Seven Reasons to Walk With Us. Ten years in, here’s what an Invisible Cities tour actually gives you – told through the stories of the people who make Invisible Cities what it is.
New to Invisible Cities? We train and support people across the UK who have experienced homelessness. Our mission is to offer training, support and mentoring so that people who want to, can go on to be Invisible Cities walking tour guides.
But first – most “reasons to” lists are a bit boring, we think! Ours isn’t, because the reasons aren’t features – they’re real people that you can come on a tour with. So here are seven reasons and seven moments that explain better than any brochure could, what happens when you walk a city with someone who knows it from the inside out.
1. Because tours like this build relationships that outlast the walk
Story: Ste in Manchester and the charity rugby players
The guests who came for a tour and left with an invitation. After Ste guided a group of rugby players from Nottingham Casuals RFC through Manchester, they invited him to come and watch their match!
The group were also collecting money for charity in a papier-mâché pig (it’s a rugby thing apparently!) – fining people who were late, or in the wrong outfit etc. They also collected at the game.
Their club chairman’s wife, Heather, passed away suddenly in September last year. She is from Manchester originally. So they decided that their annual tour should be to Manchester to play against Eccles with a charity game in Heather’s honour.
Heather was passionate about many causes and one of them was helping people out of homelessness. After she died the family asked for donations to these two charities:
Safe Families UK
Emmanuel House Nottingham
One other way that they thought would be a fitting way to honour Heather’s memory was taking a tour with Invisible Cities.
“I know the great work you do with supporting people affected by homelessness and this felt the right thing to do, it fitted well with our itinerary and although it would have been nicer to get more of the lads on to it, the ones who did go really enjoyed it (as I knew they would!)” said a member of the team.
Ste had a great time leading the tour, and at the match afterwards!
Why is Invisible Cities different: Most cultural experiences end at the final stop. Ours often don’t. What you’re buying isn’t ninety minutes – it’s the start of something you didn’t expect and hopefully something you’ll remember for a long, long time.
2. Because our guides are recognised in their cities
Story: Sonny, almost a decade in
After nearly ten years guiding in Edinburgh, Sonny gets recognised on the street. People stop him. Former guests say hello. He’s part of the city’s rich cultural scene now and a working expert with a public profile he’s earned, walk by walk. Ask him about his guest appearances on The BBC amongst others.
The insight: This is what lived experience tourism looks like when you give it time. Not a one-off encounter, but a guide who has become a known voice in the city he walks.
3. Because it’s good for the soul
Story: Meet Angie
Some guides walk you through a city. Angie walks you through something louder and prouder than that. Guests describe her tours using a word that doesn’t usually appear in your average Tripadvisor review: endless energy. People leave her walks a lot happier than they arrived!
The insight: Cities are loud places that mostly transact with you. Angie tour does the opposite. It’s a reminder that a city can make you smile, laugh and totally connect with someone you only met an hour ago.
4. Because the storytelling is extraordinary
Story: Larysa in Cardiff
Larysa relocated from Ukraine. Before that, she was a teacher. Now she’s one of the most captivating storytellers we have – bringing a teacher’s structure, a displaced person’s perspective on what a city offers, and a voice that has a group gripped in total silence.
The insight: Guide-curated means exactly that. Larysa doesn’t recite a script. She reads Cardiff the way she once read literature to a classroom – and she reads it with the awareness of someone who has had to learn a new city in real time. That’s just one of the ways our impact goes beyond the tour.
5. Because our people are artists, not just guides
Story: Johnny in Cardiff – autism, poetry, and a different kind of attention
Johnny is autistic, and he’s an extraordinary poet. He’s spent his time at Invisible Cities learning how to work with his autism rather than around it – and the result is a tour that pays attention to a city the way poets do. His words in both English and Welsh are enough to turn heads well beyond the tour group with passers by often stopping amidst their busy day or commute to listen.
The insight: When you let people guide in their own way, you get experiences that no template could produce. Johnny’s tours are proof that “guide-curated” isn’t a gimmick. It’s a working principle that gives our guides space and freedom to use words their way.
6. Because the map is still being drawn
Story: New cities – Liverpool, Newport, the Borders, and one more we’re not announcing – yet
Ten years in, we’re still launching new cities and we’re not stopping here. Liverpool, Newport, and Scottish Borders are all coming. And there’s a fourth city we’re holding back for now – but it won’t be long. And 2026 is the year of the Invisible Cities roadshow where we’ll celebrate each guide and city individually as part of the party!
The insight: This isn’t a franchise rolling out. Each new city starts with finding the partners and organisations that are supporting people who are ready for a totally different kind of employment opportunity. From there, we find the guides whose knowledge of that specific place is irreplaceable.
7. Because the right people are noticing
Story: The Royal Foundation
Prince William’s Royal Foundation chose Invisible Cities as part of its support for regional community and social enterprises – recognition that what we’re doing belongs in the national conversation about how social enterprise, regenerative tourism and doing things that little bit differently fit together.
The insight: When the Royal Foundation backs you, it’s not because you’re a feel-good story. It’s because you’re a working model that is creating tangible impact and can scale to create wider benefit. Quietly redefining how we see homelessness – and not so quietly being recognised for it!
These are just seven stories yet there are dozens more we could have written about.
The point isn’t the list. The point is that every tour you book is a walk with one specific person who knows one specific city in a way nobody else does. We want you to be a part of these incredible moments and adventures.
Ten years in, we’re still doing tourism differently – and the people doing the reading deserve to be paid, recognised, and listened to.
Our commitment is to doing tourism differently and to give people who have experienced homelessness the opportunity to access meaningful employment opportunities that they can tailor to their hobbies, interest, history and personality.
Book a tour right here. Walk a city you thought you knew and tell us the stories that you’ll remember forever.
