Arriving in an unfamiliar city, many travelers look for a free walking tour of the cities main sites. Asking at the front desk of your hotel the host will say sure…Just be down in front of the city hall at a certain time. In our early days of traveling, my wife and I did exactly that. But after taking some we realized these so called “free” tours are just not worth the time.
Here are ten reasons why:
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Many guides for free tours don’t have the knowledge or personality and bore their group to the point where many leave the tour.
Guides Don’t Know Their Stuff – If you are a traveler who really likes to hear the history of the area and stories about what you are looking at, chances you will be very disappointed. Most of these guides are not prepared with this information, and often if you ask a question about what you are looking at they have no response, or even worse, make up something about the site. Typically I know more about the site then the guide simply because I spent a small amount of time on Google doing some research. It doesn’t take much research effort to be more knowledgeable than the local “free” guide.
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A common annoyance on any group tour is waiting for others on the tour, whether it is a walking tour or bus tour. The result is a waste of your time.
You waste a lot of time. First you are told to be at a certain location at a certain time to start the tour. When you get there on time typically you find only a few people. Your first reaction is good, thinking that will not be many people on the tour. But then the guide says that because people are often late, he will wait a few minutes for the latecomers to gather. There is no such thing as a “few minutes”. It often turns into fifteen or twenty minutes before the tour begins.
- Guides work for Tips – As the old expression goes, “there is no free lunch.” Free tours usually cost money because the guide makes it very clear that they do it for tips. And they follow up during the tour mentioning how long it takes them to prepare, or that they are working their way through college and need money, or other constant reminders to soften you up to give them not only a tip, but a more generous one.
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Every guide on a “free” walking tour takes the group to a “special shop” where people on the tour can spend time shopping. Of course, the guide receives something for this effort from the shop owner.
Time Waster Commercial Stops – There will always be two stops on these tours that are a wasted of time. One is at a café where you are made to feel obligated to purchase something. The guide tells you he knows it is the best pastries in town, or the sandwiches are cheaper here than elsewhere. It is always a place where you sit at a table. The service is slow, the snacks are the same as elsewhere, and what it does is take up a lot of the time on the tour. The second stop is a souvenir shop. Same deal. Here you loose more time standing at the door while two grey haired ladies haggle over the color of an authentic scarf … that was made in China. Which is ok if you are touring China. It is obvious that the only people who benefits from these stops are the tour guides because they get a kickback.
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A large tour group struggling to see and hear the tour guide in Israel.
Can’t Hear the Information – The majority of the time you can not hear what the guide is saying. Either the group is very large and you can’t get close enough. Or the traffic noise or other ambient noise is so loud. Then there is the issue of Guide’s accent. While you are told that the guide speaks your language, the question you should ask first is how well does the Guide speak your language. Understanding can be a big problem. I have had guides that only memorized certain lines of descriptions and can’t really speak any more of your language.
- Can’t skip the boring stuff – The Guides tell you too much about certain things. I had a Guide in Dubrovnik went on and on about the marble street paving stones. Stopping several times for a better look at them. Not just that they are polished by the feet of many people walking over them, but how thick they are, where they came from, how many they replace every year, the composition of the marble, and on and on. Who cares?? Not many in tour group because several wandered off… some not to return.
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A large walking tour group jamming and overtaking a small square in Split, Croatia making it uncomfortable for other tourists.
You are captive – You can’t stop when you want and take a break. You can only stop when the tour stoops. Nature calling? Forget it, if you wonder off to find a toilet you can never find the tour again. Feel like you want to stop and get a cold beer. Forget it. The march continues. What to snap a few extra pictures? Make it fast, because once the group turns the corner your lost.
- No personality – Most Guides seem to leave their personality at home. They just drone on and on with their memorized spiel. Rarely is there anything enjoyable about their delivery. No technique of storytelling. These places and things we are seeing for the first time should be “brought alive” for us to share in the excitement and of the location.
- Leave you stranded – These tours often end somewhere, not where it started, but some distant location and there you are. Completely lost. Left to find your back, hopefully. And if you ask for directions back to your hotel, or wherever, they quickly spurt out something that no one can understand or comprehend, and then hurry off to lead their next group of suckers.
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A SelfTour™ user listening to the entertaining and well research information on her smartphone.
Why be lost, hot and bored, when you can avoid all these issues by using your smartphone, or pad, with a SelfTour™ GPS guided audio tour adventure! You’ll enjoy the colorful narrator voices, lightly written descriptions, and music all combining to makes your tour experience come alive and fun. All on your own schedule. And all our tours lead you back to where you started.
What has your experience been with the free city tours? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. You can find out more information about our tours on our Home Page.
