Traveling around Europe doesn’t have to be expensive. SANDEMANs NEW Europe offers FREE walking tours throughout several cities in Europe as well as the Middle East and New York.
The tour guides at SANDEMANs are excellent and knowledgeable and they are only working on tips. You tip your guides according to how much you believe the tour is worth! People generally tip around $5 to $10 for this 2 to 3 hours tour. Another added bonus is that you don’t need reservations! Just show up!
The Tour
The tour starts at a meet up location in central city. (**Side note: If you are staying in a popular hostel, the tour will meet you at your hostel before heading to the main meet up location. Ask your front desk person for more details.) Depending on the turn out, the group may be split into smaller groups of 20ish people. Your guide will then introduce himself/herself and will give you a rundown of the tour. (S)he will take you to several famous attractions and tell you the history behind these great places. You don’t necessary get to go inside to all these places but it’s a good time to keep tabs on where you want to revisit later on your trip. With that said, I recommend going on this tour the first night so you get to see the overall city and later focus on what interests you most on that tour. The tour also offers discounted tickets for several main attractions if you purchase them directly through your tour guide!
Another wonderful thing about this tour is that you get to see various attractions that you wouldn’t have otherwise known about. I was able to see several U2 landmarks in Dublin and see the story behind Harry Potter unwrapped before my very eyes in Edinburgh. In Berlin, I was able to visualized the devastation that took over the city when the Nazis were in power!
I learned a lot and left the tour more observant to my surroundings. Be prepared to expand your mind. You won’t be disappointed.
Tips
-Bring water
-Wear proper shoes… be prepared to walk!
-Bring cash for tip, snacks/food. You will have a break. Some longer than others. I had a lunch break during my Berlin tour and had a small rest break in Dublin and Edinburgh.
-Get to know the people in your tour. I made some incredible friends from all over the world because of this tour
-Ask your guide for tips on places to go, places to eat, etc
-Have Fun, ask questions.
The Part Time Traveler 