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Student Tours
Reservations
- To qualify for school group discounts, you must have at least 20 students.
- We strongly recommend scheduling your trip early in the school year to avoid over-crowding and the possible unavailability of your dates. Reservations must be made two weeks prior to your visit.
- Reservations are required for all groups over 20 people.
- If any member of your group has special needs or requires handicap accessibility, please let us know in advance. We will do what we can to accommodate you.
- A deposit will be due prior to your visit. We require a 25% deposit at the time of reservation. The balance is due the day of the tour and the deposit is deducted from the total mount due the day payment is made.
- We accept deposits via credit card, check or money order.
- Upon completion of your reservation you will receive a confirmation packet via email.
- If you need transportation services, please contact our partner, Galveston Island Tours, http://www.galvestonislandtours.com
Frequently Asked Questions
What if we are running late?
- Call 409-765-7864. Please arrive on time. If your group is late, we reserve the right to cancel or shorten your program as necessary in order to avoid interfering with other scheduled tours. GHF has the right to cancel school groups that are more than one hour late. You will be charged for any tour that has to be cancelled in order for GHF to get your group back on schedule. It is important to keep this in mind when making travel arrangements.
Where do I park?
- Parking is available at Ashton Villa and Bishop’s Palace along the street. Ashton Villa has a free parking lot behind the house for smaller buses and vans. Full sized motor coaches and school buses must park on the street. Students visiting the Galveston County Historical Museum can be dropped off and picked up at the front entrance of the building; there is no assigned parking for the Museum. The Texas Seaport Museum, Pier 21 and Harbor Tours require that buses park in the paid lot at 21st and Harborside for $15 dollars per bus. Groups must have 20 participants to qualify for this group rate.
What if we need to cancel?
- If you need to cancel or reschedule, please call 409-765-7864 or send an email to education@galvestonhistory.org. To be eligible for a refund of your deposit, minus a $10 administrative fee, a written request must be emailed 5 business days prior to arrival.
We would like to have lunch? Where can we eat?
- Please make prior arrangements for lunch. Ashton Villa and Bishop’s Palace both have shaded areas for groups to eat. The Texas Seaport Museum does not have a location for groups to eat lunch; however, many groups eat by the grassy lawn east of the Harbor House Hotel. The Galveston County Historical Museum does not have a location for lunch. Please make sure you bring a trash bag and dispose of your waste in a trash receptacle.
What if it rains?
- Tours aboard the ELISSA and Seagull II will go on as scheduled, unless lightening or excessive winds are in the area. If bad weather is in the area, please call 409-765-3426 to check on conditions. We will do our best to re-schedule or book you into another GHF site.
Can our group visit the Gift Shops?
- Yes, Ashton Villa, Bishop’s Palace and the Texas Seaport Museum all have gift shops. All gift shops require 1 chaperone for every 5 students.
What are your guidelines while taking a tour?
- Sorry, we do not allow photography in any of the museums. We also discourage cell phones for both parents and students and ask that you dispose of all food, drinks, gum and candy before entering the property.
Policies
- Groups must have at least one adult chaperone for every 10 students.
- We will comp one adult chaperone/teacher for every 10 paying students.
- Chaperones (includes teachers, parents, etc.) are responsible for the behavior and discipline of their groups at all times and are required to accompany students for the duration of the visit.
- Please note Ashton Villa, Bishop’s Palace and the Texas Seaport Museum all have gift shops. All gift shops require 1 chaperone for every 5 students.
- Coast Guard regulations limit passengers to 49 people aboard the Seagull II. If you have a large group, please separate the groups accordingly. 1 chaperone for every 10 students.
- Cell phones are discouraged while on tour for both parents and students.
Locations and Prices
GHF offers school and other groups a variety of opportunities for fun and learning. Using the foundation’s historic properties and facilities, as well as other sites, professional guides convey a sense of the richness of Galveston’s cultural and natural history.
TEXAS SEAPORT MUSEUM, Pier 21 –
Home of the 1877 tall ship ELISSA
ELISSA Tours only until further notice, the museum portion of the Texas Seaport Museum has damage to exhibits from Hurricane Ike. The gift shop is open.
Texas Seaport Museum/ELLISA Tour: Students will view the dramatic story of the tall ship ELISSA’s rescue and restoration through the documentary Passage to Galveston: The Story of ELISSA, then tour the 1877 tall ship with a trained guide.
Time: 60 minutes
Cost: $4.00 per student; $5.00 per chaperone
ALL ABOARD THE SEAGULL II, Pier 21
Seagull II was damaged during Hurricane Ike. We expect the Seagull to be back in operation by Mid-March 2009. Please check this site for updates.
GALVESTON HISTORICAL FOUNDATION presents a unique educational experience on the SEAGULL II. From marine exploration to maritime history, the SEAGULL II is a floating classroom offering excursions and adventures. The SEAGULL II is located at Texas Seaport Museum, Pier 21. Reservations required. Contact Denise Alexander.
Introduction to Galveston Harbor tour: Enjoy 45 minutes of history, wildlife adventure, folklore and more. See Galveston and Galveston Bay from a unique perspective. Experience close-up encounters with big ships, dolphins and seabirds.
Time: 45 minutes
Cost: $6.00 per student & chaperone
Hand on Environmental Science Tour: Floating Classroom/Laboratory
Students breathe the ocean air, study plankton through microscopic lens, pose challenging questions, use the scientific method, check their results with each other; and discuss their findings with the marine biologist aboard.
Time: 90 minutes.
Cost: $12.00 per student and chaperone
Hands on Ornithology Tour: Floating Classroom Laboratory/Birding Excursion
Mysteries of the deep challenge students to take a hands-on, action packed, experimental approach to learning about their environment. With compasses, students will chart their course through harbor and bay. Students will trawl for fish and creatures far below, then examining them in hand and under microscope.
Time: 2 hours.
Cost: $16.00 per student and chaperone
Ship-to-Shore Teacher Workshops: When learning is exciting, teaching is exhilarating. School districts encourage teachers to avail themselves of our curriculum offerings, which enable them to take back to their classrooms fresh approaches to their subjects and renewed enthusiasm for teaching.
PIER 21 THEATER, 21st Street at Harborside Drive
The Pier 21 theater is closed. Check back for updates.
THE GREAT STORM
This outstanding widescreen documentary takes students back to Victorian Galveston, Texas’ wealthiest city, in the days before the 1900 hurricane. Witness the devastation of the deadliest natural disaster in United States history and the amazing story of the seawall’s construction and the grade raising. The Great Storm is shown on the hour.
Time: 30 minutes
Cost: $3.00 per student and 4.00 per chaperone
THE PIRATE ISLAND OF JEAN LAFFITE
This widescreen film chronicles the adventures of the pirate Jean Laffite, who once called Galveston home. The Pirate Island of Jean Laffite begins every hour on the half-hour. Groups must arrive at least 5 minutes before the program begins to provide adequate time for seating.
Time: 30 minutes
Cost: $2.00 per student and 3.00 per chaperone
PLEASE NOTE: Groups must arrive at least 5 minutes before either presentation begins to provide adequate time for seating. There is no admittance once the presentation begins
Early open fee: $20 flat rate before 11:00am.
GALVESTON COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM,
2219 Market Street
The Galveston County Historical Museum is currently closed for repairs.
Learn about the colorful history of the upper Texas coast in the impressively restored 1921 City National Bank Building.
Permanent exhibits include:
Galveston Lighthouses: Beacons of Hope
Students will learn how lighthouses and lightships protected the Texas coast. The Fresnel lens from the South Jetty Lighthouse is the feature of this exhibit.
Native Americans in Galveston County
Learn about Galveston Island’s earliest cultures through realistic displays and archeological evidence.
Time: 60 minutes
Cost: Free to Galveston County students; all others are 50 cents per student
The exhibits for the 08-09 school year:
In Spring 2009, the museum will open an exhibit in conjunction with the 2009 National Women’s History Month. This year’s theme is Women: Taking the Lead to Save our Planet. The exhibit will focus on environmental projects lead by Galveston women after the 1900 Storm.
1839 MICHEL B. MENARD HOUSE,
1601 33rd Street
Built for one of the founders of Galveston and a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, the 1838 Michel B. Menard House is the oldest surviving house in Galveston.
Time: 60 minutes
Cost: $3 per student and $4 per adult chaperone.
1892 BISHOP'S PALACE
Built of stone and steel for the railroad magnate Walter Gresham and his family, this famous house was designed by Nicholas Clayton, Galveston’s premier Victorian-era architect. The Bishop’s Palace is recognized as one of America’s finest examples of Victorian exuberance and Gilded-Age extravagance.
Cost: $4 per student, $5 per adult chaperone.
CEMETERY TOUR
As students walk the cemetery, they will hear stories of those interred, learn the symbolism on the markers, and observe the artwork of the monument builders and do tomb rubbings.
Time: 90 minutes
Cost: $3.00 per student
NARRATED DRIVING TOURS OF GALVESTON
Guides board your bus and conduct informative tours to historic sites and other places of interest. Tours can be customized to fit your studies.
Time: 1 hour
Cost: $65 per bus
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