Tours by Locals

[TayanaLorna]

Has anyone used Tours by Locals for private excursions and what has been your experience?  Please comment on how your tour compared to its description on the guides website and how you would rate your tour experience compared to the reviews posted for that particular guide. Thanks.

[Azulann]

You might have better luck with posting this on CC main page under the country  forum  you will be in. 

There is always  lots of talk about different private tours and reviews on those threads.

[Peregrina651]

Ports of Call is the name of the forum that Azulann is talking about. 

[TayanaLorna]

Thank you both.  Will try that.

[Krisval]

The advice to search elsewhere is a good idea. That being said, I’ll quickly share an experiences we’ve had.

Barcelona- a walking tour of Fountains and courtyards. Excellent guide- very engaging, assessed our small group and adjusted accordingly. One couple in our group left their camera in a cab and the guide did everything possible to help them get it back- called the cab company, asked other drivers to call, etc. So A+ as a guide and as someone who went out of his way to help.

 

We did have another “Locals” guide in France (sorry I don’t have the specifics). There were only 4 people on the tour and the guide did a reasonable job, but wasn’t as engaging as our person in Barcelona.

 

We will continue to use Tours by Locals for tours of particular neighborhoods and such, but for the “bucket list” sites we are more likely to go with a vetted tour guide/company.

[Heidi13]

When researching private tours I considered a few guides in most of the ports, however I didn't select any of them. Tripadvisor & CC reports are generally positive, but I'm not in favour of their pricing model, which varies by size of group. Therefore, if you have no-shows the price per person increases.

 

In this situation, when I carry the risk, I expect lower pricing compared to other tours, but I generally found pricing to be the same or even higher than other options.

[Cisterna]

On 9/21/2019 at 7:45 AM, TayanaLorna said:

Has anyone used Tours by Locals for private excursions and what has been your experience?  Please comment on how your tour compared to its description on the guides website and how you would rate your tour experience compared to the reviews posted for that particular guide. Thanks.

Yes - I have used Tours by Locals for at least 10 years in UK, Italy, France, USA, Greece (all islands), Germany, Amsterdam, Brussels, Canada, Caribbean... I would honestly say I have been very satisfied 98% of the time. The communication is great,  the description is very true to the experience and the beauty of it is , that once you purchase your excursion , you are personally contacted by your guide and they have always been very accommodating. Since they are private tours, your guide is very able to alter your tour and tailor it to specifically what you want ~ albeit within reason. 

Excellent company , just make sure you understand the cancellation policy !  Unfortunately  there is absolutely no wiggle room there, as they set their schedule and that is their income for the time frame that you booked for. case in point, our cruise was altered, 6 days before departure, I obviously could not cancel within the 14 days required to get a refund, so I lost several hundred dollars. That's life...

[geffric]

In addition to the for mentioned cities,we had a fabulous tour in MUMBAI. The guides were fantastic and really gave us more more than we expected.  

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by geffric

[TayanaLorna]

21 hours ago, Cisterna said:

Yes - I have used Tours by Locals for at least 10 years in UK, Italy, France, USA, Greece (all islands), Germany, Amsterdam, Brussels, Canada, Caribbean... I would honestly say I have been very satisfied 98% of the time. The communication is great,  the description is very true to the experience and the beauty of it is , that once you purchase your excursion , you are personally contacted by your guide and they have always been very accommodating. Since they are private tours, your guide is very able to alter your tour and tailor it to specifically what you want ~ albeit within reason. 

Excellent company , just make sure you understand the cancellation policy !  Unfortunately  there is absolutely no wiggle room there, as they set their schedule and that is their income for the time frame that you booked for. case in point, our cruise was altered, 6 days before departure, I obviously could not cancel within the 14 days required to get a refund, so I lost several hundred dollars. That's life...

Thank you Cisterna.  I checked their cancellation policy again and apparently it has changed.  100% refund is offered is cancellation is 60 days or more, 20% refund for 30-59 days and 0% refund in the final month.  However they offer a 24 hour trip cancel for any reason policy for 10% of tour cost which value can be used for any Tours by Locals tour within two years.  Meh.  But better then that if your ship cannot dock or does not make port, cancellation is allowed under the Force Majeure clause.  That certainly would have helped you.

[TayanaLorna]

21 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

When researching private tours I considered a few guides in most of the ports, however I didn't select any of them. Tripadvisor & CC reports are generally positive, but I'm not in favour of their pricing model, which varies by size of group. Therefore, if you have no-shows the price per person increases.

 

In this situation, when I carry the risk, I expect lower pricing compared to other tours, but I generally found pricing to be the same or even higher than other options.

Yes i see that.  We are looking at a tour for 6 friends.  The pricing is for 6-7 people.  If we found two others, the cost goes up but accommodates 8-9 people.  I figure a larger vehicle is needed thus the increased cost.  However the per person charge does not calculate to much less.  So we will stick to our group of friends who agree to pay even if they cant do the tour and whose ability and interests all match.  

[theduffys]

16 hours ago, geffric said:

In addition to the for mentioned cities,we had a fabulous tour in MUMBAI. The guides were fantastic and really gave us more more than we expected.  

 

Interesting. We have used Tours by Locals several times and the very best one of all was Mumbai.