Tom Houck's 3 Hour Civil RIghts Bus Tour was simply sensational and not to be missed. Getting the scoop from Martin Luther King's former chauffeur and confidant, a Freedom Rider in the 60's who spent his lifetime advocating for Civil / Criminal Rights, Human Freedoms and Voting Rights. Tom worked with Andrew Young, John Lewis, V T. Vivian and many others fightimg racism and inequality. Tom provides a unique and comprehensive narrative on Atlanta's leaders and their neighborhoods. The Capital City of the New South comprised the cradle of the Civil RIghts Movement. If you really want to learn the history of the Civil RIghts Movement that can't be obtained from any books or lectures, get it directlt from Tom Houck, an iconic insider for over 50 years! Google Civil RIghts Tour and reserve a ticket now.

We had high hopes for this tour, as we are very interested in history, and the civil rights movement. The tour started out on the wrong foot, because there were several problems with the tour bus. First, there was no working sound system, and we all struggled to hear our tour guide, Tom. Second, though there was supposed to be an accompanying video, there was no working tv monitor, so, there was no video. Third, the bathroom on the bus didn't work. Lastly, the bus's air conditioning didn't work particularly well and it was quite stifling on the bus.Enough about the bus. Moving on to the tour, there was some good and not so good.The good: There was a freedom singer by the name of Sheila who, despite filling in on this tour for the first time, did a great job, singing quite beautifully and repeating things when passengers complained they couldn't hear Tom.The bus driver, who was also filling in, was conscientious in keeping us safe and as comfortable as possible. Not knowing the route, however, she occasionally missed a turn or a stop and Tom scolded her along the way. All in all, I feel she did as well as she could possibly have done, given the circumstances.The not-so-good: This could and should have been a great tour. There is rich history to be shared, and Tom has vast experience in the civil rights movement, having worked with Dr. King in the height of the movement. However, the combination of the bus-related problems and some deficiencies on Tom's part got in the way. Tom failed to compensate for the lack of a working sound system by focusing on projecting his voice or moving about the bus. When passengers asked him to speak up, which happened frequently, he made excuses, blaming his mask, which kept falling below his nose.In addition, because the bus driver was a fill-in, she didn't necessarily know the route, and Tom would frequently shout out directions, though often in insufficient volume for her to hear him. As a result, Tom clearly became more irritated as the tour proceeds and he often ignored passengers' questions.As to the content of his presentation, what should have been rich content was not. Tom often spoke of Atlanta sports teams, shared the location of his dentist, or shared his personal opinions of local politics, all of which most passengers felt was inappropriate.In conclusion, what should have been an interesting and informative your was not. Some of the causes were out of Tom's control, but many were not. In retrospect, given the logistical challenges, Tom should have canceled or rescheduled this tour. As to the Tom-related issues, I hope he'll take this as constructive criticism and improve the tour in the future.

I 100% agree with the other 1 star review.To be clear, we had high expectations for this tour based on reviews from Yelp, Trip Advisor and Google. I was so unimpressed with Tom and underwhelmed by the tour that I created a Trip Advisor account to leave this review. I've never felt the need to leave a review before.This tour is abysmal. The bus is broken: no microphone, no video (Tom mentioned there was supposed to be a video), no bathroom. Tom should have rescheduled the tour, but he didn't even though he knew all of these things. His regular bus driver was also not available, so the bus driver didn't know where to go. He yelled at the bus driver who was trying to keep us safe from other cars potentially hitting us because he was talking.Tom is also rude to his customers. We've asked him to speak up multiple times or go to the middle of the bus and he's full of excuses: his back hurts, he's wearing a mask. I understand people are doing their best each day, but Tom should have rescheduled if he couldn't do the tour properly. He also is not keeping his mask above his nose or enforcing the bus driver wearing a mask.This is less of an informed person providing an educational tour on the civil rights movement, and more of a person who had a civil rights experience at a young age and decided to rent a bus and tell people stories. The tour was disjointed and unorganized. We got as much information about the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Falcons, and the location of his dentists as we did about actual civil rights events that took place in the 60s. He was routinely asked questions that he didn't know the answer to or completely ignored. The other people on the bus were often more knowledgeable about the area than him.The absolute best part was the Freedom Singer. She was kind, informative and had a gorgeous voice. She also engaged the customers far more than Tom.Find another tour. Having done a self-tour previously, I recommend you do that instead of this.

Spent 4 hours this past Saturday touring the civil rights spots in Atlanta with this Company. It was great, I learned so much - about Martin Luther King Jr, Daddy King and the true history of Atlanta during the 50s and 60s, till now. I want to go again with my children and grand children. This is a must do if you are in Atlanta. I had to turn away a few times, so others did not see the tears in my eyes.

It's one thing to do a Civil Rights tour. Its another thing to do it with someone who was actually there! Apart from being incredibly knowledgeable, informative, kind hearted and funny, Tom was also the driver for Dr. King and his family. Being a big time history buff, I reveled in his stories, and also had chills run right down my spine when he took us to Dr.King's very last residence. We owe it to my father's new friend for telling us about (and arranging) this tour for us.