Tours by Locals Profile [2024] - 13 reviews, 5 trips
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# of trips

5

Type

Global operator

Service level

standard

Travelers age

5 — 65

Trip prices

$1,050 — 2,850

Tour languages

Unknown

Trips other travelers liked

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Tours by Locals Reviews & Ratings

4.7/5  Excellent
13  Reviews
See all Tours by Locals tour reviews
Excellent
12
Great
0
Average
0
Disappointing
0
Terrible
1
L

Lisa

Sep 2019

Provided byTours by Locals

Tour was cancelled by the company

I booked with Tours by Locals on Jan. 31, 2019. We were on a cruise out of New York City. We were due to arrive back to port in the morning and booked this to fill o...

M

Michele

Jul 2018

Provided byTours by Locals

absolutely WONDERFUL!

Reynier in Havana, Cuba made our 2 days in Havana amazing!!! He was absolutely WONDERFUL! Knowledgeable, always full of interesting information, places to see, thing...

S

Sonya Demonia

Jul 2018

Provided byTours by Locals

Anastasia from St Petersburg Russia is amazing.

Anastasia from St Petersburg Russia is amazing. Unforgettable St Petersburg is exactly what Anastasia and our driver delivered. Very easy to find one another after d...

K

Kelli

Jun 2018

Provided byTours by Locals

wonderful tour and vacation!

We took a Rome by Night tour and this tour was by far our favorite part of our trip to Rome! Dino was incredibly personable and knowledgeable about every aspect of o...

G

Ginny

Nov 2017

Provided byTours by Locals

I had the most amazing experience with Tours By Locals!

I had the most amazing experience with Tours By Locals! My husband and I recently visited Iguazu Falls in Argentina 11/3/17. Our guide Marcelo, was on time picking u...

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Editoral Review of Tours by Locals

Vancouver based Tours by Locals was founded in 2008 out of a desire to connect travelers with true locals who could provide a unique point of view of their country, city, or region.

What Makes Tours by Locals Stand Out?

Many tour operators tout the opportunity to travel with “local guides”. Tours by Locals takes it a step further - actually offers the opportunity for locals to learn how to be guides, and earn certification to show off their town, city, and country. Guides are heavily vetted to ensure the best quality - roughly 1 in 10 guide applications is accepted.

Travelers will get a truly local view of the destination, from people who live and work there every day. Their guides go through a rigorous vetting and training process. All tours are private, so it’s just your group and your guide, making it the perfect day tour activity for families or couples. Tours are pre-existing but can be customized and tailored to your interests.  

Importantly, Tours by Locals guides are not working for tips. They set tour prices in order to cover themselves and everyone involved in the tour (such as drivers) without the necessity of tips to make it a livable wage. 

Who Will Enjoy Traveling with Tours by Locals?

Travelers seeking an authentic view into a city or country through the eyes of a local will most enjoy this tour experience. Their tours are typically day tours lasting between 3 and 6 hours. They are an excellent option for arranging a day tour during a port stop on a cruise.

While you have some input over what you want to see and do - and will communicate with your guide prior to the tour, this kind of experience is best suited to travelers who really want a local and authentic view.

This can sound wonderful, but might be disappointing, especially since the term “local view” can mean a few different things. If you want to see classic sights and learn about the history of the destination, make sure your Tours by Locals guide can satisfy these interests.

Top Destinations

They have local guides around the world, covering almost every continent. Tours by Locals are especially popular for cruise destinations in Europe.

Tours by Locals Travel Style

The Tours by Locals travel style is your travel style! Part of the benefit of having a private tour is the ability to have input over your experience.

The guides are flexible and willing to help you see what you want to see.

Why Choose a Tour with Tours by Locals?

Spending a day with Tours by Locals is akin to meeting a friend or family member to show you around. Except instead of a potentially begrudging tour guide for the day, they’re actually excited to introduce you to their country.

You will be in contact with you guide directly to setup your experience, all the way through to when you meet them in country. It’s an excellent way to get to know a place from a local point of view.

Their guides usually speak numerous languages, and each guide has a dedicated profile page, ratings and reviews by travelers.

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About the company

ToursByLocals is made up of a group of dedicated professionals based out of Vancouver, Canada, who are committed to changing the relationship between travelers and the local people who deliver travel services.

Company Story:

The spark for ToursByLocals was struck during a trip we (Canadians Paul Melhus and Dave Vincent), made to China in June of 2006.

While we were in Beijing, we were determined to make it to the Great Wall. Time constraints meant we could't adhere to the fixed schedules of the bus tours, and they were all headed to the most touristy section of the wall, which really didn't appeal to our more independent style of traveling.

A local travel agent came up with a solution: a private driver would take us to the wall, wait while we explored, then return us to Beijing Airport in time for our flight. We wouldn't have a guide, but at least we'd get to see the wall! Upon our arrival at Simatai, we were quickly joined by two local women who began giving us an impromptu and surprisingly thorough tour of the Wall's history. Of course this sort of exchange did not come without strings: at the end of their 'tour' the women wanted to sell us souvenirs. An awkward exchange followed and we ended up feeling obligated to buy things we really didn't want.

What if conditions had been different? What if these women had a proper way to connect with travelers and share their expert knowledge in a way that left both parties happier?

What was missing was a reliable way to bring local people with their knowledge and expertise together with travelers who are looking for an authentic cultural experience. Shortly after coming home from that trip, we began to put together a plan for what such a service would look like. We needed to design a platform that would be reliable, trustworthy and simple for both guides and travelers to use.

In November 2008, www.toursbylocals.com was launched out of our offices in Vancouver, BC. Today our network has grown to include 1645 guides working in 134 countries around the world. We remain committed to the goal of connecting travelers with local guides everywhere that people want to go.

Mission:

ToursByLocals provides private tours for travelers through our carefully selected network of local tour guides, each of whom is keen to share their knowledge, experience and expertise.

The travelers we serve want to do unique things, experience the reality of a place and see its culture through the eyes of a local person. They are 'sensibly curious', socially conscious and value seeing their travel spending directly benefit the people who live in the communities they visit.

Our guides are entrepreneurial, passionate people proud of the place they live. Through them, we are able to offer a variety of tours, including unusual tours that reflect differing interests. We're committed to helping our guide partners be successful and have an active program to search out and qualify new tour guides, to train them on our system and business principles and to work with them to develop our tour offerings.

We are the 'merchant of record' for each tour sold and handle marketing, booking and payment processing, customer service and payments

The ToursByLocals website offers many tours that can be purchased 'off the shelf', however each can be customized to fit a traveler's specific needs. We showcase the personality and skill of each guide while providing for consistent elements between tour offerings - pricing is per tour, not per person, payment in advance and other standardized policies. We have a team of 'Customer Experience Specialists' in Vancouver, London and Delhi who are on hand 24/7 to help, in case problems arise.

Our mission is to provide high quality private tours everywhere people travel. We work every day towards that goal.

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