Things to Watch Out for When Booking a Guided Tour in Europe

Tour Type

Not every tour suits your needs and wants. If you love history, you will probably find joy in a guided historical tour of Edinburgh. A Harry Potter fan, on the other hand, will be happily joining a tour that meets their expectations.

Also, keep in mind the age group. Seniors will prefer to be in a group with other older individuals instead of young 20 somethings.

Some of the tours that you will come across:

• General Landmark Tour — The most basic and common tour.
• Food & Wine Tour — Tasting sessions, markets, restaurants...
• Film Location Tours — Filming locations, insider stories with picture sessions.
• Historical Tours, e.g., WWII tours.
• Legend and Story Walks — Guided story retelling.
• Architecture and Street Art Walks
• Panoramic Bus or Boat Tours — Some are Hop-on-Hop off buses.
• Multi Day Tours — To cover a region or multiple cities.
• Festival Tours — Christmas markets or specific fairs such as the Oktoberfest.

Private or Group Tours

Most tours, if it isn't specifically mentioned, tend to be group tours. Group tours can include 5 or 30 participants, and unfortunately, not many tour operators disclose the actual count.

Group tours tend to be more budget-friendly, and you usually just follow a guide from A to B.

Private tours are more personalized, and you can have a one-on-one with the tour guide, asking questions and probably tailoring the tour to your needs. But private tours are more expensive as well.

If you can't afford a private tour, pick a smaller sized guided tour with 10 participants at most. Ask the tour operator, if it's not mentioned on the listing.

Minimum Age or Fitness Level Requirements

Don't just assume that every tour is cut out for small children. Specific tours are adults only, or they won't take families with smaller kids because of the nature of the tour.

If you plan a tour that requires long walking, hiking, or another sports activity, check if you have the physical energy and endurance to actually do it.

You will be walking A LOT in Europe. In fact, Europeans walk around all the time all day long. Be prepared for that and the cobbled, uneven streets (bring comfortable footwear).

Besides, It's easy, for example, to underestimate a 1-hour hike up a green hill in Glencoe, Scotland.

You need to be fit for specific group excursions.

Tour Starting Location

I have the tendency to overlook the tour starting location. If it says Budapest, you ought to know where in Budapest, as it could be in Buda or in the Pest quarters.

Double-check the exact location and address. The Four Seasons are a well-known luxury hotel chain, but locations with the same name or similar names may operate in the same city.

Guide Expertise

A local experienced guide is worth gold in my opinion, but they are hard to come by.

Be aware that many tour operators hire inexperienced foreign tour guides, who learned a ChatGPT script by heart.

If that's okay with you, go ahead, but if you want to really get into your tour and the place you're visiting, you will greatly benefit from having a highly qualified tour guide.

You pay money to learn true knowledge and individual expertise. The wannabe tour operator is technically just scamming you (and ultimately destroying the reputation of the industry)

We have also come across immersive guided tours. A good example is the Dachau concentration camp tour with the immersive storytelling. Those are great!

Tip: Look out for government-approved tour guides. These individuals are certified and meet the legal requirements. Official tourism offices can give you a contact.

Attraction Entrance Fees & Skip the Line

Check the fine print to see if the tour includes attraction entrance tickets. Some tours include a guide, but they don't cover the admission fee.

If a tour mentions skip-the-line tickets, it means that the attraction tickets are included in the tour. Therefore, you won't have to queue in line at the ticket counter, but you will still have to queue for security.

Free Tours, Hidden Costs & Tipping

You will randomly come across free city tours on the internet. These are advertised as short-duration group tours. Check if you need to register a spot in advance or not.

Just be aware that some are actually “free” as advertised, and others ask for a generous “tip” at the end of the tour.

Tourism boards in the city like to organize free tours. We took part in a free tour at the Mauthausen concentration camp memorial, and we also came across a free to join tour in the Budapest Synagogue.

These are completely free or tied to your entry ticket! But a guide that isn't associated with an organization or department may call it free when it actually isn't, and that's what you should be aware of.

The lack of transparency is misleading and wrong. More people have come forward lately that they felt duped.

Tipping is always optional in Europe, and tipping tour guides is not customary. This trend has emerged with foreign Gen Z employees.

Duration & Time of the Day

How long is the guided tour? Is it half a day, a full day, an hour, or a couple of days?

The time of the day matters in many instances.

Mainstream group tours flood small towns and cities at the same time of the day. For example, in Riquewihr France in the summer, it's at 10 am, and in Rothenburg ob der Tauber during the Christmas period, it starts at 2-3 pm.

You will also come across sunrise, sunset, and specialized nighttime tours.

Pace

Take a look at the itinerary in detail. Is it packed with attractions? How far are they from each other? Will you be sitting on a bus most of the time?

A fast-paced group might not be your choice if you like to take in the beauty of the location, and vice versa.

Check if the tour itinerary includes a “free-to roam” hour if it's a full-day tour.

Language

Find out if the tour is in your preferred language. Secondly, see if the description mentions any other languages.

Because, a group tour can include 2–3 languages, and the guide will have to translate everything into each language, which can slow down the whole experience.

Audio Headphones & Audio guides

Depending on the location and the tour type, you may be offered audio headphones.

These can be helpful if it's in a loud environment or when you are walking behind a tour guide in the city.

Be aware that audio headphones are not always automatically offered as part of the tour. Specific tours may even charge you extra for audio headphones.

Audio guides are devices, and they don't come with a human guide. You have to self guide from one point to another, and the device explains the story or the significance of a location.

What's included

Keep an eye out for the following things that can be included in the price of a guided day trip tour:

• Transportation
• Meals
• Entry Tickets

Accessibility

Not every tour is built for wheelchair users and strollers. Message or call the tour operator to ask important mobility questions.

Remember, cobbled streets in old towns in Europe are common place.

Cost vs Deliverables

Is the tour worth the cost? Cheap tours are not always better, and more expensive tours may offer more perks than expected.

Compare several tour listings and their offers in detail and pick the one that suits your needs.

Tour Reputation & Reviews

Just because a tour listing appears with thousands of 5-star reviews, it doesn't mean that it's the top choice. Reviews can be faked, and this industry is definitely not holy.

Go through the written reviews and look out for red flags. Is every comment a short praise? Are there only star reviews but no comments? Do the longer comments sound artificial or off?

Locate the name of the tour operator and search for it on the internet. Compare what people have said on forums to see if there are any complaints from customers.

Transportation

Most guided group tours get you from A to B via bus. Bus rides can be long and suffocating; they don't stop as often (thrombosis risk), and you may have to deal with inconsiderate tourists.

We prefer private tours that pick you up and drop you at your hotel. The driver is basically your personal guide, and they can take you efficiently to all the sights that you'd like to see.

You will also encounter guided boat tours and these are either large groups and big boats or a smaller scale version of the same.

Specific cycle, horse, or other small vehicle tours can be booked as well. But they usually don't pick you up or drop you to your hotel.

Weather & Season

Ask the tour operators if the tour is canceled or moved to a different location on a bad weather day.

The time of the year can make or break your experience. Specific tours might not be offered in the off-season, and others will be packed with participants during the peak season.

Keep in mind that you will have more available daylight in the summer months and that in the winter the sun can set in the afternoon in specific places.

Direct vs Third-Party Bookings

You can book guided tours directly with tour operators, or you can order them online via third-party websites.

A direct tour can be booked on the museums' website. For example, you can book a guide at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam simultaneously online when you purchase your ticket. We usually prefer this method.

But you will also come across tour operator sellers in all the major cities in Europe. They have a little table set up with an umbrella at all the major tourist hotspots. They sell direct tickets and tours. Be aware that they don't always offer the best recommendations. Every extra sale lands them a higher commission.

Third-party websites include Viator, GetYourGuide and many others. These are basically aggregators that help you discover tours via their search function.

GetYourGuide is Europe-based, but both are terrific for discovering niche tours. We like to use them to discover unique private tours.

Tip: I don't recommend purchasing skip-the-line tickets from third-party websites because you can get the same tickets from museum websites directly and sometimes cheaper too. The whole skip-the-line thing is misleading, it's just a basic entry ticket.

Cancellation and Refund Policy

Don't skip going through the cancellation and refund policy. Will you get a full refund or just 50%? Can you cancel a day in advance or 2 weeks earlier?

More elaborate and expensive tours may have a no-refund policy. I recommend getting a travel insurance that covers costly unforeseen cancellations.

Tips

• Don't expect the same tour guide enthusiasm that you are used to at home.
• Don't be late for your tour, they won't wait for you.
• Most tours won't pick you up, they have a meeting point.
• The starting point isn't always the same as the dropping point.
• Some tours have a minimum group size policy. They may cancel a tour if the participant numbers are too low.