On my recent trip to Cambodia, we hired a guide for both the Siem Reap and Phnom Phen portions of our trip. I always get a bit uncomfortable when hiring a guide – I never know if we’ll not have the same expectations of what I want out of the trip. I worry that I’ll not get along with the guide or they’ll try to swindle us by taking us by all the shops they have ‘personal arrangements’ with. Anyway, I’ve never had any trouble and I find my fears to usually be unfounded. However, I know it can be difficult to decide whether or not you should hire a travel guide. Here are a few thoughts and suggestions that might aid your decision.
- Make efficient use of a tight travel schedule. Your tour guide can ensure your agenda is laid out in the most productive manner to see more things than if you’d arranged it yourself. Plus they’ll know where they are going, will check opening hours, and you might even have the option of private car or other improved transport. So if you don’t have a lot of time to spare, consider a guide.
- Avoid the language barrier. If you’re going somewhere that it just isn’t possible to get by with any of the languages you speak, a guide is an invaluable resource, saving you time, money, and frustration. I had a guide in Brazil and I really don’t think the sort of experiences I had would be possible without the translation. We were exploring places where the locals go for holiday, and I didn’t hear or see any English (or any of the other languages I speak) during most of my trip.
- Overcome your lack of research prep. It happens to the best of us – you’re off for an exotic holiday somewhere that you’ve not had any time to research and you just bought the guide book in the airport. Oops. It might be time to arrange for a guide to help you work out the best things to see. Otherwise your relaxing vacation might turn into a nightmare of confusing subway maps and sign language.
- Get a local’s perspective. Sure, you can try to mingle with locals in the cafe (and you should do this anyway, with or without a guide), but I’ve found that in most countries, guides are locals who are passionate about their country or city, they are usually very well read and well researched, and they really want to tell their story. And what better angle to see a locale than through the eyes of someone who is passionate about it?Tell me, do you like to travel with a guide? I know it depends on the location. But Why or Why Not – tell me in the comments.
Image Courtesy of tanvach
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I started writing a response but then it got quite long so I blogged it instead – please do read this, as the whole post is basically a reply to you! http://rachelcotterill.blogspot.com/2009/03/local-guides-when-travelling.html
Rachel Cotterill’s last blog post..Eyam
I must say this is the first time we’ve had an entire blog post in reply to a story here. Well done, Rachel!
As I noted over on your post, I really appreciate this additional perspective on the issue. Hopefully it will give readers plenty of food for thought, and that when it comes the time to decide if one needs a guide or not, they’ll make a quite the informed decision!
I agree with you Andy. While we normally travel by ourselves and enjoy the adventure of being lost in a strange place, when time is an issue a guide can help you understand a place in a way that you won’t get by carrying your guide book around. Guides can also give you a great insight into their lives, which on occasions have been more of a highlight than the place they have shown us around.
I wrote on a similar theme a few months back: http://www.501places.com/2009/09/the-value-of-local-guides/
So from your listed reasons, I would agree most with making the most of a tight schedule and the getting a local’s perspective.
Thank you for sharing these valuable points in this post, Andy. I’m always hesitant about using a guide when I travel, or when I’m planning for future trips.
In my limited travel experience, I’ve found the best experiences have come about when I am going to visit someone who I already know who is familiar with the area and can show me around. As I begin to explore places that are a little more adventurous for me, where I don’t have friends or contacts residing there already, I’ll be sure to keep these points in mind when making my decision to having a guide or not.
The question that immediately pops up in my mind, then, is how do you choose a guide that will be helpful and suitable to your particular needs when you are faced with assessing all of the commercial options available out there?
I think a while ago I would probably say “No travel guides!”. I just love being lost with map in hand and a guidebook and just find my way around.
After a while, however, it does get frustrating… talk about being in Machu Picchu without a guide and trying to eavesdrop on other people’s guides explanations. Or even sillier, flying last minute to L.A for a weekend and having no idea of where to go, or that it was going to take almost 2 hours to get to Venice Beach by bus, because you don’t know a local and your guidebook can’t help u all times… Sometimes you just have no time to prepare, like you said, so yeah, a travel guide is totally worth it…!
Interesting post, on a topic that I’ve been quite intimately involved with (spent two years as a tour leader in Egypt and Jordan). Sorry, this is quite a long comment (but I don’t have a blog where I can respond!).
As most people seem to be saying, the answer is – it depends! What are you looking for out of your experience? Do you want the “definitive” history/culture and the chance to ask questions off someone more knowledgeable than you? How much time do you have? How do you feel about itineries and schedules vs wandering and serendipity?
Something to add that hasn’t already been said is this: in countries with a high hassle factor – such as Egypt – a guide can keep you insulated from the constant pestering that you get if you wander around on your own. (Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on what sort of person you are.) Conversely, unscrupulous guides can be an even bigger pain in the arse, and push you towards buying over-priced rubbish in shops where they receive a commission. Also, some aren’t actually as knowledgeable as you might expect, and simply spout out of date nonsense they learned years ago at guide school.
In other words, choose your guide carefully!
Final point: I think we need to be careful with the guide/no guide debate not to devolve into the tiring tourist/traveller debate. No one way is better than the other – it all depends on what you are looking for.
@ Everyone
Great thoughts/comments/insights. As Nick alludes to, I don’t think there isn’t any debate – some situations warrant a guide, and others don’t. The only person that can decide which one is which is YOU.
(And Nick – get a blog so we can pester you over there too!)
I am a fan of hiring a guide occasionally and I think you cover the reasons well. I tend to spell out a verbal agreement up front about not visiting tourist shops etc and detail my tip depends on my enjoyment of the day. In general, the best ones never have to resort to shops or discussions on size of tips or whatever as their ability ensures they are suitably rewarded. I’ve only once been disappointed as I think you can judge pretty quickly about whether someone will be good and they tend to be helpful not only on understanding the places that you are visiting but small hints like some good vantage spots for photos, sneaky places that you may not be able to go into yourself or would be unaware of, suitable eating places and also a more entertaining day even while on the road with their information on daily life, impact on the political situations, their own family story, cultural discussions or whatever.