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Single walking bumblebees, Bombus terrestris, were trained in an arena to localize a feeding site using a local cue (blue cardboard) and/or extramaze visual signals, in this case a panorama. The bees reliably chose the local cue in combination with the panorama location. When the local cue and the panorama location were dissociated by rotating the panorama by 90 degrees they preferred the local cue, and they travelled preferentially from the local cue to the quadrant of the panorama location. Training the bees to a location defined only by its spatial relation to the panorama led to a choice preference for the respective quadrant within the first minute of active time, indicating that the panorama was sufficient for spatial guidance although it was not as salient a stimulus as the local cue. The bees steered towards the respective locations from any direction. We interpret our results as evidence for spatial learning with reference to both a local visual cue and a pattern of extramaze signals although the local cue was a more salient stimulus. This laboratory procedure for studying two basic forms of navigation should be useful for future attempts to unravel neural correlates of navigation in a central place foraging insect. (C) 2014 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.