Do you enjoy taking guided tours?

[Nr1Humanoid]

I usually explore on my own but on a recent trip I took a couple of guided tours as I could not find any skip the line tickets that did not come without a guide.

I think I will stick with exploring at my own pace as before.

The guide was very good and knowledgeable, there was nothing wrong with the service, but for me there was too much time spent standing around listening. I guess I am simply too restless for it, more interested in the looking and experiencing of things than I am learning about it, since I can do the latter through reading on my own time before and after.

[Cyno]

If I don't know a place, I find guided tours fascinating as long as the guide knows their stuff.

[agent817]

Back in November, I went to LA for a vacation. My family and I went on the Warner Bros Hollywood Backlot Tour. It was fun. The tour guide had quite a presence when he was giving details to certain sets and stuff.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

Disney has fun informative behind the scenes tours

Chicago’s architecture cruises are a must do if you visit

[schma]

I did some walking tours when I was in London England a few years back and enjoyed them. They had a whole slate of them with different focuses so I just picked the ones that sounded most interesting to me. There was one about various famous authors, another tracing where Jack the Ripper had been, another that was pretty much a pub crawl including the oldest bar in London. Each was only 2 hours so it was a nice small commitment.

[Ryback on a Pole!]

Depends--if it is at say a museum or a castle then I may take it to get some facts on the place and then look around at my own pace later.

If it is a generic "tour of the city" or "bus trip from the hotel to xxx destination" then I prefer to go on my own pace. I went on a day tour to some temples in Thailand. A quarter of the day was taken up by a trip to a "chocolate" factory which was basically just a big shop selling chocolates that the tour company got a commission on. I don't care--skip that, let me spend an extra few hours nosing around the temple.

Quite a few day trips I have seen have the key attraction, and a then a way to gouge money from you later on. When I went to India with my mum, she booked us on a day tour to see the Taj Mahal, another historical site and then at the end of the day was shoehorned in a trip to see a rug maker---it was basically two hours of him trying to sell us a rug. Nobody bought one. Skip that bit, get rid of the rug maker and take us to another old fort or ancient temple. I've paid for a tour, not a tour and then an attempt to sell me some shite.

[Stu]

I'll do them for specific tourist attractions but not for entire trips. I spent a couple weeks in Europe in February and booked guided tours for Pompeii, the Vatican and Colosseum. The latter two were in large part to avoid long lines getting in. Pompeii was a day trip from Rome and it ended up a highlight because it included a free lunch that was more than expected. It was a three-course meal with wine tasting at a winery and the tour group got drunk and socialized a lot more than we did during the tour. Then the winery owner bamboozled us into ordering wine and we were drunk enough to accept. I came home to 200 euros worth of Italian wine.

[animaniac]

I give guided tours as part of my job.

[4real]

Generally not really unless it’s a tourist attraction that requires one. I once did a stadium tour on my own (Benfica in Portugal) and it was a bit weird with no tour guide and making my way round looking at signs and listening to a headset. Very nice and quiet though so was happy about that!

[dirtyoldman]

When on holiday I do like going on tour excursions as you do get a bit more info and there's usually interesting characters in your group. You also don't get lost or anything like that.

We did an excursion holiday to Malta years ago, and our tour guide was a Swedish man called Frederick who had married a Maltese lady and settled there. He had the knowledge but could also relate to us being forgien to the country and told us about the customs of the country that we wouldn't know.

For example, the first time he went out with the in laws was to a traditional Maltese restaurant where they served Rabbit. He was a bit nervous as he never had rabbit but ended up enjoying it. That is until, per Maltese tradition, they brought the head of the rabbit to the table to show he wasn't given cheap meat instead. He said he kinda freaked out a bit lol

[dirtyoldman]

Apr 5, 2024 21:42:41 GMT -5 Stu said:

I'll do them for specific tourist attractions but not for entire trips. I spent a couple weeks in Europe in February and booked guided tours for Pompeii, the Vatican and Colosseum. The latter two were in large part to avoid long lines getting in. Pompeii was a day trip from Rome and it ended up a highlight because it included a free lunch that was more than expected. It was a three-course meal with wine tasting at a winery and the tour group got drunk and socialized a lot more than we did during the tour. Then the winery owner bamboozled us into ordering wine and we were drunk enough to accept. I came home to 200 euros worth of Italian wine.

Sounds like a day tour we took from Rome. Pompeii is a wonderful place to visit and worth doing with a guide.

[Bo Rida]

I like doing the free (tip based) walking tours when I arrive in many places. They help finding my way around, give some context and often recommend some places I wouldn't have ever known about otherwise.
Plus sometimes you can make friends to have lunch with, especially if a hostel pushes them and is the starting point.
Some are better than others.

I'm not so keen on say a museum guided tour, I'd rather go at my own pace.

Day tours vary, some are great, one I did in Slovenia with rafting was amazing. Others are too rushed or are after kickbacks. I tend to avoid unless it's somewhere you can't get to on public transport.

I don't think I'd be able to deal with the restrictions of a longer guided tour for anything other than a safari.

[Stu]

Also depends on transportation. A few years ago I flew to London and booked a trip to Stonehenge simply because I didn't want to drive. Once we got there, we were free to roam at our own pace for a couple hours. Later on that trip, I was in Edinburgh and I did a daylong trip via charter bus so I could visit Loch Ness. And later, I went to Dublin and did the same things for the Cliffs of Mohr. Each destination allowed me to walk around freely, but within certain amounts of time so we could stick to our schedules.

[SmashTV]

If the guide is knowledgeable and professional and engaging then yes. They’ll know more than me and can teach me things I may not find out for myself. On some tours though, I know that the visit to a jewellery/carpet/wood carving outlet is just a money making ruse. I tend to try and avoid that part or, if can’t, make it clear I’m not interested in buying something.

[KingPooper]

If it’s the only way to tour the attraction then sure but normally I like going at my own pace.

Since I give ghost tours in a hearse, I’m really picky about tour guides but I feel most do a good job.

[Natural Born Farmer]

I prefer when the museum has a headset or app I can use, or if there's a QR code I can scan if I want to know more.

Love art museums, but sometimes I don't want to hear what someone else thinks, or the context of the piece.  I want to experience it for myself and gather my own thoughts.

[Hit Girl]

I liked unguided tours of people's houses, but the court told me it was technically breaking and entering.

[HMARK Center]

Normally not really, but I got to go on a good "Ripper Tour" in London; there are multiple companies that offer tours of where Jack the Ripper did his deeds, but the one we got to go with did a really good job of being both entertaining and informative.

[Brood Lone Wolf Funker]

It depends like I love a guided ghost tour but if it's historical I like to roam, Eastern State Penn was great as a self guided tour

[willywonka666]

I went on a guided Beatles tour of London 20 years ago and really enjoyed it-didn't have to worry about getting lost or anything, HOWEVER a few days before when I arrived I foolishly looked around on my own and got lost-BIG TIME. The most magical moment occurred however when I looked up and saw the sign for Abbey Road.

I stumbled on it on accident and getting lost was all worth it.