Venice...free tours?

[roupa]

Info/opinions on the free tours of Venice offered by LaBussola Free Tours.   

[euro cruiser]

Free tours are generally one of two things, either a tour company using this as a way to bring you in and sell you a bigger tour, or someone working illegally.  Sometimes they are both.

 

In any case it's highly unlikely that you'd have a licensed guide as they don't work free.  

 

You can bet that any shop or restaurant they point out has paid for the advertising.

 

The biggest benefit of these free tours is for orientation purposes, to understand where things are and how to get there.  Beyond that, well you get what you pay for.

 

Finally, there is no obligation to tip, ever.  In fact, if they are operating illegally and you are caught handing them money you could be in trouble as well.

[JohninDC]

I would go to your local library, check out Rick Steve's book with detailed Venice walking/boat tour plans, and take great notes.

[dkata]

On 11/18/2018 at 12:53 PM, roupa said:

Info/opinions on the free tours of Venice offered by LaBussola Free Tours.   

 

We did the free tour from Venice Free Walking Tour (which is different from laBussola) and We loved it and recommend it!

Contrary to the other postings opinion, we have done several free tours in different cities (Sydney, New York City, Barcelona, Venice) and they are not trying to sell you a bigger tour nor are they unlicensed. The free tour business model works on getting people to take the tour and then paying whatever it's worth to them. And because they are working for tips, they work very hard at making the tour interesting. And so far, every free tour that we've done has been worth a decent tip. (we typically tip €10 each) The tour guides are knowledgeable, interesting and sometimes funny. At the end of the tour, other than the one pitch to say they work on tips and to please tip what you think the tour was worth, there is no hard sell. I've seen people just walk away after a tour without giving a tip and there was no stink eye from the tour guides.

As for the Venice Free tour, I recommend doing it when you first get there. They hand out. maps and give invaluable information on how and where to see Venice. Read the reviews on TripAdvisor. Lots of happy people, as we were. And if we aren't happy with the tour, we don't pay. Do the free tour. Lots of walking but you won't regret it.

[rickstas]

I can also vouch for the Venice Free Walking Tour.

It was fantastic....just tip what you think is fair.