My wife and I will be visiting Paris next week and have arranged a tour through Paris Greeter. Their website states that the service is free but suggests a donation to keep the program going. If you have used this service yourself, could you let me know how much you donated and whether or not you gave your donation personally to your guide at the end of the tour or made a payment online through their website beforehand? Thank you.
Posted by
Niagara Falls, New York, United States
31 posts
We simply made a donation on the website and then
took our guide to lunch. She was great and gave us lots of helpful tips. Bon Voyage!
Posted by
Lawrenceville, Georgia
693 posts
If memory serves, tipping a free guide was recently discussed on this board and quite a few people responded, several saying they tipped about 15 Euro if they had an enjoyable tour.
Posted by
OP
Eugene, OR, USA
29 posts
Thanks for the "tip" (sorry, couldn't resist) about the previous threads on tipping for free tours; I had already checked them out and I am still looking specifically for advice on the Paris Greeter tour.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9221 posts
The Paris Greeters have nothing at all in common with the "free tours". Two completely different things.
Posted by
Anacortes, WA, US
56 posts
Jo has it right. Two separate things. The "free" tours make their money by the tips. The Paris Greeters is an organization of volunteers who enjoy showing folks the city in which they live and that they love. They do not get paid, and are not supposed to take tips. The organization needs funds, obviously, and you can donate when you ask for a tour, but I'm not sure the amount of your donation, or even the lack of one, affects whether or not you get a guided tour. We applied about a month ago, and we two couples were quickly set up with a retired guide who sounds both enthusiastic, and knowledgeable about her unique and out of the way neighborhood. We will meet her about five days into our stay in Paris, and will probably be saturated with input from the big tourist sites by that time. We are looking forward to our tour, and hope she will accept our company at a meal to follow.
Posted by
OP
Eugene, OR, USA
29 posts
Thanks to all who replied via PM, I'm good to go on this one. This is by far the friendliest and most useful internet board that I have ever used.