The Fun and Informative Free Downtown Fort Worth Walking Tour (+ Free Breakfast Burritos)
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Once a month on a second Saturday morning, you can enjoy a Fort Worth Walking Tour for free. This monthly Fort Worth Walking Tour is very informative, given by knowledgeable guides who share a love of Fort Worth history.
One of the tour guides is a history professor from TCU (Texas Christian University), another one is a History and Theater teacher from Middle School, and the other one is a president of Historic Fort Worth Inc.
If I’m not mistaken, this free Fort Worth Walking Tour started back in 2012. It was planned and sponsored by Tim and Donna Young from Fort Worth Texas Real Estate.
From their background, we can see how knowledgeable they are on the architecture and history of Fort Worth.
In the beginning there were 10 to 15 people in the tour, but now it could be up to more than 100 people. Depending on the weather.
I may have jumped late into the tour, but I always enjoyed my time with the tour since I found out about it back in the fall of 2019.
When you arrive early for the Fort Worth Walking Tour, you may enjoy the homemade breakfast burrito made by Tim. He used to own a restaurant, so… mmm… They were free and tasted really good! And they came with juice. Isn’t it great?
If you are interested in learning about the history and architecture of downtown Fort Worth, follow Downtown Fort Worth Walking Tours facebook group or Tim’s website for the next walking tour schedule.
Basic things about Fort Worth Walking Tour
As I mentioned above, this Fort Worth Walking Tour is FREE, fun, and informative. It is great for individuals, couples, or families who look for free activities around downtown Fort Worth on a Saturday morning. Not just for visitors, also for locals like me.
But remember! This free Fort Worth Walking tour is held only on the second Saturday morning of each month. It’s not every Saturday morning.
The tour starts at the historic T&P Train Station on the patio next to the T&P Tavern at 9am. Normally you will walk around 2-3 miles and the tour ends around 11am. At the end of the tour you can go back to your car and perhaps continue with a day trip to small towns around Fort Worth. Or, enjoy downtown Fort Worth on your own.
“How about parking?” you might ask. As you know, all parking meters are free after 6pm on weekdays, and all day on weekends in downtown Fort Worth. You can park your car along W Lancaster Ave. Or, you can park in front of the T&P building but it comes with a fee. All these times I parked on W Lancaster Ave and I had no problems.
T&P Train Station address: 221 W Lancaster Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76102.
Before the tour starts, Tim will give a brief info about the tour and the knowledgeable guides. Then the group will be divided into three. You can choose which guide you want to go with. If necessary, Tim or Donna will be your guides, too.
What I like about the guides, they are brutally honest about the history in town. They happened in the past, there were bad and good ones. You come with an open heart and mind.
During the walk they will share with you copies of the old buildings. So you can imagine how the town looked back in the day.
Also, you can leave during the tour if you think it’s not interesting to you or you have an emergency. No need to tell the tour guide, just walk out from the group. No heart feelings here.
Another thing I like about this free walking tour in downtown Fort Worth, I could bring my dog Snoopy. If you plan to bring your dog, make sure they are on leash all the time. Don’t forget to pick up after them. If the tour involves going into a building, you might leave the dog at home. Or, maybe your partner doesn’t mind standing outside with the dog while you are inside the building.
Examples of the free Fort Worth Walking Tour
Below you will find some of the free tours offered by Fort Worth Walking Tour. My favorite is the Historic Churches tour as I got to see the inside of the churches. I haven’t been to the JFK Tour because I wasn’t available every time they had it. But, I’ve been to the JFK Memorial in downtown Fort Worth with my family.
The Bronze & Stone Tour of Downtown Fort Worth
Learning part of the history of downtown Fort Worth through bronze and stone monuments throughout the city. If all this time you wonder about the bronze and marble panther statues in town, you will find the answer in this tour. When I joined this tour, the man who carved the panther talked about it himself. You will also learn about Al Hayne, John Peter Smith, JFK, and more.
Historic Hotel Tour
Do you know that Fort Worth’s first hotel actually opened in a converted cavalry stable in 1853? Today new hotels are bringing renewed life to historic buildings in downtown Fort Worth. Included here are Fairfield Inn & Suites (formerly Park Central Motel), Marriott Autograph Hotel (Sinclair Building), and ALoft Hotel ( One City Place – formerly Tandy Center.) In case you do not know, JFK spent his last night in the old Texas Hotel (now the Hilton) in suite 850, which is now a broom closet.
Fort Worth’s Historic Churches
In this tour you will visit several historic churches in downtown Fort Worth. You will hear the history of the churches and people behind it, like the infamous J. Frank Norris. What I like, it is in December, so you will get to see the churches in Christmas decorations. When we were in Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, the pipe organ player happened to arrive for a practice during our tour. Tim asked her to play a song for us, and the sound was fantastic!
Historic West Lancaster
The history of this area got interesting with the arrival of the Texas & Pacific Railroad in 1876. As many other areas in downtown, this street has seen the highs and lows, and currently development is in the upswing. Do you know that at one time there was a palace in this area?
JFK Tours
Every November there is a tour about JFK. You will learn some fascinating facts about his two historic visits to downtown Fort Worth, along with some other interesting stories from the 1960’s era Fort Worth. It’s a popular tour, so make sure to reserve your space way ahead.
What to prepare for your Fort Worth Walking Tour
– A pair of comfortable walking shoes since you will walk for 2-3 miles.
– I don’t know about you, but I am always thirsty during the walk. Don’t forget to bring water.
– Dress comfortably, watch for the weather forecast.
– A hat, a scarf, or sunglasses depending on the season.
– A backpack or a sling bag to carry your stuff.
– A fully charged cell phone or camera because you will want to take lots of pictures.
So, next time you are in Fort Worth (or locals, if you are available), make sure you reserve a spot for this free Fort Worth Walking Tour. You will enjoy the tour and have fun!
Both guides and attendees are not required to wear masks. Please wear a mask if you are unvaccinated or at increased risk of infection. Please do not attend if you are not feeling well or if you have been recently exposed to anyone diagnosed with Covid-19.
I would love to do the church tour at Christmastime. I am a bit obsessed with churches. Free burritos are always a plus too!
I’m planning to do it again in December. Love it.
This walking tour does sound fun and informative, and it’s really nice of the guides to bring food for the guests. It sounds like they are really committed to sharing their knowledge and passion for Fort Worth. I love seeing the interior of historic churches, so that would be reason enough for me to go. Getting to hear an organist perform also sounds like such a treat!
I really like the tour guides in this tour. So informative and easy going. 🙂 And I plan to go back for the Churches Tour in December. It’s my favorite.
Free walking tours are the best! Even better when they come with free burritos hahaa. The first hotel that opened in the converted calvary stable sounds super interesting. I’d definitely love to see pictures of what it looked like!
I love a good walking tour, especially when exploring a new place, and it’s free! Nothing beats a leisurely stroll, coffee in hand and seeing what you might discover. The hotel and church tour would be of interest to me.
It’s a great weekend for sure.
The people of Fort Worth must be very proud of their city and for good reason. From what I’ve gathered from this post, there seems to be many historic buildings around the downtown area that have been restored to preserve the history of this Texas town. It’s nice that they allow dogs.
Yeah. I was surprised to see how locals enthusiast with their own city.
I love these walking tours because that’s the best way to see a new place. History of a place is very important and that’s the best part of these tours if the guide is knowledgeable. Fort Worth looks a great place for a tour that I would love to do sometime. The burrito breakfast sounds good as an add-on.
I’ve taken free walking tours of other cities and it’s a great way to orient yourself and learn a lot, too. It’s good when your guide gives you history, both bad and good. Then you get a better picture of what an area is like
That’s one of the things I like about this tour. They don’t just share the good ones.
Wow… that’s a popular walking tour! I would have thought almost too large, really. It must be quite a crowd and difficult to get close to or hear the tour guide at times. But interesting all the same!
The key is to join the tour leader with less people. 🙂
I surely know of the free walking tours but getting free burritos is another level. I think walking tours are a great way to learn about the place and its history. I am definitely adding this walking tour on my list when I visit Downtown Fort Worth. Thanks for your post that I know about this now. And yes wearing a comfortable shoes is must on these tours.
The free Fort Worth Walking tour sound really interesting. I love, that it is geared not necessarily to tourists but for the people in the area (like you), who come back and want to learn about different aspects of the history. It is always fun to dig deeper and deeper in the local history.
Those tours sound exciting. We have walking tours in Delhi during the iwnter, but not free ones. And a 100 people is a lot. I wonder how the guide manages this crowd. But I like the idea of a burrito and juice breakfast. Kudos to Tim and Donna Young for this effort.
Depending on the tour, the tour guide didn’t start at the same spot. And they had their own introduction to the group so we didn’t always go together.
Very informative post on Fortworth walking tour.The historic churches and sculptures are amazing.With all the transportation information people can plan ahead and make stops at their points of interest.
I love the idea of taking a free walking tour. Good to read that the one in Fort Worth was informative. Always great when your guide has a love of history and wants to share it all. Especially good if your walk starts with a free burrito! I love the idea of seeing what some of the older buildings looked like in the past. Good to plan to visit on the day this free tour is offered.
Ever since I’ve been to Colombia, I hardly ever miss a free walking tour in a city. It gives you a good overview, but also this special insight that a traditional touristy tours didn’t grant. I think you are proving my point in this interesting post.