There are free walking tours in Helsinki. Any experience with these tours, pros/cons? Thanks.
Anyone familiar with any eat at home with a local family dinners? We did this in Italy and it was a lot of fun. Thanks.
Posted by
NorthCarolina
1060 posts
Can't speak for the ones there, but we always do the FREE tours - you pay with tip. We find they work hard for a tip and we've always been pleased. We did one in Nuremberg last week that was amazing.
Posted by
Washington DC
28050 posts
I haven't taken any tours in Helsinki, but when considering commercially-operated "free" tours, it's critical to know that the company charges the guides a head tax for each person on the tour. Way back before the pandemic Rick wrote about this, and I think the typical per-person charge to the guide was something like $3.50 (though I assume there was some variation from city to city). That fee charged to the guide needs to be considered when you decide how much to tip. I avoid "free" tours if there is an alternative; if not, I normally give the "free"-tour guide about 15 euros, which is approximately what I'd pay for a basic walking tour not advertised as "free".