Hey everyone.
I was just wondering what are some of your favorite walking tours that you have experienced in Europe? What was the theme of the tour? Why was it your favorite? What are some tips on getting the most out of your walking tours? You can also chime in on what ones were not so great.
Thanks all.
I've enjoyed self-guided but luggage supported walking tours in the UK. Booking service arranges sequential overnight lodging, luggage transfer services and route information (guide books topo maps etc). We used Contours Walking Holidays. Lodging typically includes breakfast and may include dinners as an extra where no nearby pubs are available.
https://www.contours.co.uk/index.php
I also enjoyed guided hut to hut ski tours in Norway with the Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT). I understand that they have equivalent summer walking tours. Guides (but you carry your own luggage), transportation to the step off point, room and full board.
https://english.dnt.no/guided-tours/
Hello fellow travelling Canadian London Walks are the best walking tours I have ever experienced anywhere, with good pricing, easy enrollment (you just show up), fabulous leaders and lots of start time options. Choose by neighbourhhods, sights, themes, outside of London, museums, you name it. The other walking tours I have enjoyed are the ones organized by the Vatican which would be better described as expert led tours on foot of the Vatican.museums and grounds. The leaders are well educated and very knowledgable of the subject matter. These tours however must be booked in advance and can sell out.
One of my most memorable walking tours was of Jewish sights in Vienna, led by Brigitte Timmermann. I remember the name because I made a point of looking her up on the company's website afterward - she was that good. It turns out she did a majority of the research for the Third Man tour. She now has her own company (link here: http://www.viennawalks.com/indexe.php?page=wir), and if I return to Vienna I'll take whatever walk she is leading - whatever the subject.
Another memorable walk, for different reasons, was a Third Reich walk in Munich. The guide was quite opinionated about why certain buildings damaged in the war were destroyed while others were restored. I'm not sure I agreed with all his views, but it was certainly different from the usual neutral tone of most guides (he was trying to provoke thought rather than spoon-feed us facts, and he succeeded).
Just used Paris Walks for the first time this week and we enjoyed them enormously. Planning to use London Walks today and later this week, highly regarded by many so I have great expectations.
We self-guide a lot, using Rick Steves' books or audios, and also have stumbled upon a series of books called "24 Great Walks in _____" which have guided us in Paris, London, Rome, and Venice.
Finally, Walks of Italy does great tours, although they are, IMHO, a tour company more than a walking-tour company.
Brigitte's son Christopher led "In the Footsteps of the Third Man" tour, which we took this past September. I highly recommend it to any fan of the movie - plus, of course, a visit to The Third Man Museum
Our favorite walking tours of any major European city are the "Free Tours" where the guides are working off tips. You can Google them for the meeting points.
And at night, we will pay to take one of their nightlife or pub crawl tours. They'll often have a very diverse bunch of people, and the night tour will introduce you to the inexpensive places to eat and drink. It's just a ball.
I did only two: In Prague and Third Reich walk in Munich. Both were very good. Then of course I did many more guiding myself. Well there were some guided walking tours through many caves, silver mines in Kutna Hora and probably most memorable VIP tour through the Pilsner Urquell Brewery cellars (if we walked through all of them it would be 5 miles - fortunately we skipped several miles).
My favorite tour company is Dark History Tours in Munich. The passion that Taff Simon shows for the city and its' history will make anyone a history buff, no matter their age or interests. Have done 3 tours with him, one of Munich, one to Dachau, one to Regensburg. He gets consistent 5* reviews on Trip Advisor for a reason. Wish Rick would look him up and tour with him the next time he is in Munich. http://www.dark-history.eu/
My least favorite tour was the free walking tour done by Sandemanns "New Europe" tours in Edinburgh. A total waste of my time as it was truly awful. I wish I had chosen a reputable company instead using professional guides.
Why go on a tour where they expect you to tip 10-15 € when you can go on a far better tour for 10-12€ set price? I will never understand the logic of this. If you read the reviews on Trip Advisor for the "free" tours, you will find lots of good reviews, but far more 1 & 2 star terrible and poor reviews and this is in every city. If you are using Sandemanns, be aware that the guide has to pay the company a fee for each person who joins their tour. That is why they take your photo at the beginning of each tour. Rick had quite a long and heated blog discussion about the "free" tours several years ago. The German tax offices have multiple court cases against them and the owner hides out in the UK.
