The article deals the views of authoritative researchers of excursion business on school excursion as a leading form of pedagogical process. The concepts of “excursion” and “school excursion” are analyzed, and the basic views on the classification of school excursions are given. The author of the article also gives the main functions and didactic principles of organizing and conducting a school tour. A school excursion is a special form of pedagogical process, the basis of which is a methodically well-thought-out display of sights, historical and cultural monuments, analysis of objects visited by students, as well as a meaningful story of the tour guide about events related to these objects. This publication emphasizes that the fundamental pedagogical principles of teaching and education are central to the organization and conduct of school excursions. And the presence of the basic elements of pedagogy in excursion activity allows to define it as pedagogical process in which the central place is given to the tour guide who carries out two pedagogical tasks – didactic and educational.