I generally consider myself a pretty independent traveler, but there are times when I’ve found hiring a tour guide or company to be helpful. As a broad generalization, there are three categories I think about when it comes to whether or not to engage tour guides:
- Totally independent: This is how I do most of my travelling. I decide my own itinerary and make all the arrangements myself, including lodging, transportation and activities
- All-inclusive tours: In this model, I pay someone else to arrange the trip so I can just ‘show up.’ Usually, I have to arrange airfare to and from the main destination, but beyond that, I’ll expect the tour company to arrange everything in between in this model. Within this category, there are two sub-categories: the group tour, and the private tour.
- Occasional guidance: This is like being totally independent, but with the occasional hiring of a guide to show you around a specific place.
I’ve had both good and bad experiences with all these models, although I generally prefer to travel independently so I have more control over what I do and when, rather than having to adhere to a fixed schedule. But there are times when each of these models might make sense, so let me talk a bit about the pros and cons of each.
Being totally independent
This is how I normally like to travel because it affords you the most flexibility. Want to spend an extra hour at that really cool landmark? Great! Too tired and want to hang out by the pool instead of going out? No problem! Basically, you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, with an itinerary that is specific to you.
There are definite downsides to this way of traveling, however. First, you’ll need to do all the planning yourself, which can start to get complicated if you need to juggle multiple destinations, or if there are timing constraints that make planning a challenge. In addition, a lot depends on how comfortable you are with the destination – planning a trip to a country where you know nothing about the norms and expectations can be a recipe for a frustrating trip.
In general, I’ll do my own planning if I think I have a reasonably good grasp on how things “work” in that country, or if the country is similar enough where I can learn from reading guidebooks and online resources. In practice, this means that I’m ok planning trips in most of the world, with the exception of developing countries that are particularly chaotic.
One note – in some places, you are required to travel with a group or have a guide. This is the case with the Inca Trail where you can only hike the trail with a licensed tour company as part of a group.
All-inclusive tours
Some people prefer just to show up and have someone else take care of everything. It can be really nice to arrive at the airport and have someone already waiting to take you to the hotel and from there, just have to show up while someone else takes care of all the logistics and details.
There are definite downsides, though. The biggest for me is the lack of flexibility, especially if you’re traveling as part of a group because then you need to stick to the itinerary. If you have a private tour, that’s less of a concern. But in any case, you always run the risk of having a bad guide which can totally ruin the experience.
Another downside is cost – naturally, tour companies will charge more than what you’d pay if you arranged everything independently. On the other hand, they often save you the time of having to do research and making bookings on your own. Personally, I enjoy the process of planning vacations which is part of why I tend to lean towards travelling independently.
I think the only time I’ve been on a group tour was when I hiked the Inca Trail. For that, you have no choice because you are required to hike the trail as part of an organized group. To make sure we had a good experience, I did a lot of research ahead of time on which tour companies were good, both in terms of guest experience but also in terms of treating their porters well (apparently, there are some less-than-reputable companies that really take advantage of their porters). We ended up hiking with Llama Path and had a terrific experience, both because of the amazing guides and because we hiked with some really nice people from around the world.
Winay Wayna, an amazingly well preserved settlement along the Inca Trail.
I’ve done private tours in a few places. In the case of Bhutan, you’re required to pay a fixed daily price that includes lodging, transportation, a guide and a driver. Again, I did research ahead of time and went with Bridge to Bhutan. We had an amazing experience trekking through the foothills of the Himalayas and visiting many of Bhutan’s cultural landmarks. Our guide, Kunzang, was amazing – he was clearly passionate about his culture and wanted us to develop a deep appreciation and understanding for his country. I’d say that having a guide like Kunzang was essential to that trip because he shared this historical and cultural context that was so critical to appreciating the country.
The Tiger’s Nest monastery in Bhutan – what an amazing experience!
By contrast, our experience with guides in India was decidedly ‘meh.’ A business school classmate of mine who is Indian had told me once that the country can be very confusing to navigate, so when we finally went, we made arrangements with a tour company recommended by a family friend. On the one hand, it’s true that India can be very confusing to navigate (it took us 15 minutes to cross the street once) so having someone to handle all the logistics was great. On the other hand, our guides were decidedly mediocre. They seemed knowledgeable enough, but when they explained sites to us, it felt like they were reading from a script and had very little interest in helping us to really understand the history and culture. I’m sure there are many excellent guides in India, but when you hitch your travel wagon to a tour company, you always run the risk of having bad guides.
India is a truly breathtaking destination. It’s not possible to overhype how amazing the sights are!
On the other hand, our recent experiences with a tour company in Egypt were excellent. In addition to doing research, I identified three tour companies and requested proposals from each of them, and ended up going with Djed Egypt both for their good reviews and their responsiveness. On that trip, our guides were consistently excellent and we felt extremely well cared-for the entire time.
Yeah. Egypt is as awesome as you think it is.
Getting occasional guidance
There may be times when you want the flexibility of planning your own itinerary, but want a guide for a specific part of your itinerary, perhaps to explain and give context on an attraction. At a lot of major attractions around the world, there are guides hanging around outside, ready and eager to show you around (for a fee). In general, I prefer not to go this route because it’s totally luck of the draw whether the person you work with will be any good. If I think I need a guide, I prefer to arrange things ahead of time, ideally by getting recommendations and references.
Bottom line – so what’s the best way to travel?
In the end, getting a guide or not is all about your personal preferences and level of comfort with the destination. Having spent a lot of time overseas, I’m quite comfortable traveling to most places in the world and making my own arrangements. However, for countries that can be especially challenging for newbies (Egypt and India being the ones I’ve been to most recently), I prefer having a tour company arrange things, at least the first time I go.
Ultimately, the point of a vacation is to get the most enjoyment possible out of the experience, so you should travel in whatever way feels best for you.
Practical Travel Planning 