Why is it worth hiring a tour guide?

A constantly recurring question is why it's worth hiring a tour guide in a city when it can be explored individually. Perhaps the best answer to this can be provided by tour guides themselves, as it is a common life journey for someone to transition from an individual traveler to a helper in the world of travel. There are numerous forms of guiding, and it's not necessarily about following someone waving an umbrella in a crowd.


Tour guiding without myths

You can go to a restaurant for various reasons. It's possible that you can't cook. You might know how to cook but simply don't want to. Perhaps you like to cook but don't have the time. It's also possible that you love cooking and, for that very reason, occasionally go to a restaurant to gain new experiences. Whatever the current reason may be, it's not constant: it happens for one reason at one time, for another reason at another time, and many times everyone ends up eating at home. Rarely is the reason that it's impossible or not worth solving the meal at home differently. We haven't even raised the question yet of the entirely different roles that a fast-food and a fine dining restaurant play in various situations.

 

The same holds true for guided tours. It's not worth hiring a tour guide because it's the only way to get to know a city, and certainly not true that it's not worth doing it differently. Just as going to a restaurant doesn't mean we always go to a restaurant in every situation, hiring a tour guide isn't like that either. There are at least as many reasons to hire a tour guide as there are reasons not to eat at home. The role of a tour guide is entirely different during an organized tour, a private city tour, or a tip-based free tour.

 

When traveling individually, hiring a tour guide can be a similar element to the program you have otherwise devised, much like choosing a restaurant: more convenient, faster, and more interesting – typically a mix of these to some extent. Of course, everyone has heard stories about being cheated at a restaurant or having bad food – but the lesson isn't to never eat anywhere but home, but rather to try to choose more wisely. The same applies to tour guides; there are good ones and not-so-good ones.

 

Why it is worth hiring a tour guide for a city tour? Guiding is a profession, and the tour guide's aim is to ensure that the traveler has a great experience in the city and provide assistance accordingly. They introduce the city, know where the nearest public restroom is, and can recommend places to shop. The tour guide is not a version of the Wikipedia audiobook. I present three typical situations to illustrate why it might be worthwhile to hire a guide in a specific way: free tour, short private tour, full-day, or multi-day private guiding.

Why it is worth to hire a tour guide?

What can we expect from a free tour? Why is it worth participating?

The free tour is the fast-food version of guided tours. You can't significantly influence what you get, but predictability is akin to a burger joint. The tour starts at a predetermined time and meeting point, with 5-20 people participating. During the 2-3 hours of the shared walk, we will explore the most important sights in the vicinity of the meeting point on foot. At the end of the tour, the tour guide receives a tip, whatever amount the traveler deems appropriate for their work.

 

During a free tour, the essential historical knowledge, basics of city orientation, and general aspects of everyday life come to the forefront. This is seasoned with a few interesting, funny, or perhaps tiring stories. The route is well-planned and practical. The walks are short and easily fit into a schedule. They help kickstart exploration in the city, serving as a great form of acclimatization. They also allow for a meaningful discovery of areas that weren't initially planned to visit, or for which there wasn't time to prepare. Booking is relatively short notice, and you get to decide the price at the end. There's no risk or commitment; if you don't like what you are getting, you can say goodbye even after just a few minutes.

Why is it worth hiring a tour guide for a few hours?

Hiring a tour guide for just a few hours can be highly intensive. A guide can effortlessly talk for several hours, providing useful and interesting information about the city. Since it's a private tour, you have endless opportunities to ask questions. Whether the subject is 16th-century history, the local football team, the protest you witnessed the day before, or the city's best vegan restaurant, you will undoubtedly get an answer. This holds true even if you initially signed up for an entirely different type of themed tour. A short 2-4 hour guided tour can save a significant amount of time and energy. You can receive tips that help you save money and time in the later parts of your journey.

 

The tour guide also has the opportunity to get to know the traveler a bit, so a well-prepared and informed guide's fresh tip on what else is worth seeing may be much closer to your taste than a travel guidebook published years ago or that of an influencer. It's worth hiring a private tour guide to explore a neighborhood or opting for a small-group food tour where, by walking and trying local foods and drinks, you can bombard your local guide with questions.

What are the advantages of hiring a tour guide for a full day or an extended period?

While a local guide may not be a travel agency, hiring a guide for a full day or multiple days can still be practical for similar reasons. They organize the program, manage the schedule, understand local conditions, know when and where it's worth going and how. They communicate on our behalf. There's always a Plan B. And Plans C and D as well if something doesn't go as originally planned.

 

If you hire a tour guide for an extended period, you can give them some flexibility, but it's advantageous to establish contact beforehand and provide guidelines on what you would like to see, what type of experiences interest you. You get all the advantages and convenience of an organized trip, with the added benefit that you don't have to adapt to anyone else since the guide is there exclusively for you.

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