Comments on: Sandemans of Berlin: A Free Walking Tour

By: Tamason.gamble

Tamason.gamble — Mon, 23 Jan 2017 22:26:12 +0000

In reply to Matt. Many people did walk away without paying which I felt was slightly disrespectful to our guide. After all, we would not have gleaned that much information on our own and he was able to bring so much to life. I do not think it is promoted widely enough the impact of free tours and that if people enjoy the tour then a small donation is vital for the concept to continue.

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 22 Jan 2017 14:47:43 +0000

As someone who has worked as a guide in Berlin for the more than a decade, and also done my fair share of ‘free’ tours, I was glad to see when scrolling down the page that you did leave a tip for the guide at the end of the tour.

Considering that despite the name, a free tour is only free for you to attend, and free in a sense for the guide, until they get tipped by the guests.

The concept is a great one in a try-before-you-buy kind of way. Berlin has some fantastic guides and the idea of the free tour is, of course, to draw you in and eventually be wowed enough by the guides to want to give them money at the end of the tour.

Be aware though – those tips are how the guide earns a living. You’ll find they also have to pay a premium to the tour company they work for, covering every person on that tour.

So the guide actually has to pay for anyone who doesn’t tip at the end!

The sad reality of the business.

By: The Shame of Sachsenhausen

The Shame of Sachsenhausen — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 12:01:12 +0000

[…] If you enjoy walking tours you may also like our post on Free Walking Tours in Berlin. […]

By: Travelling Book Junkie

Travelling Book Junkie — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 10:28:09 +0000

In reply to Angela Travels.

I agree – free walking tours are a great way to explore and you can save a fortunate! 🙂

By: Angela Travels

Angela Travels — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 16:53:21 +0000

I really enjoy free walking tours. I spend so much money on other attractions and enjoy walking around cities exploring the architecture and people watching. This is a great way to do it 🙂

By: Travelling Book Junkie

Travelling Book Junkie — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 17:05:47 +0000

In reply to Chris Boothman. It was the 'free' element that hooked us in as well if I am truthful. The tour was so informative and worthwhile that I would definitely recommend it to others although like yourselves we do often prefer self-guided tours.

By: Chris Boothman

Chris Boothman — Thu, 29 May 2014 13:45:58 +0000

We love taking walking tours around the city though our preferred method is self-guided rather than guided. However, when you mentioned that this tour is FREE, well that’s just a rare added bonus nowadays. We recently did a walking tour of downtown Chicago (see link below) which was really intriguing. As you mentioned, it’s a great way to see the sights in a city.

By: Travelling Book Junkie

Travelling Book Junkie — Wed, 28 May 2014 16:56:26 +0000

In reply to Calli. I do think you have to research first to make sure that the tour guides are not being used more as volunteers and end up out of pocket. We never consider taking tours in our home country maybe it is something to consider! :)

By: Calli

Calli — Tue, 27 May 2014 19:16:14 +0000

We did a similar tour upon arrival in Berlin – I think it was our first free walking tour ever – and now we look for them in every major city we visit. It’s such a great way to get oriented in a big city. Unfortunately we’ve read some negative reviews of a few tour companies that pay their employees very little or nothing, having them work off the tips they receive so we try to be pickier about who we tour with now but I still love the concept! We even took a tour in Bath, England that was hosted by the tourism board and was done by volunteers – they refused to take tips period.

By: Travelling Book Junkie

Travelling Book Junkie — Tue, 27 May 2014 08:13:15 +0000

In reply to Shere. We did go back to a few spots on our own to explore some more but like you say some parts of the tour we would never have found on our own so it was definitely worth our afternoon with the group. :)