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Thanks Judy, I saw this and it looked interesting. I would be interested in your feedback after the tour if you wouldn’t mind sharing.
The info I read stated that you get a $25 credit toward a future real tour for each virtual tour you take. That’s a win, you come out $15 ahead!

Yes, Wendy, I will report back. My first one is April 17 at 12 noon.

Thank you .

Judy B, thank you. This sounds interesting and like a lot of fun. I bookmarked your topic so I can refer back after the 17th to see how you liked your first tour. Thanks!

Thanks for sharing this. After taking a couple of their tours last year in Italy, I can only imagine they will be very good. Thinking about trying out the one for the MET. Hopefully they will add some more.

I took 2 of their tours in Milan and a cooking class in Rome. I very much enjoyed them. It’s such a great way to see a new place with knowledgeable and personable guides, I’ve only had good experiences with their organization.

It sounds like a bargain so I am going to check it out. We took two of their tours in Rome and enjoyed them immensely. It will be good to see something new, I think I have watched Rick’s shows way too many times.

I just finished the Changing of the Guard online tour. They used Zoom to conduct the tour. There was a moderator and tour guide. The guide presented slides while talking about them. A couple slides she showed included video of the ceremony. She was a guide who normally guides for them in person in London. She was very personable and full of good information. I appreciated being able to see the events up close. It's something we just didn't take the time to do when we were in London. No doubt I received much more information in 45 minutes today than I would have just reading about it or seeing it without a guide in person. Depending on how strong my travel withdrawals get, I may look at taking another of their tours. They said they have added additional tours and will be adding more in the future. For $10, it's a bargain to me to get to learn something new and support the travel industry during this time.

I’m happy to read your positive review and look forward to the tour this Friday at lunchtime. A friend who lives in Mass. is taking it “with me” at the same time. Zoom is a convenient app.

Today my husband and I connected to the "Secrets of the Roman Colosseum" tour. The Italian guide focused on historical/political context, origins of the Colosseum, and the gladiators. She was very knowledgeable! The Zoom conference moderator was available via chat during the tour to collect participant questions; at the end she presented the questions to the guide for her responses. I felt it was a very worthwhile way to support this business and look forward to joining more tours!

Den, thanks for sharing your experience with the Zooming tour of the Secrets of the Roman Colosseum. It’s so good that we can support this small travel guide business in this time of need. It is nice to travel vicariously and learn at the same time!

I’m back to report it was a delightful way to spend my lunch hour at the Home Tour of the Changing of the Guard in London. I think they could have charged more than $10, I would have paid $20. Our guide was Emily, a Blue Badge Guide. I’m sure most of you know it takes a great deal of work to earn one of these. Plus, she was personable and enthusiastic. The Zoom meeting worked well. There were maps of the area which helped me orient well. I think you would enjoy it.
Next Friday I am doing the Sistine Chapel tour!

Judy B, i’m glad you had a really good experience.

I am confused though. How can it be a live tour when the places are closed? Does she use previously taken photographs and talk from a studio? How “live“ does it feel?

Were are the locations full of tourists so it was hard to see or has she gone there in the off hours? Particularly the Sistine Chapel one?

Nigel,
The tour was “live” because the guide is live in her home using Zoom. At least I think it was her home. She used photos and videos of live events. Also a colorful illustrated map of the area from the barracks along the Mall and Buckingham Palace and the entire area which gave me a better perspective than if I had been there in a crowd. The best part is you go along the entire route including the music with no crowds! Plus she gives historical tidbits that enliven the tour.
I haven’t gone on the Sistine Chapel tour yet, that’s scheduled for next Friday. I look forward to that because I’m sure I will have a better view than the one time I visited in person.
I hope this clarifies how this tour is “live” when the sights are closed.

Just signed up for the Paris Catacombs for Wednesday at 3 (my time).

Edit to add: I enjoyed it. The guide was very personable, enjoyable, and knowledgeable. I can easily imagine a full tour with him. His presentation lasted about 30 minutes. As mentioned, we could send questions to the moderator via the Chat function. She then asked the questions and he answered. I don’t think it went quite an additional 30 minutes but would have had we had more questions. It was a fun way to spend an hour (a friend also signed up so we did it “together”). :)

At the end, the moderator mentioned sending through a tip for the guide. This made me wonder if the guide was only receiving tips and the company receiving the $10.

The place to leave a tip was apparently the same online place as it would be for an in-person tour “if you didn’t have cash with you”. So I guess you would be expected to tip the guide on top of the cost of the tour for an in-person? I haven’t used this company before.

While I applaud walks of Italy for finding ways to come up with revenue, I'd be more likely to do something like this is if they followed through and gave me my promised refund from a cancelled walk. (3 weeks and waiting).....

Carol,
I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully they will come through soon.

I just asked for and got a refund from Delta for my flights to NYC in May. It is a sad time for all of us. This is why I’m enjoying all the online options for tours. And tomorrow I have a tour of the Sistine Chapel at noon.

I received an email this morning from my credit card provider that the Delta refund was credited to my account. Sharing good news.

Just finished the Pompeii tour and it was great. We haven’t been there yet, but this was a good introduction. When we do finally visit, we will be a little ahead of the game with the facts we learned today.

Yesterday I did the Venice and St Mark's tour. I enjoyed it! Even though it was just pictures, having a live guide there to present and see his face made it more personal than just a pre recorded thing. There were some interesting questions from the small group.

My sister was signed up too so we texted during it and felt a bit like we were together. We had planned a trip together for November which is almost certainly not happening.

The $25 voucher came same day.

I'm thinking of doing Pompeii, and the Plague of London (which I can't decide -- is it in bad taste or very topical).

Barbara, glad to hear you liked the Pompeii tour. I’m going to check what time it’s offered. I went there on my own with a RS guidebook so I would welcome a guide.

My husband, friend, and I went to the Pompeii tour yesterday. My friend was remote and we texted throughout the tour, commenting on things we would have if we were in person. The tour was really well done, the guide informative. I am going to sign up for some of the other walks because this one was so good.

Thank you Judy for recommending.

Sandy

Yes, thank you for the tip. I will probably take all the tours cause each one is interesting and, any way we can help people keep working is a bonus. Besides these tours, we purchased an e-voucher for future tours with toursbylocals.com since we use them frequently when traveling. These will have no expiration date.

Since we were to be in London today, i am taking the London Plague virtual tour today at 5 pm. Will do the changing of the guard on another day. At least i can feel like i am there and learn some new facts along the way.

What a great idea. I'm glad I happened upon this thread, Judy! I'm looking at the Night of the Living Dead tour as the first of several to come. Thanks for the recc.

Oh, the podcasts are a joy to listen to and they are free. Great background info about particular walks.

Barbara,
Please report on the London Plague tour. I was supposed to be in Florence this week. Even though it’s in Rome, I did the Sistine Chapel tour last Friday which I highly recommend for the very closeup photos of the artwork. It really is extraordinary!

Nance, please come back and let us know how you like the Night of the Living Dead. Where does this take place?
I plan to look for more tours to take and will post here when I do.

This looks so amazing, cannot wait to try one out.
I haven’t been to Pompeii yet, so that may be where I start.
Thanks so much for sharing.

I just did the Plague of London. It was with a Blue Badge guide. I can fully recommend -- very topical, entertaining, and edifying.

They said they are adding more topics every week.

Judy sorry I didnt answer sonner, i was busy. The tour was very interesting and i learned so much more about the history of London and various outbreaks, not just the Plague. I would compare it more to a lecture with an Expert. It was very well organized and the time flew by. Since today was to be our last day in London I am happy I at least got a feel for the city. I just noticed they put up a few New tours, ine on the tower of London, so i am going to sign up for a few more. I am going to take the Louvre and catacomb tours first since we had a trip to Paris planned for October. I hope to take them all over the next 2 weeks.

We are doing the Italian wine tasting one this Saturday (May 9th) and I have plans to do the pizza making one and the Pompeii one. Can't wait. Join us this Saturday! 5 pm ET so 2 pm on the West coast!

Donna,
Thanks, I think I am free tomorrow at 5 pm. Haha!

Well, that didn’t take long! I’m signed up for:

The Plague of London - Sat. 5/09 at 3 pm
Madrid - Sun. 5/10 at 3 pm

I’ve really enjoyed the other two tours I took. I feel I’ve been transported for one hour, at least.

Donna,

We are doing the Wine tasting one on the 9th as well. It looks fun and they provided a really nice booklet with information, recipes, and a place to take notes.

Sandy

Sandy and Donna,
I will look for the wine tasting tour next time around.

I enjoyed the Plague of London tour. Fascinating! The plague hung around London off and on for 300 years. 1347 - 1666 and of course all over Europe as well. Henry VIII instituted social distancing around 1518. Queen Elizabeth I closed the theatres in the West End for one year in 1593 and a certain playwright left London for his home in Stratford and eventually came back with several plays he had written while away.

Hi Judy,

The wine tasting was fun and informative. It was a bit different than the Pompeii tour in that people were able to ask questions and share their wines on video, not just chat. It was very well run and they provided a nice pdf booklet to accommodate the tasting.

Hope you enjoy.

Sandy

This is as depressing as a suggestion about a "virtual" Boston Marathon. If you can't qualify, got injured, or otherwise can't run it, then just kick back on the sofa with a beer and a bag of Cheetos and "pretend" you're running the marathon. It's all in the mind. Right?

But it's nowhere near the same.

Big Mike,
It’s armchair travel for one hour sometimes with better views of the subject, for example, the Changing of the Guard, without a mass of people to obscure the view. Also, the same with the Sistine Chapel tour, closeup and without the crush of people.

For me, at this moment, it’s a decent substitute. I’m doing a tour today of Madrid, a place I’ve never been.

Thanks for your hilarious comments, Mike, I always enjoy your posts.

Sandy,
Wow, the wine tasting is interactive, very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Judy and Sandy - We had a hard time getting the zoom link to work. Another friend of ours did to but the chat guy figured it out and resent us the link. I thought it was fun enough but 2 pm wasn't an ideal time but I understand why. Our friends actually went and bought the wines that were recommended or something close. I'm looking forward to trying another tour.

Donna,
Glad you enjoyed it! I liked the Madrid tour, too.

The Madrid tour was good, wasn't it? So many memories came flooding back.

I think next week I'll do Pompeii or Notre Dame

Donna,

We had the same problem with the link and the person on chat resent and it was fine. While 2:00 is not an ideal time to start wine tasting, we eased into it with Prosecco. What was nice is that is was my cousin's birthday, so we treated her and her husband to the tour and then texted back in forth. While it wasn't exactly wine tasting in person, it was a close enough given that we can't get together in person.

Looking forward to the recommendations of others as well for upcoming tours.

Sandy

Judy, I guess you're right. I'm just being a baby about it. We're about 60 and having been saving up for years and now this? C'mon!

Go, vaccine, go!