ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the growing field of self-guided routes and trails within the context of the visitor experience and considers the extent to which these popular cultural tourism products reflect contemporary thinking on visitors’ engagement with tourism offerings. Self-guided routes and trails are found in both urban and rural contexts and provide an interpreted, themed journey which can be travelled on foot, by bicycle, horseback, car, or in some cases even followed underwater. Trails can vary in scale from the very local, for example a town trail, to the international, exemplified by the Council of Europe Cultural Routes project which has developed a number of long-distance, cross-border routes interpreting pan-European themes. Timothy and Boyd (2003: 51) have categorised trails as linear visitor attractions that can be mega (international), large (national and regional), or small (local), and note that the mega and large-scale trails are predominantly rural whilst smaller trails are almost always urban based.
