Private tour guides enhance a trip, whether you're sightseeing in less touristy parts of a city, hiking in a desert or mountains, or exploring out-of-the-way locales. A guide's tales and local knowledge can make the history and current events in a city or country come alive. If you're on an active adventure, such as hiking in a foreign country, searching for animals on a safari or skiing in the backcountry, a private tour guide with the proper training and experience can keep you from going astray or even getting hurt.
Tips for Choosing Private Tour Guides
- Private guides are expensive, so first decide what you want to do, whether it's a general tour of a city, a day of hiking, or visiting remote villages in a third-world country. Have a ball-park time allotment in mind, whether it's a half-day, a full-day, or a multi-day experience. Once you have chosen a guide, you'll probably refine your ideas based upon the guide's knowledge.
- Scout around for friends, or friends of friends, who can give you the names of private tour guides they have used. Travelers who are happy with their guides usually have an email address or a phone number they can pass along. If you can't find anyone via this route, head to the Internet. Web sites that list dozens of guides in hundreds of cities and countries are listed below. The tourism center in a city may also have a list of private guides.
- If you're planning a trip with the assistance of a travel consultant, travel agent or tour operator, instead of creating your own trip, be specific about the type of guide you want. While a guide may be an expert on Istanbul, for example, the guide may have limited knowledge about the best hiking routes and the best hot air balloon company for your stay in Cappadocia. If you're planning a hike in the Alps, make sure the company or guide they link you with has expert knowledge of the trails you'll be on. If you want a themed tour in a city, make sure the guide really has the expertise in that topic, versus general knowledge of the locale.
- It's okay to ask how long they've been speaking English. If the guide's English is hard to understand or the vocabulary is limited, you'll spend too much time trying to figure what he or she is saying. It's frustrating when you're trying so hard to understand the words that you either miss the essence of what they are saying, or you don't get to fully appreciate what they are showing you.
- Always ask the guide what type of license he or she has obtained, in order to be a tour guide in the country or city you are visiting. Many countries require professional tour guides to spend a year, or several years, in training before they can get a license.
Things to Watch When Hiring Private Tour Guides
- When to Pay: Most guide services do not ask for all the money up front, although some may require a portion of the fee in advance. If you're choosing a guide through a reputable Web site, the terms of when to pay will be listed.
- Getting a tour from a guide you've met just outside a major attraction, such as the Coliseum in Rome,can be a big success - or a bust. Some guide companies have licensed guides outside major attractions who put together quick groups and have access to shorter wait lines. But, if a potential guide's English (or your native language) is poor, and they can not answer a few questions up front (pick one or two to test their knowledge of the attraction), keep looking. Ask, too, if they have a guide license.
- How to Pay: Some guides will take a credit card, but many prefer cash. If the answer is cash, ask if they prefer local currency or US dollars. (This one comes from personal experience. Our guide in Budapest surprised us by refusing to take travelers checks. It was a holiday and the local banks where we could exchange checks for cash were closed. We had to call our bank in the U.S. and ask that the daily cash limit we could take from a local ATM machine be increased.)
- If the tour involves a vehicle, ask about the type of transportation. An old car? A van? Air conditioned? Who is driving it?
Web Sites Listing Private Guides
- Among these Web sites, you'll find private tour guides in almost all of the world's major cities, and guides for adventure activities. On most of the sites, you drill down by putting in the country, then the city or activity, to come up with a list of guides. Each guide describes his or her background, lists the types of tours offered, prices, and whether or not they are licensed.
- Viator
- GetYourGuide.com
- Private Guides
- Local Guiding
- James Martin, About.com's Guide to Europe, has a selection of guides in Europe.
- These Adventure Travel Directories have trips and guides for active travelers
