Local guides can be amazing additions to any travel experience. For family travel they can be priceless.
notice pinwheels and other “follow me” markers of the group tours
A local guide puts you inside the stories of a sight, event or neighborhood from an historical and local perspective. Local guides are licensed and trained and, in our experience, have a genuine love for what they do and work to bring a tour to life for the travelers they work with.
As always, discuss expectations, wants, and needs, with your family and create some travel principles. We’ll provide some context and considerations to help you find what works best for your family.
Spectrum of local guide experiences
(levels are presented high to low in structure, but low to high for independence)
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- guide(s) leads group (private or bus load) for entire trip
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- (“follow someone carrying a giant sunflower as we go place to place”)
- e.g., Rick Steves tour through southern France
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- guide(s) leads group (private or bus load) for entire trip
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- guide leads group (private or 10+) for multiple hours
- e.g., wine tasting tour of Paris
- guide leads group (private or 10+) for multiple hours
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- guide leads group through a specific site
- e.g., the Vatican museums
- guide leads group through a specific site
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- “free walking tours” where volunteer guide (paid by tips) takes anyone who shows up at given spot/time on tour
- e.g., free walking tour of Montmartre
- “free walking tours” where volunteer guide (paid by tips) takes anyone who shows up at given spot/time on tour
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- audio guides – site-specific, traveler-controlled recordings
- e.g., museum device, click “1-2-3-Play” and listen
- audio guides – site-specific, traveler-controlled recordings
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- guidebook read-as-you-go
- e.g., read about Big Ben while standing at Big Ben
- guidebook read-as-you-go
- zero resources, totally independent
- e.g., just walking through a museum or exploring a neighborhood
While we do encourage you to be more independent in your travel, don’t read the list above as having a “good” or “bad” end. Everyone can benefit from having a local guide, you just need to determine when and where might be best for your family.
When do you hire a local guide?
| Knowledge deficit | - There is a lot to learn about the Eiffel tower but maybe your guidebook (or not!) is enough to adequately enjoy the experience. - The Louvre has so much amazing art, an unscripted walk through might be the best fit. - Who was Johannes Vermeer? |
| Risk of boredom | - Just another castle or charming old town...unless you know the stories of how it came to be and what happened there. |
| Curation benefits | - The Vatican museums, with 20,000 works in dozens of galleries, has four miles of displays; having an expert help narrow that down to a theme or collection of standouts is a must for our family. |
| Narration and context | - Listening to how athletes prepared for competition while you walk through Olympia ruins? Unbelievably cool. |
| Big kids vs little kids | - Will the kids be interested in the subject? - Will they be ok without a bathroom for 3 hours?(!) - (either way, bring snacks) |
| Cost: Time and $$ | - Guided tours can get pricey but they can also make an experience and save you time and a lot of trouble. - Local guides know how to skip lines and get to the best places of a site - Do what is best for your family. |
Case Study: Local guide at the Colosseum, Italy 2016
How to find a guide
There are many different ways to hire a local guide but online, and before the trip is what’s worked best for us.
From a practical standpoint, most local guides have websites and online reviews that tell you not only their credentials but also what to expect on their tour (fun time pub crawl, art history lovers, city overview, etc.).
Guidebooks, like Rick Steves, will provide a handful of recommendations and that’s always a great place to start. Even sites like TripAdvisor are a fine place to begin the search.
Depending on the duration and group size you might only be required to show up at a meeting place at a given time (include in your Google maps!) or you might be asked to pay a deposit or the full amount via their website.
Be cautious but not paranoid. Check reviews, travel forums (i.e. Google them and look for deal breakers with the understanding that some people are cranky, and sometimes it rains. A key indicator, did they try to resolve their issues?)
Private vs group tours with kids
- Private tour = guide + your family
- Group tour = guide + your family + other people who signed up
- Semi-private tour = guide + your family + fewer other people who signed up
| GOOD | LESS GOOD | |
| Private | - go at your own pace - stop when needed (snacks, restroom) - ask as many questions as you like - custom itinerary (often) | - pricey - separates you from other travelers |
| Group | - lower cost - less of a commitment - shorter in duration (30-90 min) | - less flexible itinerary - less questions answered - less 1x1 time with guide |
Our local guides over the years
- 2006 backpacking – free walking tour of Berlin (just Dan)
- 2008 Italy – semi-private tour of Colosseum and Vatican museums
- 2010 Greece – week-long guided tour of mainland Greece
- 2012 Paris – no local guide
- 2014 Amsterdam & Paris – no local guide
- 2016 Back to Italy – private tour of Colosseum and Vatican museums (Rome)
- 2017 Spain – private daylong tour of Toledo, group tours of Sevilla and Alcazar, private tour of Alhambra, Granada
talk soon,
Dan & Betsy
Family conversation topic: What are the kids “local experts” about? How would they lead a tour of their neighborhood or city? What topics could they cover? Nature? Culture? Gossip? Sports?