Natalie Zanin

Brings History to Life :Walking Tours

This website features tours that I have been thinking about for a very long time. What would it be like to time travel and not worry about getting stuck in some dreadful mess in another era, or accidentally changing the future by meeting your great grandfather and running him over in a carriage because you didn't know how to stop the horse! Well, I have always had an overactive imagination, and now it has come in very handy! I invite you to journey to the past with us. I think you'll be surprised at what you see and hear. It is somehow refreshing to learn that many of the problems we face today, our ancestors worried about also. The idea of giving a portion of each tour to worthy non-profits was inspired by staring at a jar of Paul Newman's™ Marinara Sauce. Literally. If you like the tours, tell a friend and please visit the web sites of the charities and organizations we donate to. Thank you. Natalie Zanin

Tours begin and end in downtown Washington and are ninety minutes long.  If there’s bad weather,please call 301-588-9255 day of tour for an update. For more information, email mail@historicstrolls.com. For dates, please see the tickets page.

Ever ponder how Charles Dickens kept Christmas? Find out on A Dickens of a Tour: Charles Dickens in Washington. Led by a character from A Christmas Carol, this event features scenes from the book and historical anecdotes about Dickens's visits to Washington in the 19th century. As we wend our merry way past the actual buildings that Dickens visited, we'll see scenes from Dickens's Yuletide work played out in doorways and archways.  A portion of the proceeds donated to SOME (So Others May Eat).  how to get to Dickens, ideas for parking and Metro stop locations Cratchit Family Christmas Pudding Recipe (saving a tree, smiting a raisin)

To see pictures from past tours, click here.

Did an actual descendant of Charles Dickens appear somewhere on the 2005 tour?
Why yes, Virginia, he did!
Gerald Dickens, the great, great grandson of Charles Dickens in the flesh.
And we welcomed him with a great hurrah!

Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childhood days, recall to the
old man the pleasures of his youth, and transport travelers back to his own fireside and quiet home!

-- Charles Dickens

Ready for All Hallow's Eve? Want to meet Ghosts on a Ghost Tour in DC? Start with a thrilling alternative to the usual "hack and slash" movies and bar hops. Haunted Washington DC awaits you. The Ghost Story Tour of Washington will lead you through Washington's most haunted locale, Lafayette Square Park, with an entertaining interactive production featuring the specters rumoured to haunt it. Walk with your ghostly guide, hear stories, meet spirits, and take home a sweet treat!

A portion of the proceeds from this tour will be donated to the Whitman-Walker Clinic.

If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost,
forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl.

-- H.L. Mencken

Spies, soldiers, hot-air balloons, officers directing cattle and a real pistol-packing heroine risking her life to save others. Sounds like the frontier? Courage! The Civil War in Washington is a walking tour led by a “citizen” of Washington City during the war years, 1860-1865. As the tour wends its way past actual Civil War era structures you’ll hear amazing tales of life in our city during this most divisive conflict in American History. You’ll learn new things about some famous people such as Louisa May Alcott and Mathew Brady and hear stories taken from Civil War diaries. You may even meet a few interesting locals during this unusual tour. Take home a typical Civil War recipe to try at home.

A portion of the proceeds from this tour will be donated to Capital Area Food Bank

All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.

-- Francois Fenelon

"Government Gussie's Guide to DC: A World War Two Tour"

It's December, 1941, and Washington , D.C. is in for a big change. Rationing, scrap collecting, bond drives, and anti-aircraft guns on the roofs. Five thousand new government workers arriving per month ... and where will they all live? Socialites, soldiers, spies and "dollar a year" men are just a few of the people you'll meet on this unusual tour. Join our new "Government Gal" Gussie as she adjusts to life in a bustling Wartime city. Learn how to survive on ration coupons, and how to "use it up, wear it out". Bring a foil gum wrapper for the aluminum ball or a piece of string for Gussie’s string ball! “Relive” these historic years and see how they changed this city forever. Available as a Group Tour

Meets: Meet outside Caribou Coffee, 601 13^th Street NW (By Metro Center )

Changin' Times: Washington in the 60's

It's the 1960's in Washington DC a time of change for everyone. Wini is new to the city and as she navigates her way through the decade, you'll travel with her. Swing to the new rock and roll as the local tv dance shows introduce the city to the latest hits. Protest the bus fare increase, fight a highway that will cut the city in half, march on Washington and more. Group Tours available

Ah, Wilderness! A Theatre History of Washington is a walk through Washington ’s original “Broadway”. Led by “actors” from the City’s past and featuring current local talent, this tour shines a spotlight on the great theaters that have taken their last curtain call. You’ll hear about Washington ’s theatrical beginnings in the early 1800’s and be astonished at the list of greats that played our town. You’ll also be able to find out what’s playing in Washington right now, and how to get same day, half price tickets for many current shows.

Available as a group tour

I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate in which
a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.

-- Oscar Wilde

F. Loyd Wrong is Right: A Stroll through Architecture in D.C.

Frank and Francine Loyd Wrong , America 's worst architects, designed several outstandingly terrible structures (that is, if they're still standing). Most notable of these is their joint venture "Falling Down". It did. When asked to comment on this Francine said "I blame Frank". Frank of course, blames Francine. But they both agree on one thing. Washington , D.C. is home to some amazingly beautiful architecture, and they only wish they would be asked to design something for this city. Frank suggests a triangular museum, balanced on a ball shaped base, balanced on a two inch piece of marble. When asked how one would enter this museum Frank said a slingshot elevator would be necessary to catapult visitors into the site.  Group Tours Available

Bad Olde Days

Bad Olde Days (formerly Gangs of Washington) is a slice of 19th century Washington life that most guidebooks gloss over but we found it fascinating. Take a walk on the wilder side of the 1800’s on our rollicking look at Washington City ’s pickpockets, con men, “ladies” of ill repute, mobs, murderers and of course, gangs! On this tour, led by a denizen of “ Murder Bay ”, you’ll hear the most astonishing yet true tales and meet some of the “characters” that made this town notorious. Along the way you’ll learn some 19th century slang and maybe a card trick or two.

Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives preaching of a new gospel.

-- Edmund Burke

Masons, Mysteries and an Odd Fellow: Secrets of the Streets!

Why is there a statue of a Confederate General in Downtown Washington? Did a future crowned head of Europe dance in a Masonic Hall? Find out the answers to these questions as you learn about some of the City’s most beautiful Masonic Structures. Meets outside Caribou Coffee 601 13^th St NW (Right next to Metro Center

This tour available for group tours

It's 1861, Miss Clara Barton is working as head clerk at the Patent office on F street and living at 437 7th Street in Washington City. On April 19th, the 6th Massachusetts infantry, traveling through Baltimore are attacked by mobs. When they arrive in Washington City, badly wounded, Clara Barton rushes to aid the battered men. Feeling compelled to do more, she begins gathering supplies and encourages friends in Northern States to mail badly needed items to her in Washington City. We'll see the City through Miss Barton's eyes. Learn what it was like to be a very independant woman at a time when this was frowned on by society.

"I have reported myself and some nurses for free service at the War Department..." Clara Barton, April 20th, 1861. What was the city like when Clara Barton lived here? Join Miss Barton and see the city through her eyes and learn something about this amazing woman.