Free walking tours in cities around the world (just give a tip)
One thing I do in most places I visit is find a free walking tour. These tours help get me oriented to the city. Plus, I can learn about things I want to see and places I want to go. An additional bonus is that it gives me access to a local person. This gives me a chance to ask a few questions about the best things to do, affordable places to eat, etc.
How to find walking tours
There are many individual sites around the world for this based on the city. For example, if you visit Chicago you can use Free Chicago Walking Tours. A google search for “free walking tour” and the city or country you are interested will help you find others.
Some cities have done this for decades. London has the famous London Walks options. Their Jack the Ripper walking tour is the first one I did about 20 years ago.
The offering of free tours has expanded from being in just a few major cities to all around the world. My next trip was to Rome. There I did a Colosseum area free tour and learned all about gladiator training among other things.
Other sites offer multiple cities, sometimes just in one country, but often in several or many countries. Free Tours By Foot has about 30 locations with free (and paid) tours in the US and Europe. Guruwalk has free tours in dozens of countries in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Showaround has some free and some paid tours on every continent except Antarctica.
Selecting a tour
Most sites let you choose tours based on your interests; for example, food, history, or culture. This lets you select a tour more tailored to your desires. No matter your interest, there is likely a walking tour you’d like in any major city you visit.
And, as a bonus, there is usually no commitment. You just show up at the time and place listed as the tour’s start. Sleep in? no problem. Decide to stay at the museum longer? It’s all good. Just try another day.
It can even be interesting to do a walking tour in a place that you visit regularly or even live. This may give you another person’s perspective on things. You might learn about some historical occurrence that you never heard about before, or some industry that you didn’t know existed. There’s always something new to learn wherever you are.
Life is a journey. Take a tour.
Happy Travels!
