Following on from our previous article on guide itinerary best practices, we’ve created a free Guide Itinerary Template to help streamline your tour operations. This template is designed to give your guides all the essential information they need to confidently prepare for and run a group tour. With a focus on clarity and usability, it ensures that key details are easy to find. Whether you operate a small or large tour business, this guide itinerary template can be tailored to suit different tours, helping you save time, reduce errors, and maintain a consistently high standard.
What is a Guide Itinerary?
At a minimum, a guide itinerary is a copy of your guest itinerary with the addition of necessary contact, payment, and contract details your staff need to manage subcontractors and elements of the trip. At their best, a guide itinerary can be so detailed and well-structured that it enables a guide to operate-in, set expectations for passengers, and seem like a local in a region they’ve never been before.
Each tour operator will have a different vision for what the guide itinerary contains - what details are needed and when it becomes information overload. The objective should be to bridge the gap between your most seasoned and greenest guides, and provide staff with all the notes, tips, and culture to elevate the quality and consistency of your tours.
What is a Guide Itinerary Template?
A guide itinerary template is a pre-designed itinerary used to streamline the process of assembling the itineraries you share with guides. It ensures that every guide—whether experienced or leading a tour for the first time—has access to the same essential information, reducing the risk of miscommunication and inconsistencies. Our goal with this template is to provide a starting point and standard structure to save you time when drafting your guide itineraries. And when you’re ready to level up, Fieldbook makes it even easier to create, update and export well structured guide itineraries, ensuring your guides are always up to date.
To give you a peek at what a complete guide itinerary looks like, here’s a sample filled out guide itinerary we’ve created using our template.
Benefits of a Using a Guide Itinerary Template
A great guide itinerary doesn’t just list the stops on a tour—it serves as a roadmap that helps guides execute a seamless, well-structured experience. It provides clarity, improves operational efficiency, and enhances the overall guest experience.
For smaller operators looking to scale, having a standardised guide itinerary is essential. In the early stages, many tours are run by a single person who relies on memory or personal notes. But as a business grows, more guides need to step in, and a well-structured guide itinerary ensures a consistent and professional experience, regardless of who is leading the tour.
Key features of a guide itinerary:
- Comprehensive: A guide itinerary should consolidate all essential details in one place, reducing the need for guides to sift through emails or rely on scattered notes. This includes guest details, logistics, and step-by-step procedures to follow throughout the tour.
- Easy to Navigate: A structured layout ensures that guides can quickly locate key details while on the go. A well-organised itinerary eliminates unnecessary searching and helps guides stay on top of their responsibilities.
- Consistent Across Tours: Standardising your guide itineraries helps guides become familiar with their structure, making it easier to transition between different tours. Familiarity breeds confidence, ensuring guides can focus on delivering an engaging experience rather than deciphering new formats each time.
- Adaptable and Continuously Improving: A guide itinerary should be a living document—constantly refined based on guide feedback and real-world insights. Updating it after each trip ensures it remains relevant, capturing practical knowledge that benefits both new and returning guides.
What to Include in a Guide Itinerary Template
A guide itinerary template should include everything a guide needs to prepare for and run a tour effectively. It should serve as both a pre-tour preparation document and a reference guide during the tour.
Common elements to include:
- Pre-tour information & checklists – Key preparations, including equipment, logistics, and guest details.
- Itinerary overview and daily summary – A high-level outline of the tour schedule.
- Detailed day-by-day itinerary – Step-by-step breakdown of activities, timings, and locations.
- Supplier and reservation information – Contact details and booking confirmations for accommodations, transport, and activities.
- Guest & staff details – Emergency contacts, dietary requirements, and special considerations.
- Appendix with supplementary information – Local insights, fun facts, and practical tips for guides.
For a deeper dive into best practices on what to include for creating and maintaining effective guide itineraries check out our article: Guide Itineraries: Best Practices for Seamless Tours.
How to Streamline Guide Preparation Using a Template
By using a structured template, you eliminate the need to reinvent the wheel for every tour. It creates efficiency, ensures consistency, and saves time—allowing guides to focus on what really matters: delivering great experiences.
Here are the steps to streamline your guide preparation:
1. Determine what information needs to be included
Start by looking at your existing guide itineraries and seeing what information is frequently used, such as guide notes, pre-tour information, etc. This step helps you determine what is critical to your tours, and you don’t have to start from scratch. We recommend starting with a simple list of all the essential information—keeping it concise enough to fit on a page or two—before focusing on design. Outline what’s needed first, then design the template.
2. Design the guide itinerary template
Start by downloading our template as a foundation, then customise it to fit your specific needs. If you already have a template, update it to reflect the latest insights from past tours. Ensure it includes all key elements to create a clear, structured, and easy-to-use itinerary for your guides.
3. Gather feedback from guides and organisers
Share the guide itinerary with your team and get their input. Guides are the ones using the itinerary in real time, so their feedback is invaluable in making sure the format is practical, clear, and effective. Tour Organisers are the ones preparing it so they also need to provide input.
4. Train your organisers and guides
Provide short training sessions or written guidelines to ensure organisers and guides understand how to use the itinerary properly. This helps them maximise its effectiveness and ensures everyone is on the same page.
5. Publish the template into a share drive or internal wiki
Store the template in a shared drive, internal wiki, or tour management system where guides and organisers can access it anytime. Keeping it in a central location ensures that everyone is working with the latest version and reduces the chances of outdated information being used.
6. Regularly review and improve the template
A great guide itinerary is never static. Regularly evaluate its effectiveness by gathering input from guides and organisers after each tour. Keep refining and improving the document so it always reflects the latest insights and best practices.
Start Using a Guide Itinerary Template Today
A well-designed guide itinerary template is an essential tool for any tour operator looking to streamline their guide preparation, improve efficiency, and ensure a seamless guest experience. By creating a structured, easy-to-use document, you empower your guides to deliver tours with confidence, consistency, and professionalism.
- Save time by standardising guide preparation
- Ensure guides have everything they need at their fingertips
- Improve operational efficiency and maintain a high standard
Download your free Guide Itinerary Template today and start simplifying your tour operations!
