Do you use Tourist Info offices?

I only use them in the way you do, when they're offering a tour, ticket, or pass I want to buy. I have my trip well planned before I arrive, so I don't feel the need for any other services.

Pre-internet those offices would have been really valuable. Now I can get all the info online before arriving.

Rarely. I may stop in the occasional one for a map or the toilet, but often my lodging isn't nearby and I may not go into the centre of town until part way through my itinerary so their purpose is moot. My last one was Segovia, on a 20 day trip to Spain. I did email with the one in Cordoba for some details I couldn't get directly from the tourist site. That was helpful.
When I am cruising (yeah, I know), I use the office or kiosks more often to confirm some details, check bus routes and times or get a map.....and the free wifi.
However, possibly as a historical memory thing, I tend to stop at every state and province tourist bureau in North America when doing a road trip. A place to stretch my legs, use the restroom, get a current map or some details. I really look forward to wandering around those 'Welcome to XXX' info offices.

In the days before the internet, I would use Tourist Info offices to find rooms in B&B's for me. We traveled without room reservations. But I seldom use them now.

Last time I used one was 3 years ago in Edinburgh. I asked where I could find a laundromat. We hadn't planned to go to Edinburgh, so I wasn't prepared.

In Triberg, where the train station did not have any available lockers big enough to store a bag. The tourist office held it for gratis. And at Zurich Hbf when I had a long train change and was looking for something to do to kill 4 hours.

On-line to find budget lodging in several instances.

Most towns and cities are well documented in the web but even in my city - Berlin - the website of the official Tourist Office can give people a lot of help and information that is standing in no travel guide:

• Event calendar
• Day itineraries
• Tips for neighborhoods or area around
• Topic specific collections, e.g. low budget tips
• Hidden places - and they are even listed there

Though this huge amount of information some travelers come very naive and uninformed to destinations or even worse with a wrong picture of how - in my case - Germany has to be. So, they are walking into a branch of a Bavarian brewery right in the middle of Berlin. The original Berlin brewery is 400 metres down the street. These tourist approaches I simply do not understand.

If it comes to the countryside the value of tourist offices is even higher because they know their local infrastructure and places, e.g. best hikes. In Norway they do a pretty good job.

I like to be informed before traveling and use additionally chances to walk into tourist offices because a lot of times I got a very good tip or sometimes a view behind some scenes, e.g. sneak previews of exhibitions which will open at a date I already left.

Especially in Europe which is sometimes very sub-regional and local a visit at a tourist office can make a difference.

We love to hike, and I spend a long time researching different hikes in the areas we will be in. I do stop in the tourist information to find out the most updated information on different hikes we are going to do. Some are better than others when it comes to this type of information. However, usually if there is a major change (a hike that is currently closed because of a problem, etc) they will know it. I have not found them particularly useful in helping me choose a hike. They always suggest the most common, easiest "walk" in the area. This is probably what a huge percentage of people are looking for and given our ages (63) they put us in that box. Therefore, I have found it necessary to find my own hikes and know what I am asking about. (yesterday we hiked 9 miles, 3,000 foot elevation gain. I want a good hike, not a pleasant walk).

For me, the best reason to stop into a TI is to find out if any special events are happening that may have escaped my search for sight options. I'll always check in and ask.

I will buy certain things from a TI, a Paris Museum Pass or Copenhagen card are examples.

I'll consider a TI as a last resort for finding lodging. They are sales agents for supporting businesses now. They'll find you lodging but it won't be a value. I'm more likely to use TripAdviser for last minute booking.

I just came from cycling along the coastal areas of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Wanting to experience train travel with my bicycle at some point, the internet links were a bit confusing about specifics. (which trains? bicycle fees? where do you transfer?) My camping host at "Camping De La Seleune" in Pontabault recommended I try the Tourist Information office in Ducey. Finding a bicycle/pedestrian only 11 km path under wonderfully shaded in trees, I cycled to Ducey and the Representative called the Tourist Information Office in Avranche and got me information and a personal contact there to help me purchase and explain the fees and transfers the next day. Both offices were clean, well lit, and had user friendly maps of the locale. The representatives spoke English well (the one in Avranche spoke Spanish!) and are a font of knowledge and information to help clarify the generalized wording of Internet links.

Since we are usually staying in a location for 2-4 weeks at a time on our house exchanges, at some point we usually drop in at the local TI. I like to do this early in our visit so, like Mark and Brad have said above, we can find out about events that are taking place during our visit and the surrounding smaller towns. TIs will often have much more detailed maps than I can find online. They sometimes have charming souvenirs of their region (I love the TI in Überlingen).

OTOH we and our exchange families have usually gotten TI brochures for each other to help us enjoy our visits to our respective areas. But I still check out their TI once we get there.

EDIT: Note not all TI offices are created equally. In Vevey, CH last summer there was some confusion about if the wine train was still running and if not which bus to take. We walked across the street to the TI office where we met the least helpful and informed TI worker in my life. Also in Quedlinburg, DE there are side by side, competing “official” TI offices that both seem to be less than friendly. We’re going back there this fall so I’m going to go in again and see if they are both still there and if either one of them have figured about service to visitors.

I use them in the US when hiking (mostly to get maps and ask any questions regarding certain itineraries) and I definitely use them in State and National Parks. Utah has excellent ones; same with the Welcome Centers in California. The staff at those centers is very knowledgable and professional, so why not use their expertise?

The last time I tried to use one in Europe was in Siracusa, Sicily. I quickly discovered that it was more like a private business pushing certain tours, not an unbiased source which is what I'm after (I hate it when a non-biased TI office turns into a private for-profit tour agency whose motivation is not to give you comprehensive unbiased info and maps). In contrast, in Ragusa, it was incredibly helpful to get real maps of the lower and upper town (marking every UNESCO site and all the little winding streets) that I could only get a crappy version of on the web prior to the trip. The tourist center there helped me a lot. Italian websites are really crappy, poorly designed and it takes a lot sleuthing to get any info, which is likely in Italian (which I luckily can understand). Southern Italy is even worse in that respect.

Quebec City, Montreal, and Reykjavik also come to mind as having excellent resources. I too agree that this is a great place to get info on special events and anything going on that week on the ground.

Certainly nowhere near as much as I used to before the internet. Like others, they were helpful for booking reservations in town, getting guides to sites and for maps. I may still pick up a map there, or buy a pass. If I had a specific question, the TI would be a good place to go for an answer.

But most of us here are savvy travelers. I would expect many people still stop in looking for information they could not, or were not willing to find online.

Our RS tour guide pointed the group to one in Delft this spring to purchase tram tickets to Den Haag. The ladies were extremely nice and wow...found a really neat scarf (Delft blue tulips so 2 birds with one scarf so to speak!) for 10E, hahaha!

The last time before that was several years before on an RS Best of England tour when I stopped in to get a map and instructions to walk from Keswick up to Castlerigg. Funnily enough, the RS guide was in there and it turned out he was picking up local pictures for each group member that he handed out at the farewell dinner.

I, too, remember the pre-internet days when you'd arrive in a town by train and rock up to the local TI to find a place to stay.

I also agree that most people on this forum will have done more research than many other travelers!

We only stop at a TI if we happen to walk past it. Usually I have researched the town & area for many months before, so we're not walking into the TI to figure out what to do, but it's nice to drop in and see if there's any interesting local events that I missed.

We stopped into one at an Italian town that's not on the US list of places to go. It was interesting - maybe even refreshing that the person couldn't speak any English! Through some charades & my short Italian vocabulary, we found out that the town was having a free evening music festival where we listened to music & watched dancing in the cathedral, at piazzas, etc. and the museum was open - a wonderful evening!

Mira your right. The last tourist office I used was to pick up our Salzburg Cards in 2015. I have already researched, planned, ordered, scheduled my activities & sites before departure.
Back in the early 90s when I was in the Air Force, I would visit our Tour/Travel Office on base before heading out in the country I was visiting or living in.

I do and have in several places. I'm not attached to my phone/tablet while out and about so I will stop and ask them questions rather than going online. For example I used the TI in Prague to find a laundry service because the one mentioned in my guide book was no longer offering that service and I needed it done. I've also used them for help with local transportation because routes had been canceled or changed since my research. Because I'm not tethered to electronic devices I prefer hard copy maps so will often stop in first thing for a city map. I also use them to find day trip options, walking tours, etc because I don't plan my sightseeing days down to the minute and sometimes find I have a couple of hours free and am looking for suggestions. I find them very helpful in most cases.

We old fashioned travelers still do make use of the TI's.

If convenient, I always stop in at the TI. They are a great resource. You can find out about current goings on, entertainment, festivals, markets, etc. Some are also a source for audio tours, free maps, info about the best way to wander around a city, special things not in guide books, discounts on attractions and more. On a few occasions I’ve arrived in a city with no hotel reservations. TI’s in Lucerne, Vienna, Munich and Bellinzona got me last minute affordable lodging. I was never disappointed with any recommendations and prices often were cheaper than I would have normally paid.

We almost always stop in the TI. Often we get local info not available easily online. Like Connie, we hike a lot and it is invaluable to find up-to-date info and if we are in an area new-to-us, passes, hiking maps, etc. Last year we found the TI in Pontresina was a gold mine as it is a varied area and Rick covers it lightly while other books concentrate on hotels and dining.

In the UK this spring, we found the TI associated with the Offa's Dyke Association office to have scads of info we wish we had had during trip planning. A reason to go back, I guess.

The TIs are not all so wonderful, though. In Hay-on-Wye we encountered a bored older (than us!) woman with a pat answer (take this walk, look at those brochures, buy a leaflet) for everyone. Couldn't pry anything out of her.

In 1972 when I took my post-Freshman year grand tour, my friend and I always went to the TI when we arrived in any location to get a room. Some of those rooms were unbelievably horrible.

I use them all of the time. They are invaluable when in a new area. I like the local walking maps, more specific info on places I'll visit, recommendations on places I never considered, and mostly just friendly people who LOVE working in the tourist offices. So many of them are volunteers. When traveling alone, I find them a fabulous resource. I often come back after I visit a place they recommended to THANK them for that recommendation.

So often is the case that I will go on LinkedIn after my trip and praise that person in a recommendation on his/her page especially for college students who really appreciate that.

How many of you go to LinkedIn to praise the people at the tourist offices you visit?

What's linkedin?

I usually stop in at TIs - get the usually very detailed and useful and free city map, usually a free city walk guide, see what's on that I didn't know about, there's often a nice toilet associated with the TI, and sometimes to get out of the rain.

Good experiences - in no particular order - Gengenbach, Baden Baden, Wiesbaden, Burford, Broadway near Chipping Campden, Cambridge, Oxford, Ghent, Frankfurt am Main, Nuremberg, Bad Wimpfen, Bruges (see also not such great experiences), London (near St Pauls), Speyer, Deidesheim, Luxembourg (see also not such great experiences), Padova, Mantova, Bassano del Grappa, Antwerpen, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Leiden, Gouda, and many more especially in smaller towns that don't particularly stick out

Not such great experiences - in no particular order - Bristol, Stratford-upon-Avon, Venice (convenient toilets though), Bruges (see also good experiences), Luxembourg (see also good experiences), Italy tourist office in London (does that count?), Cologne, and not many more

Best of the bunch, perhaps Haarlem or Lucca or Burford

The TI is always our first stop. We always pick up a map. Sometimes we spring for the local tourist card. We grab a bunch of brochures in case there is something we missed in our planning.

I visit TICs almost everywhere we go. It's one stop info advice (love local walking maps!) with knowledgeable friendly hosts who speak English, and often the facilities are located centrally with a free well-serviced public toilet. (If no toilet on-site, they always know where a close one is.) It depends on the destination and how long we're staying as to what we find valuable, but the combo attractions pass, local maps, and the monthly/seasonal visitor magazine are useful.

As a pre-Internet world traveler, I'm not one who is tethered to a mobile phone or tablet (especially if overseas), and many of the tourism websites are not particularly user-friendly when it comes to anything but the basics. Travel guidebooks from the public library are great for trip planning, but since publication lead times are often 2-3 years, the TICs in each destination are usually up on the current info - especially local events, market hours, etc.

What's linkedin?

LinkedIn is a network of professionals that showcases your current and previous work history. It is geared toward career advancement in which you can document your professional history, highlight awards/achievements and include your educational background & all professional organizations to which you belong. Colleagues, clients, or anyone who has worked with you can write a recommendation for all to see. You in turn would do the same. Employers can search LinkedIn for prospective employees as certainly recruiters do the same as they look for potential job candidates. You can connect with current & former professional colleagues. There is email functionality too.

Yes, I do use them. Maybe not quite as much now as in the (distant) past when we used them to find places to stay upon arriving at our destination. Now I will usually stop in to see what maps they have, check for recommended hiking trails, food or other fun tours, festivals and special events that may be happening. I think they still provide a valuable service.

Absolutely, one of the great resources for up to date information. If is almost always the first stop even if we have been in the city frequently before. Also, we have booked a number of great tours -- mostly walking -- through the TIs over the years. Why would you not stop? Local maps, newspapers, events schedules. And generally people very eager to assist you.

In October 2017, we popped into the tourist office in Girona to use their "facilities". We were pleasantly directed out the door and down a flight of stairs to what was the filthiest, most disgusting bathroom I can remember.

I know we should have gone back up the stairs to let them know how awful it was. Instead, I ran to the closest Pharmacy and spent 5 Euros on a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer. I guess that store did a land office business in hand sanitizer.

I’ve used in the old days to get a room. Last trip we used the internet at the ne in Bacharach. In Tuebingen we booked the boat ride there

Some TI offices have nice souvenirs. I picked up some great Jane Austen-themed cards while stopping in the Winchester UK information office.

Have visited some lovely, helpful TI's in many small cities and in larger cities too. Sadly, the ones in Frankfurt are not ones I recommend. The help there is often rude, they charge for their city maps, and they seldom know what events are happening in the city. They only sell and recommend their own tours as well as the HOHO buses, no other tour companies are allowed to have their flyers available. It is a money based operation and not a "let's be helpful to Tourists and Visitors" operation. If you have mobility issues, forget about it as you need to climb 4-5 stairs to enter. During the biggest cultural fest in Europe, the Museum Riverbank Fest in August, and the place closes down at 16:30. Night of the Museums starting at 19:00, they close at 16:30. Bizarre way to run a business.

What a delight the TI can be in places like Speyer, Worms, Trier, Dresden, Limburg, Idstein, Seligenstadt or Büdingen.

TI in Munich with 19 year old daughter for a hotel. This was 2006, so we weren't into the internet like we are today. They were helpful as to things to do and how to get to Dachau. Trip was last minute to Stuttgart for an internship interview for her and we hadn't discovered Rick Steves yet.

Alba for a location of a laundromat and map. Very nice staff person.

Bought the Firenze card in Florence from the TI. Staff was "not interested". This was 2013 when the card was more useful. We did visit 3-4 places which we probably wouldn't have, and we found it a great value and motivator to get out and see some things not on our list (mosaic museum - we had the place to ourselves and still a highlight of our visit).

Arona on Lago Maggiore in 2015. The day we picked for train/ferry to Switzerland and back, the trains were on strike. TI person was helpful and patient with our limited Italian, but her English was passable.

We usually stop at the one just north of the US/Canadian border at the Peach Arch crossing on our way to Vancouver. Nice restrooms since we've been sitting in the car for awhile .

We received great information at the TI's in Assisi, Bologna, Lucerne, Parma, and Perugia. Several offered city tours; all were excellent. We also found information and tickets for special events that were scheduled for the days we were visiting.

I have used a TI several times on my current trip in France to get local maps and to find out any local events that are happening.

I don’t buy tickets there as I would do that online.

I find TI vary in quality even within a county. The TI in Seville was useless, the TI in Ronda was excellent. We usually stop in to get a map if we're nearby, but we don't go out of our way.

I have used the TI at CDG terminal 2 to buy a carnet and museum pass. It saved my befuddled brain and I have everything we need to get started rather than hoping I can make the metro machines work or figure out the closest location for the museum pass.

We used it in Reims to book champagne tours.

I used one in Sarlat for the Dordogne and in Avignon buying a day tour to reach places where you need a car to get to

What Maria said - the only one I can think of that we went into in the last 5 yrs was in Aix in France - for a few reasons - to use the toilet, to cool off because it was 40C out and to use the wifi. I think we grabbed a map showing where all the fountains were located, but I find even when we stay at airbnb's now they'll have loads of maps and guides for us to use...

Yes we use the TI and have started to use them more and more in new places we visit. The one in Menaggio was super helpful in finding great hikes and helping to explain the bus to Lugano. The TI in Epernay was awesome is pointing us to some champagne houses that were smaller and spoke English as my French is minimal.

We stop there in many cities 1) to get local maps 2) to find out if there are special events 3) to learn if things are closed. In addition, we get tips on public transit. So, yes, we often use the TI.

But the batteries for my paper map never fails and if stolen, easily replaced.

I don't think the majority of the value of TI's come from maps or free bathrooms (although both are great), but rather from the expertise of the staff (just like tours). Sure, you could do most of the the research yourself, but not for everything (there are many lesser-trodden places in Europe that don't have a robust online tourist infrastructure, for example). I accept that trained locals who help thousands of visitors have some good knowledge to impart. They are an additional resource to bounce ideas from as well, and a good complement to other sources. As great as the internet it, there are a bunch of crappy, poor designed sites on it that are not tourist friendly and don't have full translations in other languages (see southern Italy as an example).

I don’t, I am pretty much all online now. If I happen to see one, I might stop in for a second.

The only ones I still use are the ones at state welcome centers if I’m driving in the USA. I’m mainly looking for those coupons that might help save $5 on an attraction.

I don’t see the racks of pamphlets at European hotels as often as I do in the USA, but I do check them as well for discounts.

RE: Google Maps are better than any tourist map. And Google maps tell you the best way to get around, museum hours etc.

Well, not always ... although I haven't used Google Maps in Europe, here in North America they have failed us with directions at least four times that I can recall: Salt Lake City UT during afternoon rush hour (hotel in wrong location), Lethbridge AB, St. Albert AB, and Edmonton AB.

We've found the museum or attractions hours are not always accurate on Google Maps so perhaps best to double-check directly with the place you are planning to visit - or the local TI! For example, an attraction may be closed on the last Monday of the month. Another variable can be major construction (road closures) if you're driving.

Let's say, most of the time, Google Maps can be helpful.

The last time I used a TI was in Chartres before I carried my smartphone. I will say they were pretty helpful but even then they weren't busy because many people just used the internet. I did use it in Spain to get tickets for walking tours.

But the batteries for my paper map never fails and if stolen, easily
replaced.

I'll second that plus I like seeing the bigger visual picture they provide. Google maps also had the locations of 2 hotels completely wrong on our last European trip.

Google maps are often wrong with locations. They are causing me a lot of grief right now because they list my business in the wrong location and won't change it. Have tried for 3 years.
I like paper maps too.
Sad that a big city like Frankfurt has no WC in either of its TI nor are their maps free.

They were useful when Internet was not available. And of course Google maps help a lot.
I just came from cycling along the coastal areas of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Wanting to experience train travel with my bicycle at some point, the internet links were a bit confusing about specifics. (which trains? bicycle fees? where do you transfer?) My camping host at "Camping De La Seleune" in Pontabault recommended I try the Tourist Information office in Ducey. Finding a bicycle/pedestrian only 11 km path under wonderfully shaded in trees, I cycled to Ducey and the Representative called the Tourist Information Office in Avranche and got me information and a personal contact there to help me purchase and explain the fees and transfers the next day. Both offices were clean, well lit, and had user friendly maps of the locale. Even those flushing toilets were clean. I used toilet and I know about it. The representatives spoke English well (the one in Avranche spoke Spanish!) and are a font of knowledge and information to help clarify the generalized wording of Internet links.

Have found TIs in France to be very helpful. The one in Saintes had information about specialized local guides that I hadn't found elsewhere. And the one in the small village of Olargues (in L'Hérault) knew that Orange to which my phone was linked had no coverage there - how else would I have discovered what was wrong? - so they happily booked lunch for me at the good restaurant some distance away and also the taxi to get me there. I was so glad I had asked there: made such a difference to that day.

Google Maps has not one chance against a good tourist office including their website. It shows wrong addresses for venues, closed venues, wrong opening times, have not all streets included (even long existing ones), and it shows times for public transport when it is on full-day strike. Typical US American low quality - current opinion status, maybe there are exceptions I did not discover until today. There is a good reason why Google Maps is not embedded by only one relevant car manufacturer.

What's linkedin?

Imagine Facebook wearing business casual clothing.

I'm a heavy user of tourist-office information services, but I had a very disappointing visit to the Nantes T.O. yesterday. The people were pleasant and they spoke English. They had some very useful printed material, and some of it was even available in racks across the street.

So what's not to like? Well, they didn't have a counter to approach for advice. They had multiple tables, each with a laptop I think was available for tourist use. The staffers moved around the office, sometimes standing near a table, sometimes sitting. They wore no badges, so it was difficult to distinguish them from the customers. (I don't speak enough French to follow conversations.) There was obviously no place to line up to wait your turn. After identifying a staffer and standing near him, waiting for a chance to ask your question, you had to hope he wouldn't scurry off after dealing with the current customer. It seemed as if every question was answered as the staffer was moving away; too bad for you if you had more than one question. It was all horribly inefficient and unwelcoming. Who on earth thought that arrangement was a good idea?

To top it off, I asked what areas of the city had Art Noveau or Art Deco architecture and was told there was just one place, not open on Sundays (duly marked on my map). But I've read that there is more. In fact, there is a flamboyant tower from a former cookie factory just 2 or 3 blocks from the tourist office.

Nantes is a very nice city, but the T.O. needs a major overhaul. It's the worst one I've encountered. Better than Brighton and Kyiv, which don't have tourist offices at all, but that's a low bar.

Before the Internet I used tourist offices frequently. Besides maps and brochures, I often used them to get accommodations. Later on, when the Internet rendered most of those uses unnecessary, I would occasionally use them for a WiFi connection. Now I rarely use them at all. Occasionally I'll get a town map there or a map of walking paths, check for brochures I hadn't found on-line, or check for event calendars.

Typical US American low quality

This seems gratutious.

There is a good reason why Google Maps is not embedded by only one
relevant car manufacturer.

All major car companies now offer Apple Carplay in most models. CarPlay has Google Maps and its sister application Waze embedded into it.

I use them frequently, especially when I’m in a city for a very short amount of time and need some help deciding on the must sees. For example, last week I took a day trip from Vienna to Salzburg and stopped in to get a map and the woman working there kindly directed me to a few sites. I know I can do this myself and I do it when I plan to stay several days in larger cities, but I do love to visit tourist information offices just to get brochures and to learn of anything special going on. To me they are like public libraries- why people don’t use them more and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge of the local workers who know their cities best, I don’t understand! (Even in the age of technology)!

I use TI's because you can get local information that you can not get from the internet. People are better than the internet. Example: I went to the TI in Eskjö, Sweden for the bus schedule to Ingatorp and for a feel of what I'd run across if I took the bus. Ingatorp is a very small town so I thought I could at least see one of their churches. The woman at the TI asked me why I was headed there so I explained some of my ancestors were from there and the general area. She became very interested. She told me to come back the next day at 10:00, so I did. She walked me down to an office in a museum, introduced me, and left. The people in the office asked me a few questions and I provided some names. They told me to come back in a couple of hours. I did. They had looked up my family line in that area. The woman told me to wait and made a phone call. I was to meet a woman at the bakery the next day at noon. So I did. This woman drove me all around the area, to places my ancestors worked, lived, went to church and farmed. We stopped for a picnic with a view. These locations were on lanes, in farms, in back yards, etc. that I couldn't find again. I climbed into an old building and touch a hearth some of my ancestors would have cooked in. She brought me to a home she owned to show me a typical Swedish house of their day. We had shopped and she made a northern Swedish meal for me (she'd apparently gone to college where the other half of my family lived) while she had information in her bag for me to see. The meal was reindeer, potato and vasterbotten cheese. She made sure I met the last bus out of Ingatorp that night to get back to my starting point. She was in her 70's and had lived in the area most of her life. No computer or smart phone could have done all that for me. People are still the best helpers and wonderfully giving. And Swedes are some of the best, IMO, as this was only one of several stories like this.