THE ASSOCIATION OF PHILADELPHIA TOUR GUIDES HANDBOOK

After two years, the APT Handbook is finally here! This project was only made possible by the generous contribution of time, energy, research skills and expertise of many members of the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides.

This Handbook serves not only as a concise and indispensable "bible" to city tour guides, but as a useful and convenient reference for anyone who loves Philadelphia and its history

Over 260 pages long, the book is divided into five parts:

I PEOPLE AND PLACES contains 181 entries documenting the basic facts anyone interested in serving as a city tour guide should have a knowledge and understanding of. Entries are arranged alphabetically and each one is formatted as a series of straightforward bullet points. All give citations and are illustrated. All site descriptions list hours, admission fees, contact information, as well as facilities such as restrooms, food concessions and gift shops. Where possible, the data was reviewed and confirmed by the sites themselves.

II TIMELINE is a handy chronological listing of key events, dates and population statistics in Philadelphia history.

III ARCHITECTURAL STYLES is an overview, succinctly explaining what constitutes each style and period, illustrated with Philadelphia building examples.

IV ARCHITECTURAL GLOSSARY (on the CD) defines 44 basic architectural terms with illustrations.

V GUIDING TECHNIQUES contains hints and suggestions to make more effective guides.

The Handbook comes with a CD-ROM to make individual pages easy to print out for reference, to browse on computers and e-readers and to facilitate additions and updates to the book. Please send all suggestions for future inclusions and comments to editor Bob Skiba at president@phillyguides.org. We'd love to hear from you so we can make this Handbook evolve and be as useful and relevant as possible to all city guides.

To purchase a Handbook and CD:      The book and CD are available for $35. They can be picked up at any APT Monthly Meeting and by appointment from Del Conner at the Physick House. You can contact Del Conner at  physickhouse@philalandmarks.org to arrange to pick one up, and  you may  pre-pay at the APT Store here. If you'd like a copy mailed to you, that can also be arranged through Del or at the APT store on this site.