Do You Need a Tour Guide?

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You could be standing inside a Chinese pagoda, surrounded by golden goblets and rare ceramics; the ceiling design is intricate, but if you don’t know what you’re looking at, its history and relevance, you’ll be missing out on so much.

Above photo shows me with Apple, our Chinese tour guide in Beijing

Here are some reasons when you need a tour guide:

1. When you have very little time- The cheapest way to get a tour guide and a capsule knowledge of a place is take the Hop On and Off bus which is always available in leading tourist destinations.

2. When visiting dangerous or chaotic locations.If your destination has a reputation for dangerous or unpredictable street life,hiring a good tour guide can not only save you time, but also keep you safe and out of tight spots.

3. When visiting extremely popular locations.A good tour guide will always know the best hours to visit attractions, when prices are best, which places you can skip, how to avoid rush hour, what is closed or under construction, and any number of tricks and tactics that will help you get the most out of travel to a heavily visited location.

4. When visiting historic destinations.In places that are exceptionally rich in historical or cultural significance, an educated tour guide can offer a depth of experience and knowledge to which no guidebook, audio guide or plaque-reading will come even close.

5. When language barriers are likely to be severe.When visiting a place where you do not speak the language and the locals are extremely unlikely to speak yours like when we went to Beijing , -- a local tour guide who does speak English (or your language )can be important.

6. When you didnt have time to arrange logistics of travel-a tour guide may be a good option, when you don't want to go through the hassles of obtaining tickets, making reservations, checking operating hours, figuring out options.

7. When you don't want to drive.There are any number of reasons not to want to drive while traveling -- you don't want to spend your vacation getting lost, you can't read the road signs, you're not confident driving on the opposite side of the road, your spouse is a terrible copilot and you just want to have fun instead of arguing -- hiring a tour guide to do the driving for you can save you a lot of headaches and unwanted distractions.

But of course its also important to choose a good tour guide.

Here are some of the qualities that I appreciate in a tour guide.

A great tour guide makes history and the place come alive.He or she makes you understand the place and the past events that transpired in certain locations.

In order to get the most out of a visit to a significant site, it all comes down to information and communication – in other words, the quality of your tour guide.

and here are some of them...

1. Understandable- They should speak clearly and understand and be able to answer your questions.

2. Punctual-I appreciate a guide who is always on time, (not too early and definitely not late).

3. Friendly-I appreciate them also having interest in my culture and are not arrogant or unattentive to certain requests(like pointing us to a good shopping or eating area).

4. Knowledgeable-Most important thing since this is what you need a guide for.

He or she must have an in-depth knowledge of the site, its history and importance.

Below is our photo with Ma-de(in blue shirt) our driver and tour guide in Bali.

5. Good Pacing-It is also important that our guide must not rush us with the itinerary. He must be willing to adjust to the timing of scheduled visits depending on our interests.

6. Honest-I also appreciate a tour guide that does not take advantage of us just because we are touring. Some guides bring tourists to areas where they get incentives just by bringing tour groups in. We dont like these kind of tour guides.

This is the reason why at the start we already tell our guide if we want to shop or not or see certain areas included in our itinerary.

and another thing, its nice if your guide knows how to take pictures and offers to take pictures for you.

It is also best to get referrals from friends who have already visited areas to recommend good tour guides .