Guiding a public walking tour

During the 2020-2021 holiday season, the SDC Vieux-Montréal, in cooperation with the Marguerite-Bourgeoys Historic Site, came up with the idea of a Christmastime health walk in the neighbourhood. In addition to getting Montréalers out for a little exercise, it encouraged them to reinvest in the downtown area during the pandemic. They could get out for a fresh look at the city centre and enjoy its architectural heritage. An original combination of wellness and culture, outside!

One of the Historic Site’s challenges was to find a way for the participants to walk the route on their own without having to print up maps. They also wanted to enliven the walking tour with a game and historical information.

A Digital Guide

Already using MySmartJourney technology for their permanent exhibition, the museum found it easy to use the MySmartJourney’s platform for other needs from time to time. 

The Circuit des Rois mages (Three Kings Route) was a wellness activity imagined and promoted by SDC Vieux-Montréal, and managed by the Marguerite-Bourgeoys Historic Site. Participants started in front of the museum, where they could choose a route by length or time. Each route had a QR code, revealing which one of the three they chose. An interactive map, integrated into the platform from Google Maps, showed them which way to go. 

There were three paths to take: the Bonsecours route (1 km), the Notre Dame route (2 km), and the 17th - 19th century Montréal route (5 km).

When the walkers returned to the museum at the end, they could take a photo at the Selfie Booth, for a souvenir of the event and their accomplishment.