"Free" Tours in various cities... any experience?

By the time you tip, you would be better off paying for a good walking tour.

I will say that my parents and I took walking tours in Barcelona and my tourist board walking tour delved into things than the free walking tour my parents took. I find most of the free walking tours in one city cover the same area so I think you will be fine with whomever. As for tipping, the majority of people on those tours don't tip but I've seen from a couple dollars to $5/person.

I think it really depends on what you're hoping to get out of the tour or perhaps a better way of putting it is, how invested you are (intellectually? emotionally? time-wise?) in getting a knock-out versus a (probably) solid experience? Are you really fascinated by Lisbon and Wroclaw and want to know more about it than you could garner from a decent guidebook? If so, I wouldn't risk it. But if you're just looking for a good, but general, introduction to the area, a "free" tour is probably going to be just fine.

That answer is short on specific recommendations, I know, but I think the key--if you are looking for a way to economize, but also want a good experience--is to ask yourself what would constitute a "winner" tour for you in a particular city.

Caroline

We did the one in Edinburgh a number of years ago. We saw things that we otherwise wouldn’t have seen or known about. The guide wouldn’t take a tip but suggested that we could make a donation to the tourist board that organized the tours.

We have always had good luck with the "Show & Go" type of tours in a variety of locations.. We seldom book walking tours in advance. Generally just go to the TI and see what is available. Many times the tours are outstanding and we tip accordingly. What we like that many times these tours are relatively small (<10) since many tourist will not do walkup or TI tours. I would much prefer an average tour guide over a self-directed tour via a guidebook. There is a limited to the amount of information in a guidebook and you cannot ask questions. One other advantage to a TI guide is that often the guide will be there and you can discuss the tour -- check the guide's English if appropriate -- and then decide if you want to participate. EVERY "Show and Go" guide recommended in Steve's guidebooks that we have used has been excellent.

I took a free walking tour in Copenhagen, and was just amazed at the guide's knowledge.
We learned a lot about the city, and also learned a lot about Denmark's social programs and what it's citizens have in the way of education, elder care, child care, etc.
I did a similar one in Amsterdam, and also learned so much.
I always tip.

Very nice tour in York. The gentleman was genuinely proud of his city and its history, and refused all tips.

Thank you all for your time in responding to my question! I think we will definitely keep the two I've reserved and may consider doing more if my family is interested. Truly, I appreciate your help. It's easy to ask questions and it takes time to provide answers. Time that is precious and I am grateful for your generosity!

There are free tours and Free Tours. Years ago, the former were often offered through the TI offices. We inadvertently took one of the latter in Csesky Krumlov, having never before encountered the phenomenon. The very nice, very competent guide clearly explained at the start of the tour how it worked. I wouldn’t have been part of such an arrangement had I known, at the outset, what it was.
I believe that workers are entitled to fair and reliable compensation. The so-called Free Tours take American tipping culture to a new low; no salary at all, just tips.
@ stan
If the guide in York refused tips, it was not one of the Free Tours ( and what a misnomer that is). Those guides are completely dependent on tips.

I have done several walking tours in a number of cities. The “free” tour in Berlin ended by the guide suggesting what the tip should be - this was more than we would have paid for a paid tour.

Although I see the value of a private guide, that would be hugely expensive for me as a solo traveler. My preference is for walking tours organized by the local tourist office if I'm looking for something general. I have a lot more confidence in the information those folks impart, and my observation is that the size of the tour groups is more likely to be reasonable than is the case with "free" tours. In Barcelona there was a significant difference in the group size.

The tourist office tours usually cost around 15 euros. I probably tip about half the time--maybe about 2 euros, depending on whether there's a decent opportunity to do so and what the other travelers do. Given the (comparative lack of) tipping culture in Europe, I don't think tips are necessarily expected on group walking tours like that when you've already paid for the tour.

I have an objection to the commercial "free" tour model, which forces guides to beg for tips; not only does it take advantage of the guides, the participants are virtually always subjected to a lengthy pre-tour explanation of the philosophy behind the concept, which cuts into the actual tour time. (Those commercially-organized "free" tours are not the same as the occasional tour offered at no charge by a local tourist office or other non-commercial organization as a means to encourage tourism.)

Rick has explained that guides on those commercial "free" tours start out each tour significantly in the hole, because they are charged 3 or 3.50 euros per participant by their company. Anyone tipping the guide on such a tour 5 euros is effectively paying 1.50 - 2 euros for 90 minutes (or more) of the guide's time. I consider that seriously inadequate; I hope people do that because they assume all the money is going to the guide.

I will take "free" tours if that seems to be the only option in the city--which was apparently the case in 2018 in Wroclaw. In Wroclaw I took three of the tours, including Bridges and Islands as I recall. I tipped at least 10 euros for each one, maybe 15. I did enjoy the Wroclaw tours, though the Dwarves and Communism tour was heavily tilted toward the dwarves. Still fun, but I would have liked more on the Communist era.

I appreciate being able to connect with other visitors and with the guide (remember, I travel solo), and I like the opportunity to ask questions. Guides often share useful information about their favorite restaurants and cafes in passing, no matter what the topic of the tour. I love that, because I'm just not willing to pay the prices usually charged for food-oriented tours.

Theresa, you've mentioned Lisbon and Wroclaw. What other places are you going? Folks might be able to make suggestions for those cities. Certainly London Walks (15 GBP per person) are excellent, with dozens and dozens of topics to choose from.

I have taken several tip-based Free Tours, including the Bridges and Islands tour in Wrocław. I have also taken various paid tours, such as in Prague and Dresden. I agree that I gain a lot of insight when I take these walking tours.

I'll make a comment that may be telling: I was clearly able to remember the impression made by guides like Jason of Living Prague Tours and the paid tour with Pavel Batel to Terezin. In contrast, I had to go back to my pictures to remind myself of the Bridges and Islands tour and guide in Wrocław. That may have been a function of the drizzly weather, or perhaps the guide. Even after looking at the pictures, it was not as memorable as the (also free, tip-based) Walkative Old Town Tour of Wrocław.

If you're not already going, I also recommend a day trip to see the wooden church of Świdnica; I did a self-guided trip by minibus (I'll search and find my review with exact details, if you're interested) and had an elegant (and inexpensive) lunch in the town center. I'm sure you could arrange a guided trip.

Free walking tours are the cat’s meow. Oftentimes there will be different tours in the same city. Sometimes by the same guide but different subjects and different times. Perhaps focused on the architecture, or the food, or various histories in that city. We have been on many. All were good. Many excellent.
For example. Gdańsk, Poland. Free tours there on Jewish Quarter, Solidarity, Food, WWII, Famous Crimes, the Old Town.
The guides are often enthusiastic and students in that particular subject.
We always try to get a free tour on the first day we are there to get a layout and such of the city. An introduction.
As for tipping. They will usually explain that. It’s up to you. Some guides will pass out a bag and you put your desired money in there. Others, nothing. They just finished the tour and you would have to approach and give them something. In Europe we usually give 20-30 euros for both of us. The tour could have been 1-3 hours. I am sure many tip only change. The young hostelers. No one knows, not even the guide. It is either in the bag or straight into his pocket so he does not even know how much you gave.
I think for most of the free guides it is more of a passion for them than a job.

One time in the early 21st century, I happened to be standing around in Berlin where a "free" tour was about to start. The staff member asked me in English, stressed not only the start time but also its lack of a set price. Basically, a free tour, give what you feel at the end.

I declined to take part, didn't go on it. It was a walking tour.

I'm not sure I understand the usefulness of this comment but thank you anyhow! If you care to elaborate, that might be nice :)

The walking tours I have had success with that are truly free and donation only are (City) Greeters. One we particularly remember is Paris Greeters. Though we had been to Paris several times before wanted to do the Greeters walk as we had enjoyed them other places. Excellent walk and saw and learned things we never knew.

We took three “free” tours in Italy.

One was the best tour we took the entire time and we had excellent expensive tour company guides for the Vatican and Colosseum.

One was the worst. We tipped him and bailed. We were as polite as possible but it was our first day and he was droning on about how terrible other guides are and ignoring the subject matter we signed up for.

The third was good but not earth shattering. It was about the Medici, but none of it was news to my 15 year old and she was hoping for some cool details. He focused a bit much on Florence in general. There are other tours for that.

The issue is all were rated highly and the quality of the first wasn’t comparable to the others. It was both my daughters’ favorite tour we took and their second favorite thing we did in two weeks of travel! They’d have done it a second time instead of selfies with the Eiffel Tower. (And they don’t agree on much.)

ETA: The two better tours were both via guruwalk and they are super clear that it is a pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth situation.

I think our first guide does pretty well. He booked the perfect size group (20-24 Not awkward and not huge) and I was thrilled to pay him 60 for me and two kids. I saw a woman give him 20 and ask for change so she could leave 5 for both herself and her husband. Tacky to me, but hey, to each their own!

I love walking tours and have always had really good experiences with them.

The only "free" ones we have done were in Iceland. We did the Citywalk free tour on two different trips. Once in 2015 and. then again 2021 as we had others with us. Even for the two of us who had done it before, there was new information and with a different guide you get different takes on things. Each time we tipped about $10-15 pp.

In Dresden, I did a walking tour that was not free, but one that you sign up and pay for ahead of time. I lucked out and there was only one other couple on the tour, so with the guide it was just the 4 of us. Well worth the money! If you have time for a walking tour here, I highly recommend it!

In most of Europe, tour guides must be government licensed. And the Free Walking Tours we've gone on have had great tour guides. They're just working for tips, and their time is worth something.

Somewhere along the way, they'll take a group picture. That's so the "boss" can count heads and charge the tour guide for his advertising, etc.

And most Free Tours will invite you back for a nightly Nightlight Tour or Pub Crawl Tour--where they charge a nominal amount. We always go on these tours the first night we're in town as it gives you an idea of the lay of the land--and where the best restaurants and bars are. The people on these tours are from all over the world and they're often a wild and crazy bunch.

I had excellent free walking tours in Warsaw and Krakow with the yellow umbrella folks. It looks like they're in Wroclaw also. I usually tip around 10E, maybe more if the tour guide is exceptional.

I also look for small group tours. While they are more expensive, they are usually worth it.

Like acraven, I find the oppotunity to ask questions is valuable, whether about the topics on the tour or general info/recs.

I agree with acraven about the value of being able to ask questions and interact with the guide -- and sometimes also fellow travelers. And, like her, I usually travel solo or with my wife and a private guide is too expensive. For Berlin I'd recommend Original Berlin Walks. Their English-language tour was a great introduction to the city the day after I arrived. I'd much rather pay ahead and know my guide is getting well compensated than deal with tipping culture and possible disappointment. The previous poster who described tours in Italy ended up tipping the guide while bailing out of a bad tour -- a very human reaction but really the worst of both worlds.

To each their own. I think worst of both worlds is to overpay a high-end guide who does an ok job and probably gets less than the guruwalk guide after tickets and fees and the big tour company taking their cut.

We paid $68 (80, but we had a cashback offer bringing it down) each for a Vatican tour. Was the the guide enthusiastic? Absolutely. Did we see more than a couple rooms other than dashing (literally, at times) through the main halls? Nope. He had all kinds of personal insights about the intent of the painters of the Sistine Chapel. I found them informative and entertaining, but would have preferred to see a lot more of the museums instead of focusing on that topic for nearly an hour while standing outside. That was a highly rated tour and I didn't find any reviews that mentioned that particular issue. Maybe other participants preferred it!

Guides are human. We are not guaranteed an outcome because we book with a reputable tour company and certainly not guaranteed that the guide is being treated fairly by their employer. A human reaction might also be to shuffle through a tour (that offers to show you the best food stops in the area but doesn't reach one within the first hour) out of politeness. That's a a response more typical of my personality. But it's not a character flaw to have a limit and deal with it respectfully.

Of course I can't know beyond a shadow of a doubt if we offended the guide, but we waited for a water break and approached him kindly to explain that my teen daughters were starting to hit a wall after the long trip and I felt I should feed them and let them head to bed. There were only two other people on the tour and they were enjoying chatting with the guide from what I could tell. He got a tip, we got out and got dinner. I am very (very) careful with my money and very hard on myself and I can still chalk things up to having done my best. There was never any chance we were going to like every single tour exactly the same amount while we were traveling or that nothing would be a bust.

In the long run, the first tour was so memorable for us I'm glad I dove into the world of free tours and it was well worth trying the other two and tipping fairly to get that experience.

I think whether free tours (or paid ones!) are "worth it" or "good" is entirely in the eye of the beholder. Just like some people love Budapest and some people couldn't be paid to go back... It's a matter of experience and opinion.