Following ‘InExeter Green Tour’ success Exeter Red Coats add tour to their 2023 Summer Programme

Following the success of a Special Edition Tour that was created by Exeter Red Coat Guides for InExeter, The Business Improvement District, the tour has been adopted into the Red Coat Guide’s official programme of summer tours for 2023.

The Red Coats are a team of volunteers who are passionate about the city's fascinating history overseen by Exeter City Council who partnered with InExeter to create a special tour of the city.

This tour was developed to take people to some of the less usual and more commercially interesting areas of the city. Like many historic cities, Exeter presents a mosaic of different areas and localities that have developed their own distinctive character.

The tour, which has been rebranded ‘Markets, Merchants & Mariners’ explores how areas of the city have changed and adapted over the years as well as highlighting the types of businesses that are in Exeter today. The high street is ever changing, and this insightful tour looks at the history that has shaped the city centre we have today as well as showcasing the business areas that have been established in the city helping Exeter to prosper.

“We are delighted at the success of the collaboration with the Exeter Red Coat team and welcome the news that this tour is going to be made available through the Red Coats Summer Programme” comments Marina O’Shea, Events Manager at InExeter who came up with the initial idea for the concept of the tour. “The tour first came about as a way of introducing people who are new to the city, showing them the areas that make it up that they may not always discover so quickly on their own. It is fantastic this tour will now be available weekly to people, in turn giving more people the opportunity to discover the secrets and hidden gems of Exeter”.

The tour reveals the secrets of Exeter, informs Exeter’s past, what it was like and how it has shaped the city we live in today. On the route there are significant landmarks in the city including the previously well-known department store turned Hotel Indigo and the independent districts including the Castle Quarter and West Quarter where past histories of the streets are told which you would not realise walking down them today.

On the tour you will learn about the city’s origins, dating back to AD 55 and learn of its Roman settlement past which still forms the heart of the city. You will be guided through the streets and learn of Exeter’s early prosperity and how events in history have shaped the city we have today.

Exeter Red Coat Guides are a team of volunteers who are passionate about the city's fascinating history and are overseen by Exeter City Council.

All the tours are delivered completely free of charge. The summer programme runs until October 2023 with yours taking place daily. The Markets, Merchants and Mariners tour runs every Friday at 2:30pm starting at the Hooker Statue on Cathedral Green. For more information or to discover more tours visit https://exeter.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/our-attractions/red-coat-guided-tours/summer-2023-tour-programme/.