Memorable Group Tours

The Grout Museum District offers guided and unguided tours for each of our Grout District properties, as well as themed tours for special interests and occasions. Take a look at our wide range of tour options below, and then contact us or download our group tour guide for more information on how to make your next group trip unforgettable.

Guided & Self-Guided Tours

Suggested tour hours are from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Tuesday through Saturday. The tour operator and bus driver are always free. Lunch is available with all tours and programs, please ask for more information when you book your tour.

Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum

Guided Tour: $4.00 per person
Includes video: Life & Times of Waterloo's Five Sullivan Brothers

Learn more about special theme tours at the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum.

Grout Museum of History & Science

Guided Tour: $4.00 per person

Learn more about special theme tours at the Grout Museum of History & Science.

Combine both museums

Guided Tour: $7.00 per person
Veterans: $6 per person

Self-guided Tour: $6.00 per person
Veterans: $4 per person

Add a 30-minute Planetarium show: $1.75 per person
Add Audio Tour: $3 per person

Bluedorn Science Imaginarium

Self-guided Tour: $3.00 per person
Add a 30-minute Science Demonstration: $1.75 per person

Learn more about special theme tours at the Bluedorn Science Imaginarium.

Rensselaer Russell House Museum

Guided Tour: $4.00 per person (maximum 45 persons)
Self-guided Tour: Available upon request

Add Audio Tour: $3 per person

Learn more about special theme tours at the Rensselaer Russell House Museum.

Step-On Guide: Historical Bus Tour of Downtown Waterloo

Guided Tour: $50.00 per bus

Tour historic downtown Waterloo as a step-on guide tells the town's story. Included in this tour are buildings dating from the 1890s, a 2007 mural painted by local artist-musician Richard Thomas and Bosnian immigrant Paco Rosic's spray paint reproduction of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel in his restaurant, Galleria de Paco. Stops may also include historic buildings such as the James Black Dry Goods Company, Veteran's Memorial Hall and the Russell Lamson Hotel. (All stops are subject to availability.)

Guidelines

• A non-refundable $30.00 administration fee must be paid at least two weeks prior to the scheduled tour date. This is required for all tour groups. The full amount will be applied toward the total tour cost.
• You will receive a confirmation packet detailing costs, maps and parking directions
• Submit one check for the full amount payable to the Grout Museum District. Visa, MasterCard and Discover are also accepted.
• Reservations for guided tours must be made at least two weeks prior to tour.
  
• Reservations for self-guided tours must be made at least one week prior.
  
• Reservations are booked on a first-come, first-served basis.
  
• Group tour operators are required to supply an approximate number of persons at least one week in advance.
  
• Guided tours require a fifteen person minimum. If a tour does not meet the minimum, it will automatically be changed to a self-guided tour.
  
• All Saturday tours must be self-guided unless otherwise negotiated directly with the Director of Group Tours.
• Youth tours (scouts, daycares, clubs) require 1 adult per 8 children. Those adults receive free admission.

Registration

Registration deadline for tours is no less than two weeks in advance for guided tours and one week in advance for self-guided tours. Please supply an approximate number of persons at least one week in advance. Fifteen-person minimum. Groups of 28 or more will be divided into two groups.

Please notify us if anyone has special needs or dietary restrictions.