all of us wanted to see the last site!). He was great at bringing out the layers of history and connections across different times and places in the city, and especially at highlighting the stories that mainstream tours overlook. As a historian, I wasn't sure before the tour how much of what he shared would be new to me, but I learned so much, including a lot that I'm excited to share with my students next year. It's clear that Joey loves history and Philadelphia and is eager to share his knowledge. We will definitely return to Beyond the Bell for more tours in the future, and will recommend it to anyone visiting Philly.