Free walking tours

[dairyfloss]

A friend and I went on a walking tour of Munich while in town for Oktoberfest a number of years ago. A group of about 10 of us; it was really good. We tipped him about 20-30 EUR each at the end, which is what most people looked to be offering. Not bad for a couple of hours of [tax-free] work on the weekend for the guy

 

[RB]

I think there is quite a difference in the core values/intent of some of the walks that have been discussed in the thread.
This is one organsiation Greeters: Free walks with locals - destinations around the world. I think that group has different intentions to some of the group walks mentioned

 

[ellen10]

We have done many free walking tours and love them, always enjoyable and you learn lots of little suggestions, best cafes, restaurants etc. Many have been the tipping type and I am surprised that some obviously well off tourists do not tip.

We have done paid tours as well e.g. food tours in Paris, or pup and whisky tours in Ireland

We have also done the greeter type tours where they are not permitted to take a tip and we always offer to buy them a coffee of drink.

And yes they will match you up with someone with similar interests. In Paris we had a lovely young Aussie expat whose husband had a job in Paris. In Beaune we had a very entertaining French man who took us a great walking tour of the local wine growing area and even took us to his daughters place for morning tea.

Walking tours certainly enhance your overall experience.

 

[Scarlett]

We’ve done bike tours of a couple of places, but that is a known paid tour using bikes to ride around. Most memorable were a bike ride around a couple of suburbs and then sunset over the ocean in Lima, Peru and more recently a ride along the canals in Toulouse. The latter was great as it got Mstr. Scarlett’s face out of an electronic device!

I prefer bike tours over the walking tours for the wider range of things you can see as it’s generally multiple neighbourhoods over a couple of hours. The downside is that when riding from one place to another generally only one person can ride alongside the guide and talk to them, so maybe you get less interaction with the local expert whilst on wheels.

E-bike tours seem to be increasingly common, which I guess is trying to take away the ‘exercise’ or ‘difficultly’ factor that may stop some from choosing a bike tour.

I’d prefer all walking tours where a tip is ‘expected’ to just be upfront as costing 10, 20, 25 USD, SGD, EUR etc.

 

[Scarlett]

I think there is quite a difference in the core values/intent of some of the walks that have been discussed in the thread.
This is one organsiation Greeters: Free walks with locals - destinations around the world. I think that group has different intentions to some of the group walks mentioned

Thanks for the link @RB - bookmarked!

 

[Mattg]

Not bad for a couple of hours of [tax-free] work on the weekend for the guy

I don't know which tour you did, so it may not have been the case for your guide. But generally the tips are taxable (as they form part of the guide's income) and the guide usually needs to pay a small marketing fee to the company for each guest on the tour. It's usually around $2-4 per person.

That's also why the guide often gets a photo of the group - so they can show to their company how many people were on the tour.

So I always tip, even if I have to leave early. Except for one particular tour in Venice where the guide was so awful that I didn't really feel like he'd earned my money. (This guy also owned the company, so I don't think I was ripping anyone off by leaving early without paying.)

Often, companies that offer free walking tours (such as Sandeman's in Europe) also provide various paid tours. The guides can sometimes make extra commission (or get their marketing fee per tour participant reduced) by selling tickets to the paid tours.

 

[RooFlyer]

I think there is quite a difference in the core values/intent of some of the walks that have been discussed in the thread.
This is one organsiation Greeters: Free walks with locals - destinations around the world. I think that group has different intentions to some of the group walks mentioned

Thanks - I'll certainly be using them next year.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Slightly different but we did the free guided tour of the Australian War Memorial on Anzac Day Eve last year.

Our volunteer guide was brilliant and as we were the only 2 in her group, she tailored it to our interests ( aviation, medical and family members)
She took time out to find our late uncles' names on the memorial wall who died in WW2 and also my nephew in a training exercise in Qld.

At the end, she offered us the opportunity to each lay a wreath at The Last Post Ceremony - a very moving, emotional end to an informative day.
We have done the War Memorial before but this gave us an excellent insight.
Well worth it - tipping not allowed.

 

[Maisy33]

We used Hanoi Kids, we had 2 gorgeous young ladies (students) who were happy to practice their English. Advised no tipping, we paid for their lunch and taxi fares.

Also used Big Apple Greeters, no tipping but suggested we donate to the organisation. She took us to a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown and Yoko Ono and Sean were there with a group

 

[Wello]

I did three of the free walking tours in London recently including a Jack the Ripper themed walk. There is no pressure from the guides on what to tip and they let people pay what they are comfortable with. I love walking tours as you do hear stories about the area that you would never know about if you walked on your own.

 

[burmans]

We used Hanoi Kids, we had 2 gorgeous young ladies (students) who were happy to practice their English. Advised no tipping, we paid for their lunch and taxi fares.

Also used Big Apple Greeters, no tipping but suggested we donate to the organisation. She took us to a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown and Yoko Ono and Sean were there with a group

Love the free tours but agree Hanoi Kids were special. My girls were teens when we went and stayed in touch with the two girls we toured with for ages, we also recommended them to a number of friends and family.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I've done two free walking tours.

One of the gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Quite enjoyable; the guide (an elderly retired gentleman) had reasonable English and put in a lot of effort.

The other was on Table Mountain in Cape Town. Very knowledgeable guide; excellent tour.

 

[emilbulls]

We did quite a few free walking tours (Melbourne,Sydney,Berlin,Adelaide, Amsterdam, Venice, Ljubljana, etc)
All of them were tip based and we didn’t regret participating in a single one.
Always gave a tip at the end.

Best one was the “The Rocks” free walking tour at dusk, just great area and heaps of stories from the olden days.

 

[Himeno]

I've only done a handful of guided walking tours, all in Europe (Berlin, Netherlands). I don't think I've done any since I stopped booking hostel dorms and started flying on DONE3s instead of LONE4s.

 

[Poss]

I have done a few but one that was truly free was one that I did recently in Brisbane. The guides appeared to be older retired folk who had a good knowledge and appreciation of their city. As with other city tours I tried to give a tip at the end but the guide would not accept it as 'it was a totally free service. Brisbane I find is coming ahead in leaps and bounds in my experience.

As an aside, during the tour we were told that Brisbane is positioning itself as a destination as opposed to just being a stopping off point for the Great Barrier Reef and tours to Central Australia by overseas tourists.

 

[Forg]

As an aside, during the tour we were told that Brisbane is positioning itself as a destination as opposed to just being a stopping off point for the Great Barrier Reef and tours to Central Australia by overseas tourists.

They’re certainly putting a LOT of money into infrastructure so that they don’t look like a Melbourne come the 2032 Limpix … and even 15-ish years ago they’d started “fixing” the place such that buying a coffee in a coffee-shop wasn’t buying a mug of Blend-43 (a contrast to 5 years prior).

Doesn’t matter that a place’s climate is unlivable, people will visit & put up with it if it’s only for a week.

 

[Lynda2475]

They’re certainly putting a LOT of money into infrastructure so that they don’t look like a Melbourne come the 2032 Limpix

Being unsuccessful then, on a visit last November I couldn't help but note that Brissie feels very much like Melbourne these days. The skyline is littered with cranes, the sky scrapers are getting taller, the focus is the river and the city and not venturing out (even though the best parts of Queensland are well beyond its capital). Feels very much mini me Melbourne, with a different footy code.

 

[Forg]

Feels very much mini me Melbourne, with a different footy code.

... and yet without an embarrassing failed world games?

 

[Cynicor]

I’m a fan of free walking tours, the tipping kind. I don’t think anyone expect these to be actually free, it’s more a casual “pay what you feel it’s worth”. I think they are great, and don’t feel that most people on them stay in hotels and travel Y, as someone upthread seems to feel.

They always seem to have quite a mix of tour guides and customers and are generally a good way to get an initial feel for a city. I even joined one in Singapore when there with wider family/in laws, despite spending many many months as a tourist. I believe it was the kampong glam/arab street walking tour praised upthread too, coincidentally. Would happily do another one to learn a little more about areas I often go but might not know the history of.

 

[Buzzard]

Not a free walking tour but currently in Siem Reap I have a fabulous Tuk Tuk driver that only asks for a very modest amount. He takes me to local places so I don't pay tourist prices, takes me to a better money changer, provides me with ice cold water and we usually finish the day sitting around just chatting and sharing a couple of beers.
Yesterday he drove me to the circus and picked me up for my return. Didn't want payment. We then sat around for about 2 hours sharing a couple of beers.
I am going with him today and will make sure he's rewarded.