- What is a Free Tour?
- How Much Should I Pay the Tour Guide?
- What is the Booking Fee?
- Can I reserve a tour without a fee?
WHAT IS A FREE TOUR?
We believe that travel should be for everyone no matter your budget and you should decide how much a tour is worth once you take it.
On our name-your-own-price tours, the booking fee reserves your spot since we limit how many people can join a tour. We've seen companies go out with over 100 people.
Reservations allow us to determine how many guides to send to ensure a fun and engaging experience.
The booking fee covers administrative costs, marketing, and the content creation for our helpful Travel Guides.
The tour itself has no predetermined cost - you can decide after you take the tour and then pay your guide directly. The tour operator keeps 100% of what you pay.
Guides work solely for your appreciation and this is many of our full time jobs.
All guides accept cash (please use local currency - as pretty as Canadian money is, we cannot use it everywhere!). Some also have Venmo, Paypal, credit card swipers, CashApp and other payment services. You can ask your guide prior to the tour when you receive their contact information.
HOW MUCH SHOULD I PAY THE TOUR GUIDE?
This is entirely up to you. Some guests pay $10 per person; others choose to pay $50! Keep in mind what you would have paid for this same experience on a ticketed tour and evaluate the experience provided by this guide.
Did it exceed expectations? Did the guide make it fun and special? How much did you learn?
A priceless experience at a price you choose, free tours are for any budget.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STANDARD BOOKING AND PRIORITY BOOKING?
PRIORITY BOOKING
Your spot is reserved for this tour and priority will be given to you in the event of limited space.
STANDARD BOOKING
In the rare event that a tour operator cannot accommodate the number of bookings requested, priority will be given to Guaranteed Bookings. Tour operators limit the total size of a group for the enjoyment of all.
Due to the nature of the pay-what-you-like tour model, it is often very difficult for operators to know how many people with bookings will, in actuality, show up to a tour.
The Covid-19 pandemic and local authorities' regulations limiting group sizes have also meant that spaces on our tours are more limited than before the pandemic.
Consequently, we have set up an optional booking fee on our tours for bookings of 1-5 participants.
The tour operator uses the number of guests who have paid the booking fee to gauge the number of independent, freelance tour guides to offer to lead any one particular tour and maintain small group sizes.
The booking fee is used to guarantee a spot on the tour.
While we intend to accommodate all guests, those with a guaranteed booking will be given priority in the event of a tour guide shortage or other unforeseen occurrences.
The booking fee is used by the organization to offset the costs of organizing the tours, including reservation system fees, city taxes, the costs of providing general customer service, and other miscellaneous costs associated with doing business.
The fee is refundable in full if you cancel within 24 hours of the start of a tour.
Can I just show up without a reservation?
All tours allow walk-ups if space allows. You will be required to agree to the Terms and Conditions of joining a tour when checking in with the guide.
If a tour is full, the tour operator will not be able to accommodate you as a walk up.
In addition, if any changes are made such as new meeting spot due to events in the city, time change or cancellation, we will not know to contact you.
You will also not receive our free city guide, restaurant recommendations and travel advice that is sent with every reservation.