Nuremberg Walking Tours questions

What about this could be a scam? A scam is someone trying to fool you and take your cash. $3.21 barely sounds like anything, though it seems odd for a "free" tour to charge this.
Where is the listing? Trip Advisor, Viator, Get Your Guide, the local Tourist Info?

That converts to 3€ and 6 eurocents if the $3.21 is in Texan Dollars.

3.06€ is indeed a strange amount, less than a cup of coffee. Curious where that came from.

By the way, please don't pay or tip in dollars (any state or country) in Germany. The currency is the Euro.

I usually check Tripadvisor when I am looking for opinions on sights, museums, tours, etc. Tripadvisor has a very broad readership, so there are lots of reviews available for options like these. I just looked up your free walking tour in Nuremberg, which appears to be very well-received by those who take it. You can read all their comments here:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g187310-d27435523-Free_Walking_Tour_Nuremberg-Nuremberg_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html

@ Ms Jo-

What about this could be a scam? A scam is someone trying to fool you
and take your cash. $3.21 barely sounds like anything, though it seems
odd for a "free" tour to charge this. Where is the listing? Trip
Advisor, Viator, Get Your Guide, the local Tourist Info?

Thank you for the reply! I was thinking "scam" due to the fact that it is referred to as "free" but it is also asking for credit card information. I wondered if it was meant as in, you are just "walking free" and not as in "you will be on a tour bus/train", etc? and the meager amount would be in case you don't leave them a gratuity/tip at the end? I saw them listed on Tripadvisor and they have 41 reviews. The only negative review was a 1 star and the person left the group early because of a disagreement with how the guide handled others in the group, from what I understood. The $3.21 is taken in a credit card when you book, from the way it looks so I was afraid I would be giving my card and missing something on additional fees not disclosed. only 41 reviews looked odd to me, but they may also be new. The reviews are all recent.

@ Nigel -

That converts to 3€ and 6 eurocents if the $3.21 is in Texan Dollars. >
3.06€ is indeed a strange amount, less than a cup of coffee. Curious where that came from.

By the way, please don't pay or tip in dollars (any state or country)
in Germany. The currency is the Euro.

Thank you for the suggestion. I thought it was a bit odd in cost as well. The cost they offered was in USD and not in euro so I assumed it would be paid all in euro. Mexico where we have traveled also doesn't like any gratuities paid in USD so we were on top of that. They have 41 reviews that are all but one reflecting 5 stars. The one who gave them only 1 star was upset at the way a talker in the group was handled, from what I understood and they left the tour before it was over. The guide did respond and offer them their money back so that appeared promising.

@ Russ-

I usually check Tripadvisor when I am looking for opinions on
sights, museums, tours, etc. Tripadvisor has a very broad readership,
so there are lots of reviews available for options like these. I just
looked up your free walking tour in Nuremberg, which appears to be
very well-received by those who take it. You can read all their
comments here:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g187310-d27435523-Free_Walking_Tour_Nuremberg-Nuremberg_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html

Oddly enough, that is where I normally am at for travel advice and that is where I saw the "free" tour with only 41 reviews. The amount seemed odd to me though so I didn't know if this is how tours are in Germany or what. I was also wondering why it was referred to as "free" when it obviously isn't, even if it is only $3 USD . The whole thing seemed odd. The reviews though, like you said, do look favorable. I suppose if it was a scam, someone would have already posted on it by now?

Perhaps your comfort level would be enhanced by taking the €15 walking tour offered on the Nuremberg's tourist office page:

https://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/guidedtours/

https://tourismus.nuernberg.de/en/guidedtours/old-town-walking-tours-in-english/

Here is the website for that company:

https://www.nurembergfreetour.com/copy-of-home

I always book via the actual tour companies website and NOT on Viator or TripAdvisor

It sounds to me like the $3.21 is the tourist tax that the company has to pay per person to the the locality and it doesn't matter if the tour is free.
So you will still need to pay whatever you think is reasonable after the tour.
Please don't think you are getting a tour for $3.21.
We encountered a similar situation in Amsterdam. Pay the tourist fee up front when you reserve and then whatever you think the tour was worth after the tour.

Of course it's not free. No tour company would survive by offering it for free.
I've done many free walking tours in several European Cities and they were all good. None of them were scams.
You pay what you think the tour was worth afterwards. We usually paid €10 per person for a good tour.

I have been on several "free" tours and have not been thrilled and pretty much found them to be a waste of my time. The guilt tripping to tip generously was ongoing through out the tour.
I would rather pay up front for a tour by a qualified guide.

given a choice I'd be on the official tour from the Tourist Information

Go to guruwalks. Free tours all over the world and we have used them many many times. It’s easy and no CC info or any payment. The guides will explain about the way it works, but they will not harp on it. At the end give what you feel it was worth to you. You just hand him what you give. He puts it in pocket, does not count it, very anonymous. We usually give $20-30 for the two of us.
Our modus operandi is to take a tour ASAP when we arrive in a city to give us an overview of the city and be able to ask questions of the guide.
Guruwalks has never failed us.
They have several tours in Nuremberg with different themes.

Derek-Thank you for the information. That makes sense that it is the tax they are required to pay even if they are doing it for "free", so that makes more sense to me.