Over the years, I’ve done quite a few “Greeter” walks in different countries. They’ve all been very good and I can highly recommend them as a free (truly free!) alternative to professional tours. As per the following description, “greets” are free. I have, however, invited greeters to join me for a drink after the walk. They’ve always been happy to accept.
I’m currently in London looking for a walk with London Greeters and it occurred to me that I should share the info here.
Let one of our Greeters in more than 130 destinations take you on free walks through his home city for 2-3 hours:
Greeters are a worldwide non profit organisation. Destinations around the world offer private free walks with locals through cities for visitors. Our city walks – called Greets – are free of charge, no tipping Greets are offered for single tourists and small groups up to six people. Greeters want to be a friendly face for those visiting a city.
That’s fabulous @Mary-Kay, I’ve never heard of this. I’ve just looked at the website, which has a few issues, but then if it’s free to use so not surprising. Thank you for telling us about it.
Yes, @Mary-Kay, this is a wonderful group. Thanks for posting about it. We’ve used them in a handful of cities, and all the tours have been excellent. They ask you what you’re interests are (neighborhood, food, arts, etc.) and tailor the tour to your desires. Dear hubs and I often will go on separate tours, so he can dive into what he wants and so can I.
Thank you for sharing. We did one of these greeter walks in Florence at the beginning of our 3 month stay and it was fabulous. We subsequently became friends with the greeter and met up with her often.
Thanks for introducing this. Not on the country list, but I’ve had some great tours of HCMC and Hanoi in Vietnam by students who want to show off their city and practice their English! Free, although I’ve always bought a meal or coffee and snacks for my guides.
Thank you so much for sharing @Mary-Kay ! I’ve never heard of this specific group before and will definitely check them out on my next trip. In the past I have been on many free walking tours with Sandemans New Europe and absolutely loved them! They are tip based so they always try really hard to give an amazing tour. I love learning about the history of each city I visit and these tours are always so informative and fun.
I’m happy that forum members have found the info about the International Greeter Association to be of interest. I’ve learned so much from others on this forum that it was good to be able to give something back!
@toml Thanks for sharing about the tours in Vietnam that you’ve done with students who want to practice their English. How did you connect with them? Is there a website?
