should you take a guided tour?

our guide for the Hill of Witches (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Is going on a guided tour worth it? Now that we're back from our Windstar cruise around the Baltic Sea, I wanted to reflect on this question. Whether you're on a cruise — or touring a new destination by land — you always have the choice of exploring independently, joining a group tour, or hiring a private guide. Here are my thoughts about making that choice.

Independent exploration is typically the most cost-effective option open to you. Some tourists do extensive research in advance of their trip. It's always a good idea to consult a guide book or to google "ten best things to see in ..." Select the attractions that most interest you, map them on a google map, save the map to your iPhone, even copy notes to your map — or simply tear the relevant pages out of your guide book and bring them along.

But don't discount the value offered by a great group tour or private tour.

(1) Benefit from expert local knowledge. Do you know to avoid the Vatican Museum in the mornings (when the groups from the cruises are all there)? Do you know that the Louvre is closed every Tuesday? Do you know the attractions that are truly engaging and not just tourist traps?

(2) Bypass long lines. Catherine's Palace outside St. Petersburg, Russia is a phenomenal place to visit. So is the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. But both have LONG lines. You can easily waste three hours waiting on queue when visiting Catherine's Palace. With our private guide, we skipped the lines and got right in to the palace, ahead of all these people.

three hour wait to get into Catherine's Palace (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

(3) Get in before the thundering herds.

We arrived at the Hermitage a bit before 10 a.m. There were already long lines of tourists waiting for the doors to open at 10:30 a.m. Our guide got us in at 10 a.m., thirty minutes before the general public, thirty minutes before the hallways were choked with hoards of people. We saw this grand staircase shortly after we entered. 30 minutes later, these stairs would be full of people. (Pro tip: if you've purchased early admission, make the most of it by visiting the WC in advance!)

(4) Wander purposefully. Think about the last time you visited a famous museum. Did you know how to map out an ideal visit? Or did you find yourself wandering aimlessly, glancing at some of the paintings, but not really knowing what to look at or why it was significant? A great guide can transform a museum visit. I still remember our visit to the Prado Museum in 2009. In one efficient hour, our private guide (an art historian) gave us a comprehensive lesson on Goya and Velasquez and took us to all of their works (which happened to be scattered throughout the Prado in various galleries). Not a step wasted!

(5) Hear and enjoy the whole story. Look again at the picture at the very top of this article. This was taken during our group tour of the Hill of Witches near Klaipeda, Lithuania. Now, it's totally possible to go there on your own, take the round-trip path up and down the hill, and look at the elaborate carvings. And the visit would be free (except for the cost of a taxi or rental car to get there).

But we had the most incredible tour guide. She was such a gifted storyteller. The dozens of carved statues portrayed traditional stories from Lithuanian folklore. Our guide grew up hearing and loving those stories. She told those very stories every night to her own young daughter. She exuded so much delight when she told them to us, and her voice conveyed an authentic sense of drama. Our guide was utterly captivating and treated us to an unforgettable introduction to Lithuanian culture.


The expertise of the guide makes all the difference. Of the nine guides we had over the course of our cruise, this guide in Klaipeda was superlative. We had seven very good guides, one mediocre guide, and one guide (in Tallinn) who was totally crappy — bored with his job, boring to listen to, and lazy. He gave the group "free time" several times — totaling 75 minutes of a four hour tour. He called it "time to shop," but we could have done that on our own time, not his. It would have been better to explore Tallinn on our own than walking around with a crappy guide.

So how can you avoid guides who are crappy and get the best? Use a Virtuoso onsite who knows the best guides in their areas of expertise. And book early — the best guides are the first to be reserved!

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

guided tours vs. "do it yourself"

crowded Floating Market an hour outside of Bangkok

Guided tour or do-it-yourself? There's a lot to recommend each way of exploring a new destination. Frankly, I've been spoiled by my experience as a Virtuoso travel consultant. Having experienced guided tours on Educational Trips, it's hard for me to go back, especially in a place where traveling is difficult.

There is a huge advantage to hiring a private guide. You don't waste time figuring out logistics, buying tickets, and determining the best use of your precious vacation time. An expert local guide is working for you, to help you make the most of every day. We had an Abercrombie and Kent guide (Sue) and driver in Bangkok.

An experienced guide makes sure everything goes smoothly. One day we visited the Mae Klong Market whose claim to fame is that a railroad track runs right through it. Whenever the local train comes through, all of the merchants using the (free) stall space next to the tracks have to move their merchandise. Our next stop, the Amphawa Floating Market (pictured above) is crowded with both merchants and shoppers. We saw both, without a moment's worry about how to get there or what to do once we did.

And if things do go wrong, a great guide can fix them in a hurry. On our way back to Bangkok, the transmission on our car broke down… but not to worry. Sue got out of the car, flagged down a taxi, and got us to our next destination (lunch at The Siam) without our having to break a sweat. By the time we had finished lunch, a new car and driver were waiting to take us back to the Four Seasons.

There's much to be said about wandering, getting lost, and making new discoveries on your own. This is my preferred way to travel in lots of places, from Paris to New York to Venice. But if you want to just sit back, experience the destination, and travel in style, there's nothing better than a private guide.

copyright (c) 2014 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

the best return on your travel investment

If you're like most luxury travelers surfing the web, I imagine you're looking for the best travel experience for the lowest possible price. I totally understand that logic, and in fact my services as a luxury travel consultant are all about obtaining the best possible value for my clients.

The search for the absolute lowest price, however, sometimes has unintended consequences. Making decisions simply on the basis of price, especially when we're traveling to unfamiliar and exotic destinations, can rob us of the very experiences we're traveling around the world to have. Here's a true story that happened to me.

Shortly after I became a Virtuoso travel consultant, I planned a trip for myself to Italy. I scheduled two nights in Naples, wanting to visit the famous ruins of Pompeii. I asked one of the Virtuoso onsites in Italy to provide me a quote for a tour of Pompeii — a car and driver to take us there and a half-day tour of Pompeii with a private guide. While their price was OK, I also emailed the Concierge of my hotel in Naples, asking him to quote me a price for the same services. The hotel's price came back perhaps 20€ lower. So I went with the lower price. What's the difference, I figured, between one guided tour and another?

Well, quite a lot, it turns out — a lesson I learned the hard way. Our driver was great. He picked us up in a comfortable car and drove us to Pompeii. Upon our arrival around 10 a.m., we were introduced to the guide arranged for by the Concierge. He took us into the ruins of Pompeii, explained the various sites that we were seeing, and then — at 11 a.m. — said "goodbye" to us.

"But we paid for a half-day tour," I said.

"I don't know anything about it," he replied ... and off he went to meet his next clients.

I saved 20€, but I didn't get the experience I was hoping for. When a three hour in-depth tour turns into a sixty minute cursory visit to one of the major attractions in Italy, you are going to feel cheated and disappointed. This was a valuable lesson.

Why do we travel, after all? We do it for those unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime experiences of seeing history with our own eyes ... and while I saved 20€, it shortchanged my experience of Pompeii (although we made good use of the extra time by having our driver take us to Herculaneum - not all was lost).

So here are the top reasons that Virtuoso travel advisers will use onsites to plan the components of a foreign trip.

1. They are true experts about their locale. They know the best way to tour the sights and absorb the culture of their destination.
2. They are vetted by Virtuoso, and you can be confident that these companies are financially secure and consistently provide exceptional service.
3. They contract with the best available English-speaking guides.
4. They know the best restaurants (and can make reservations) and can take you to out-of-the-way sights most tourists never see.
5. They can arrange exclusive experiences that will give you "bragging rights" for a lifetime.
6. If anything goes wrong on your trip, they are a local resource there to assist you.

It's not the least expensive way to travel and your travel consultant will receive a commission [disclaimer], but onsites offer the best possible return on your travel investment.


luxury travel consultant (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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