Guided walking tours that will
knock your socks right off.
Best of the Best!
#1 in Portland & Maine, #2 in New England, #12 in United States
We were selected for Tripadvisor’s Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best 2023! 🎉 This prestigious honor is based on high levels of above-and-beyond traveler reviews in the last year — fewer than 1% of 8 million experiences are awarded.
We tell the people’s history of Portland, Maine
Curious about what’s left out of mainstream tours?
Excited to visit both major landmarks and underrated gems?
Eager for inclusive storytelling?
Us, too.
We’re inspired by the intriguing, surprising, empowering — and too often untold — stories of marginalized communities, peoples, and histories. Each lovingly crafted tour is designed to broaden your sense of what Portland and Maine have been and could be, taking you on a journey beyond what other tours offer.
We promise: you’ll leave feeling brighter and more curious about not just Portland, but the wider world.
Inclusive, empowering, and surprising tales even locals don’t know.
Choose a riveting adventure:
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Black History Tour
$42 | 2 hours | 1.5 miles
Black Portlanders have moved our city, state, and country closer to our ideals. Trace their steps!
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Hidden Histories Tour
$42 | 2 hours | 1.5 miles
Meet the people of Portland whose wit and grit have made it what it is today. A great overview!
Four reasons folks love Portland by the Foot:
Just the right size
Group sizes are intentionally small, so you can have the intimate and personalized tour you want.
Eco-friendly & healthy
Fabulous for the planet and your body, our accessible and well-paced tours are the ideal way to experience Portland — an epically walkable city!
Unexpected spots
Our tours take you to untouristed gems. You’ll have a one-of-a-kind experience even locals can’t brag about!
Ideal routes
You’ll always be just steps away from a five-star restaurant, unique boutique, or the water’s edge, and a question away from the perfect recommendation.
Book here on our website for the guaranteed lowest rates.
Commitment to anti-racism
We do our best to uncover and confront racist ideas that are embedded in the way we interpret the past and view our place in the present. We want the stories we share on Portland by the Foot tours to frankly reflect and challenge society's evolving system of unfair advantage based on perceived racial differences. We are committed to cultivating tour environments and business practices that counteract racism and other harmful historical patterns.
Land acknowledgement
We’re always calling this place Portland, but really it’s Machigonne. That’s the Algonquian name given to this peninsula by the Indigenous Wabanaki who have lived here for thousands of years. Despite encroachments by French and English colonizers and their descendant institutions, the Wabanaki have maintained their sovereignty and skillfully navigated diplomatic relations with the State of Maine and United States of America to this day. Five sovereign nations comprise the Wabanaki Confederacy today: the Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Mi'kmaq, and Maliseet.
As guests in unceded territory, the owners of Portland by the Foot are grateful for the Indigenous knowledge made available to us and for the ongoing stewardship of this land by the Wabanaki. We support these nations’ current claims to self-determination, land rights, water rights, fishing rights, hunting rights, ancestors’ remains, and historic artifacts of Wabanaki origin. We urge the State of Maine and United States governments to recognize the jurisdiction and authority of Wabanaki tribal courts, taxation, and regulatory powers over natural resources, land use, gaming, and trust land acquisition. And we commit to the ongoing process of decolonizing the stories we share with guests on our tours.
Gift cards available
Gifts can be redeemed at any point during the season and never expire. And, well, they’re wicked fun!
Chipping in to restore the Abyssinian Meeting House.
A portion of every ticket sale is donated to the Committee to Restore the Abyssinian.
The Abyssinian Meeting House, built in 1828, is the nation’s third oldest standing African American church and the oldest in Maine. It was the center of life for Portland’s Black community in the 19th century—a buzzing community where people worshipped, were educated, fought for political power, offered refuge to freedom-seekers on the Underground Railroad, and celebrated with good music and good food. Since 1998, the Committee has worked tirelessly to restore the meeting house and reopen it to the public
Partners
