[legitster]

I adore behind-the-scenes tours. I get there's a lot of work that goes into making it happen, but when you drop into a place where people work, you'll learn so much about real life problems that never make it to the Internet.

The greatest tour I ever had was at the Smokejumper base in remote WA. At any time when they're open, you're allowed to drop in for a tour and whoever is there that day is obliged to give you one. Even in the height of fire season.

We got to see them pack parachutes, repair gear, coordinate parcel drops - everything. Our guide was a 3 year jumper veteran on summer break from his masters degree in linguistics. It was incredible.

Any org that's proud of what they do should aspire to have public tours.

[schoen]

I highly recommend the tour of the Itaipu Binacional hydroelectric dam in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil (well, it's also in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, but the tour starts from the Brazilian side).

https://turismoitaipu.com.br/en/

Get the "special tour" which takes you inside the dam. An absolutely incredible spot and incredible achievement. They will take you into a room with a turbine shaft that's mechanically transmitting 700 MW of power.

[kijiki]

Seconded enthusiastically. That dam tour is amazing. Did it in 2007 or so.

Expect potential weirdness though. My wife was wearing a (not particularly short) skirt, and the lady at the office selling tour tickets made her step back and spin around, then said she couldn't go in like that. There is a gift shop that sells dam branded pants, so she bought a pair and we were cleared to go in. After all that, one dude in the control room was watching soft-core porn on one of the control room computers.

The turbine shaft room is especially crazy, since they let you (at least back then) walk right up to a few inches away from the shaft mechanically transmitting 700 MW of power! You could reach out and touch it, but we didn't and I wouldn't recommend it.

[mapt]

Long skirts (or other loose clothing) around big, spinning mechanical load transmission elements are an easy way for the rest of your life to become a cautionary Youtube video on workplace safety.

[sephamorr]

Seconding this! Make sure you get the "special tour". It was an absolute highlight of my trip. If you are interested in power infrasture it's a must see. If you're afraid of heights, perhaps not so much.

[geostupid]

Could you kindly elaborate on the "afraid of heights" aspect? Was there a lot of catwalks or anything of that nature?

[schoen]

There is one part where you are invited to walk on a catwalk that's very high up (an outdoor staircase sort of like a fire escape). My recollection is that walking on it is not mandatory for the tour, but I'm not absolutely certain of that.

You're also invited, but not required, to look over the edge of the dam from the top, which is also very far down.

[sephamorr]

This is correct. If you don't like heights, that's definitely not a reason to skip the tour, but you'll miss out on one piece (that I enjoyed).

[KatiMichel]

Sounds incredible. I am going to bookmark this to do if I take a trip to Brazil.

[doctoboggan]

Yes, field trips were always my favorite part of school. The "How its Made" show scratches a similar itch.

I've noodled with the idea of starting a "fieldtrips for grownups" group but I feel like a wastewater treatment plant is more likely to open their doors for a group of third graders than a group of thirty somethings.

[kgermino]

That’s probably true but I wouldn’t count it out. I think you’re more likely to get answers like “we do 10:00 on tuesdays” (timed for schools) than “no”

[KatiMichel]

That is a great idea. Too often, we just grow up getting used to the idea that things are just made somewhere in a "black box" and never take the time to investigate. We could probably get into more places than we realize.

[gavinsyancey]

The Oakland wastewater treatment plant offers tours open to the general public: https://www.ebmud.com/wastewater/collection-treatment/wastew...

Wouldn't be surprised if others do as well, or would be willing to if you asked the right person nicely.

[bell-cot]

> ... more likely to open their doors for a group of ...

Probably true. Usually. Just keep your eyes on local news, and wait 'till the Sewer Dept. is facing budget cuts, or needs a rate increase to pay for long-delayed repairs, or is trying to get a millage passed.

[plasticsoprano]

Remember, most fire stations will give you a tour, let you sit in the truck, etc, if you just pop in. They love to show off.

Source: My father was a 35 year veteran of the fire department in a large city.

[KatiMichel]

Great tip. I would never think to ask. Now I want to go to one!

[KatiMichel]

I love that. I want to take more tours like this. One thing I found very interesting about it was to be immersed in a company culture. It's kind of like being a fish in water. You might not notice your own culture around you, but going into one that is very distinctive, you can observe it.

[dylan604]

I worked a VR tour shoot of the UPS sorting hub in Louisville. There's a bit of idle time, but once the planes start arriving, it is non-stop action. Each plane is unloaded, packages are sorted/routed to the proper plane, they are then reloaded, and take back off ending in a bit of wow at everything that happened in that short time.

It answered a lot of the "what can Brown do for you" question in a way that no commercial could ever do. Their drop shipping and picking/packing facilities are impressive too including their cold storage areas that are massive warehouse sized freezers.

Also learned that the Louisville airport is listed as an international airport solely because of UPS.

[spike021]

On a visit to Hiroshima, Japan, I went to the Mazda HQ for a factory tour. They took the group on a shuttle bus through their massive city-like complex and then we got to walk through one of the assembly-line buildings. Real fascinating experience.

[httpz]

I highly recommend a free Amazon warehouse tour. You really get to see how the items you order gets picked and packaged.

[KatiMichel]

I've heard about that. I plan to do that sometime.

[chihuahua]

I went on the factory tour at the Airbus factory in Hamburg Germany. It's quite well done, very long (2+ hours), and does a good job of explaining why they're flying giant airplane parts from around Europe for assembly, and what goes on inside all those huge buildings. Among other things, you get to go inside the building where they used to assemble the A380, and now there's 4 smaller planes being worked on in the same space that used to fit one A380.

[gordon_freeman]

I had one such tour at Toyota's TMMK (Georgetown, Kentucky) manufacturing plant and witnessing the efficiency with which they were making cars blew my mind!