Excursions with locals. How to find unusual excursions from local residents

The last standard excursions go to the past when the crowd of tourists is trying at the same time not to lag behind the guide, take a picture, remember at least something from speech, filming numbers, dates, historical certificates. In the 21st century, it wins an individual approach that takes into account the requests of each client than and boasts. Customers are offered an exclusive, created by a person who knows everything about her city and able to captivate and intrigue the traveler.

Who conducts an excursion

In places of accumulation of tourists, both in megalopolis and in small towns, will certainly there are people of a creative warehouse with a considerable luggage of knowledge. Among them can be professional historians and local historians, library workers, journalists and architects, teachers and art historians. The main thing is that these are not indifferent, passionate, sociable people with whom it is very interesting to spend time.

The future guide is registered on the site Tripster.ru, there is an interview, represents the topic, receives assistance in creating a unique project. The authors themselves set prices, but competition is very high, so to overestimate the cost of the service is not in their interests.

Feedback on excursion trips are full of gratitude and appreciation, allow you to better understand the specifics of the project.

Project Features

Created in 2013, the Tripster project began as a communication club, where tourists exchanged impressions and shared valuable advice. As the community is growing, the community has moved to the regime of autonomy, and for several years they have become a kind of traveler club. Clients registered on the site are offered unusual excursionsThe authors of which are local residents.

Indeed, who else can be so fascinating, with knowledge of the case, talk about history, customs, curious facts from the life of the city and its inhabitants? A walk, organized by the author's scenario, will show local attractions in an unexpected perspective. From local residents, the tourist learns the information that guides from hotels or sightseeing bureaus never tell.

The first experiences of amateur excursions turned out to be successful and led new customers. In all corners of the world, Russian-speaking guides were sought, well-versed in different fields - from wine and coffee to high art. If you have something to tell about your city, you can try your strength and ease.

In addition to standard trips in cult places, tourists:

  • explore counted corners of the city;
  • climb on the roofs and fall under the ground;
  • tasting various varieties of coffee and tea;
  • get acquainted with wine production technology;
  • try yourself in pottery and painting;
  • visit master classes on national dances;
  • go for theatrical scenes.

Family excursions are very popular, interesting to all family members regardless of age. These are walks for curious integrity, miracles of the Moscow Kremlin, Moscow-City skyscrapers. For children from 14 years old are offered exciting quests with a kind of treasure, riddles and prizes.

Tripter provides the client with new features:

  • non-standard approach;
  • individual programs;
  • extensive choice of excursions around the world (409 cities);
  • preliminary online booking;
  • payment in place;
  • security guarantee.

Service created for independent travelers . Mass excursions with a large number of people are not provided. Everything is purely individually. The group includes only you and your companions. The guide itself sets the maximum number of wards, as a rule, no more than 10 people.

© EvergreenKamal / Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0

How to choose and order an excursion

So, you decided on a journey and want to make it interesting and meaningful. Your actions:

  • go to the official website;
  • enter the selected city or country in the window;
  • check out suggestions and celebrate the option you like - watch the number of stars and read reviews;
  • choose a free day in the calendar and slide convenient time;
  • contact the guide and discuss the details;
  • specify your data (surname, name, phone, email address);
  • pay 16-20% of the total cost;
  • the remaining amount gives the guide personally.

Users appreciated the advantages of buying excursions in online mode. You get the freedom of action, do not depend on the tour operator, save time and save your nerves. The contract, which lies between the client and the site administration, guarantees security and is legal.

Details of payment

People do not like to pay for the services in advance. The service provides the user with the opportunity to first get acquainted with the future guide and make sure that the excursion program suits him.

At the first stage, communication occurs in the form of correspondence on the site. Finally determined, you translate the guide of the advance. This can be done via Visa or MasterCard cards.

After this operation, you get a guide phone number. He, in turn, opens your number, and you will be able to keep in touch until the appointed period.

The main payment occurs directly before the excursion. If for some reason the meeting will not take place, the money will be returned to the card in full.

© [Email Protected] / Flickr.com / CC BY 2.0

Promotions from Tripster.

To return a part of the money spent on the purchase of excursions, authorization on the site allows you to use promotions, discounts, often timed to any significant date or before the holidays.

Promotions of both periodic and permanent action are laid on the site.

If the goal and track information about discounts can be saved from 5% to 10%. To take advantage of a pleasant gift:

  • go;
  • select a tour by clicking the "Order" button;
  • specify the date and time;
  • enter the current non. this moment Promocode in the window at the bottom of the page.

The solution must be taken quickly. Short promotions are valid for a short time - from 2 days to a week. Exceptions are long-term promotions, but the percentage of discount will be less.

The project continues to develop, covering new, unknown corners of the planet. As a result, you fill your holiday with new impressions and get acquainted with smart, enthusiastic people. Must be bored!

Many independent travelers have long mastered the skill independent organization Excursions, however, such events do not always pass in the most informational vein. Tours on attractions purchased from the agencies can pour out in a fairly large amount, and to walk in the crowd of tourists, trying to catch at least a tolik information is not always comfortable. Therefore, today there are increasingly popular excursions from local residents. This option is very convenient, because it implies an individual approach, takes into account all the wishes of the tourist and as a whole can carry much more interesting informationrather than a standard tour of the guide. Where to find local residents who know everything about their city and how to order a tour from them, tell in detail in our article.

What is Tripster?

In 2013 on the Internet appeared interesting resource Titled, initially represented a certain playground to travel, within the framework of which tourists exchanged their views and gave recommendations for visiting a particular attraction. But literally for several months the site was transformed into a real traveler club, where it was opened to negotiate with the locals about the organization of excursions.

Today on the site you can order individual tours By sights in 485 cities around the world. Services of service only in 2018, more than 210 thousand people took advantage, most of which were satisfied with the service received. And there is nothing to be surprised: after all, the guides are the locals, very creative and enthusiastically people who know much more people than employees of travel agencies.

Who will be interested in service?

First of all, Tripster is designed for independent, not batch travelers. The site provides the opportunity to find unusual excursions from local residents, which, in addition to standard walks in attractions, will show you secret corners, organize tasting tours and allow you to plunge into cultural life cities.



A particularly attractive Tripster will find inquisitive and active tourists who bought monotonous excursions. As part of such events, travelers manage to rise to little-known roofs, from where they open the best species On the city, and go underground, test your creative abilities in pottery, artistic and dance, track the technology of wine production and try different types of tea and coffee. As a rule, excursions from Russian-speaking local residents are obtained as saturated as possible and fully meet the interests of tourists.

Benefits and features

The services of the site Tripster have a number of important advantages, including:


  1. A rich selection of excursions. As we mentioned above, Tripster organizes tours of 433 cities in the world. On one object, several guides can work at once, so finding suitable option It will not be difficult. And besides the most popular destinations On the site you can find a little-known cities, the locals of which are ready to create for tourists all the conditions for the most complete acquaintance with signal places. It is noteworthy that today excursions from local for local ones are very popular. For example, Moscow residents are often sent to the company with a guide that combines a story about facilities with fascinating quests, puzzles and prizes.
  2. Accounting for individual requirements. This is one of the most important advantages of Tripster. First, the excursion will be formed exclusively for you and your companions and, unauthorized persons, you will not attend the event. Many guides from locals are gaining a group where the maximum number of people does not exceed 10. If you are more, then this question is negotiated individually with the conductor. Secondly, the excursion will be organized in accordance with your interests. To understand how important it is, it is worth remembering at least guides from Turkey or Egypt, with which the main part of the excursion takes place in factories of textiles, skin and carpets than the attraction itself.
  3. The opportunity to order an excursion in advance. If you know the exact dates of the trip, then using the Tripster system you can pre-book the tour. And this is very convenient, because you do not have to search for the right person yourself, spending precious time on it. A good guide takes care of all the nuances of the walk and will try to do it at best.
  4. The ability to talk to the guide before booking a tour. The site provides communication with local residents providing their services. You can ask them any questions you are interested in and only then decide on the reservation. And after making a prepayment, you will be given a contact number of the guide. Thus, you will have the opportunity to contact him and discuss all the details in more detail.
  5. Small prepayment size. After you agree with the locals about the excursion, you need to pay 20% of the total service cost. This is done so that the conductor is confident in the seriousness of your intentions: After all, you book a certain time in which other customers will be denied. The remainder of the amount you give a guide at a personal meeting.
  6. Shares and discounts. Tripster often offers its discounts. To fully use the shares, you need to register on the site. Often here you can meet various promcodes: some of them have only a few days, but provide a good discount (up to 10%), others - longer, but also the size of the discount in this case will be small (up to 5%).

How to book an excursion?

So, if the dates of travel are defined, and the travel plan is drawn up, it has come to take care of the main part of the tour - about excursions. Use the site Tripster is quite simple, but we decided to make up for you detailed instructions on working with the system.

Step 1. Search for a suitable option

We are located on the main page of the site, where you can see two search graphs at once: one "where you are going" - in the middle from above and the second "where you are going" - in the center. Both lines perform identical function. We enter into any of them the direction you need (in our case it will be) and click on the "Find" button.

On our request, the system was able to find 28 sentences. To clarify the parameters of your search, we use the form below, in which we specify the dates you need, the number of people and the price range. Then I click on the "Find" tab.

After adjusting the parameters, the number of proposals has decreased to 3. In order to familiarize themselves with the presented excursions that conduct local residents, click on the photo.

We have a new window, where you can see information about the guide, data about the most excursion, as well as a booking calendar. Pink color highlighted busy days, green - free. From the bottom under the calendar are reviews of tourists who have already used the services of this local resident. Be sure to read the opinion of other travelers about Gid and its organizational abilities. Having studied the information on all three offers, we chose on the most fiscal option with a large number of positive feedback. Now click on the date you need in the represented calendar and go to the next step.

After we clicked on the planned date, a form appeared before us. It is important to specify the day of the alleged excursion, the number of tourists, name and surname, email address and telephone. The bottom is represented in which you can set the guide all the questions you are interested in. We draw your attention to the fact that filling this form, you have not book a tour, but only declare your intention. You can finally reserve a date after the guide will answer asked questions.

When you make a final decision on booking an excursion, you need to prepay the services. It is 20% of the total price. Payment can be carried out using a bank card or bank transfer. We choose a convenient method in the appropriate form. Here you can ask a question to the organizers and cancel the order, in case you did not suit the answers of the guide.

After payment on your e-mail box will receive a notice of a perfect operation. The rest of the way you pay at a personal meeting with the guide. This is how the site works with excursions from local residents.

Is it possible to cancel the reservation

If you have made a prepayment, but suddenly the trip breaks away, ready to return to you. The main thing in this situation as soon as possible contact the guide and inform him about canceling the reservation. After that, it is important to notify the support service of the site by writing the administration to the letter to the address [Email Protected] Funds will be reimbursed in accordance with the Return Policy:

  1. money will be returned in full, if you report cancellation of no less than 5 days before planned excursion
  2. if the cancellation occurs in less than 5 days before the agreed meeting, the site is ready to reimburse the prepayment only when the breakdown occurs in reasons independent of the tourist (for example, the abolition of the flight)

It is also important to take into account that if a local resident, having agreed with you, has spent his own purchase money entrance tickets Or carried out other spending that it is impossible to compensate for the cancellation of the excursion, the prepayment will be returned minus the amount spent.

Output

Excursions from local residents - tempting alternative to standard tourist walks. On the one hand, they make it possible to enjoy the attractions of attractions in an individual format, on the other, they open much more interesting information about objects. At the same time, the organization of the walk passes at a convenient day for you, taking into account your interests exclusively.

Related records:

In our advanced century it became possible to find excursions in almost any country of the world in Russian without leaving home. In this article, I will consider how this business is arranged and how it all works as you find your excursion with a minimum cost and maximum pleasure.

The world conquers the sites of aggregators. About the fact that the air tickets are the most convenient to search on the sites of aggregators know probably almost all, but the sphere of services does not stand still. In our post, the industrial time is on the fore.

Yes, B. major cities Europe you can find a tour in Russian right on the street or in your hotel, but usually the range will be very limited 2-5 excursions in Prague. And just one of the sites-aggregators offers 168 excursions in Prague and the surrounding area, and the choice is huge. I mention Prague here just for specifics, in fact, the aggregators are presented excursions in hundreds and more cities in the world. Before the trip, I usually want to understand how much excursions are in the city of your destination, sites excursions aggregators easily will define you at prices.

You can join group Turam Or order an individual excursion. If you are traveling with family or company, in many cases the individual excursion will not be more expensive for you, but it will be more pleasant to become many times. It's one thing to go on a huge bus in a group of 20-60 people and is quite another to go to a small minibus and listen to the guide in the team from 4-5 people. In such conditions it opens up much more possibilities For casual communication and new discoveries.

On the site aggregator excursions you can choose yourself as standard overview in the city and the nearest suburbs and anything unusual and exotic type of "secrets of Prague brewers" or "Prague: in the footsteps of blockbusters." Agree that such excursions are not sold at every corner.

I will tell you more about four sites aggregretors excursions so that you can choose the most optimal options. It often happens that one and the same excursion is sold on different sites at different prices, you will have the opportunity to buy it best price. Plus, the range of excursions on different sites is different. If you want to immediately start the choice, see the excursions on the following sites:

Tez Tour is a very famous, well-proven company, in the Russian market. They offer excursions at optimal prices, but the set of countries is not great, but these are the favorite countries of Russians. Tez Tour has its guides and firms with which they work abroad. Print the voucher is not necessary, just show a ticket in my smartphone.

Sputnik8 and Weatlas offer standard options: sightseeing tours In the city, day trips per city, visiting museums with a guide. But at Tripster you need to go for creative, their offers differ significantly from the usual set. Searching for an excursion you need in such a sequence. First on Tez Tour, check the same on Weatlas and Sputnik8.

All sites-aggregators of excursions, except TEZ Tour work according to the same principle. They invite private guides to register on the site and place descriptions of their excursions. The site is an intermediary and guarantor of the quality of services between you and the guide. Travelers can leave feedback on excursions visited and guides, which allows the following tourists to make their choice more consciously.

You should trust only reviews on sites that can leave real consumers of services. Typically, the site on which the excursion was ordered, sends a letter to the client with a request to leave a review (according to the same scheme it works and all the well-known bucking, hotel reservations). Such a scheme allows you to collect truthful reviews about excursions. On all sites, where the review can leave any registered, all feedback is written by copywriters, never used the service review about which they leave. I have been working as a webmaster for 15 years, I know not all this kitchen on the hears.

Most excursions need to be ordered at least 36 hours before. But if you have serious intentions, I would advise you to start interested in excursions at least one week before your alleged trip. Some excursions are held only 2-3 times a week, i.e. Planning will allow you to miss anything.

Find excursions from Sputnik8

Sputnik8 is a St. Petersburg project, the headquarters of the apartment is on Vasilyevsky islandSo Petersburgers can support the local manufacturer and order excursions on their website. Only SPUTNIK8 Site directly on the list of excursion list will show you and their schedule by day of the week, time, the number of reviews. The site is represented a large number of Group excursions to which you can join, this is the cheapest and proven format.

Find excursions from Tripster

A mansion from the first three sites is tripster. The first three sites offer excursions from certified professionals, but offers excursions from Russian-speaking local residents. Only these people will be able to hold you on the ruins-pubs of Budapest, show you Flamenco in Barcelona not in the theater for tourists, but in bars for locals and ensure the most informal communication. What could be more interesting than gossip from local residents. And not professionals tend to try very much, it is more than compensates for the lack of experience.

Our compatriots, coming out due to the iron curtain, conquered the whole world. Many people who had found themselves at the new location in the field of tourism and offer their own programs that will allow you not only to inspect the landmarks declared on excursions, but also to talk about Burg's life with the immediate participants of this life, to get priceless advice on the further independent inspection of the city.

All excursions on Tripster individual, group excursions on this site are not represented.

Find excursions from Weatlas

Weatlas is a Moscow project, the main office is in the first-hearth. Now the base of excursions on the site is more than that of competitors, and much more. Therefore, the site implements a convenient system for finding an excursion on topics, type of transport, price and even a rating of users. On the first page only the most popular excursions are shown, use the search, you will find much more.

Weatlas concluded contracts with City Sightseeing Tour buses in 18 cities of the world, where there is a translation into Russian. This popular way will get acquainted in a short time with an unfamiliar city. As a rule, these buses suggest a limited number of entrances and exits during the day, which you have a ticket, they will drive you past all the most significant sights of the city, and through the headphones you can listen to a tour of the city in Russian.

Find excursions to GetYourGuide

This is the German office with the headquarters of the apartment in Berlin and Zurich. On the GetyOourGuide website you can choose not only the excursions, but also buy tickets to museums, parks and other tourist attractions around the world. Prices for Europe there may be significantly lower than on Russian sites. The interface is translated into Russian, it is not necessary to print tickets on excursions, you can shown from the smartphone screen. But you need to be attentive, many excursions are held only on english languageAlways pay attention to the language.

In some countries with expensive passage on the public transport, for example, the Netherlands, sometimes cheaper to take a tour of GetyourGuide in English than to pay for independent trip, then it will come out.

Like many ancient cities, Moscow has grown like a tree with annual rings. However, having received the status of the capital more "in adolescence", she gained an unusual way of development. Therefore, the sights of Moscow are located in the most interesting way: from kremlin walls And the cathedrals are scattered and large streets with buildings of different eras, and whimsical lanes with the yards. The concentration of employment places here is unimaginable. Navigate in them and find out exactly what is important to you, best will help individual excursions in Moscow.

Some removal from the city center is located former frontiers on the approaches to the capital - Don, Novodevichi and other monasteries. Ancient architecture They are combined with the solemnity of necropolis and the surrounding corners of nature. By the way, natural beauty Moscow can extinguish with the most green capitals of the world. Pedestrian excursions Moscow is good not only in the city center, but in historical parks Along the embankments, in forestry arrays on the outskirts of the city, in the territories of former estates.

For lovers of modernity, Moscow is the same promising place as for connoisseurs of antiquity. Visiting Moscow-City, other "skyscrapers" and "high-altitude" walks in Moscow, excursions to the television center Ostankino - all this will create a bright picture of the metropolis. It will complement its night excursions in Moscow - they are devoted not only to the mystical and gloomy mystery of the old days, but also the stormy lives of clubs, floating sites and dance towns of the capital.

What the capital will seem to you - beautiful, ancient, white-named, non-resident, literary or paradise for children - depends on the guide and tours of Moscow chosen by you. The price of all Moscow can amaze, but the author's excursion is that a commemorative gift for himself and close to which it certainly does not have to regret. Among Muscovites who love cognitive leisure is also gaining popularity city excursions - in Moscow-2019 there are many places that even a native inhabitant.

I was right ... I captured the idea of \u200b\u200ball free in this world and especially similar travel opportunities! Only if recently I myself "eaten free cheese," now I decided to return the debtors of the dear universe and do something good, of course, free of charge!

Get on e-mail approval "top" and then follow the news In the group, where declarations of applications for griRers periodically appear;

First "Catch" an interesting foreigner for you (without forgetting to relate their linguistic and other opportunities with the wishes of the guest) and declare your desire to become a griter for him on certain days and hours;

From the project coordinator get guest contacts, promptly write off with him and agree on the meeting, not forgetting feedback with the coordinator, so he was aware of what is happening;

meet the guest, take a walk, talk-to rejoice with a mutual acquaintance, as well as make a joint photo (even if Selfie) and ask to leave feedback About walking on TripAdvisor: Link for St. Petersburg and for Moscow;

continue hunt On new foreign guests in your city!

Directly about your experience participation in this project I still can tell a little, since my griter debut took place quite recently. I was going to show Petersburg Dostoevsky beginner Italian photographer, but in the end we went around, it seems all historical Center cities, good weather and free time This allowed. In addition to traditional conversations about Russian culture (Vodka-Girls-bears), during the walk I took my new acquaintance in the famous Pyroid on a big stable, and the excursion completion was a delicious dinner, which I got as "thank you" for hospitality. I will not hide, it was nice)

Many richer experience of "guests" shared with me One of the most active Moscow GriRerov Vera Kupulava

Faith, tell me, please, what curiosity cases were with your excursors in Russia?

It is very touchingly to observe how foreigners diligently try to learn to read in Russian and remember the basic expressions. Instead of a long and terribly difficult "Hello" sometimes it turns out the familiar "Zdrors!", Which tourists intend to demonstrate their politeness in stores and hotels. Well, and "Pestopas" instead of "Restaurant" - the famous story.

Some time, the excursions from America asked, "where I usually buy Matryushki." Immediately I imagined how every weekend I go to the sale of Russian folk toys on a student discount. I had to tell that Matryushki buy almost only tourists.

And what negative emotions can be obtained from the gritry?

Negative impressions of excursions remain extremely rare. They are, rather, exceptions confirming the rule that Gritrenism always brings only joy. Sometimes it is a shame when the guests are completely not interested in anything, which is associated with the history of the city, its architecture. Such want to just "chat for life", and the training of the excursion turns out to be useless. And for each walk, I carefully preparing in advance: I pick it up, I try to find something new and interesting.

The project is free, but it is always nice to get "Thank you" for your work. What ways you thank you for foreign guests?

It is very nice when guests bring me souvenirs from their country. Once, the group from Brussels gave a box of real Belgian chocolate (delicious-tasty!), And tourists from Italy brought a traditional neapolitan pendant suspension on happiness. Some foreigners, knowing that the program is free, they want to express their gratitude to the tea and pay for a tour, but I never take the money: for me it spoils all the beauty of the walk.

The meeting of the Griter with tourists reminds a meeting with good friends. We will easily communicate, exchanging the stories about life in Russia and abroad. I give guests tips, how best to spend time in Moscow, where to go, how not to get lost in the subway. Often we support relationships after a walk and really stay friends for a long time. And who will come to mind to take money from friends? Therefore, I basically refuse "Payment".

I thank faith for a part of her experience, which she shared with us, and hurry to suffer questions also and creator of the Moscow Griter Community Alexey Sotskova

Alexey, tell me, please, how was the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating such a project born?

A few years ago I was going to go to New York and searched for free excursions, conducted by the inhabitants themselves. I came across the Big Apple Greeter community, created to combat the stereotype that New York is a gangster city. Local volunteers showed guests not well-known sights, and the real life of the American metropolis, which was not so dangerous.

I really liked the idea of \u200b\u200bthis project and I decided to organize something similar in Moscow. Emphasis made on linguist students who lack language practice. There is a lot of spoken clubs and thematic lectures in foreign languages, but for participation in them usually need to pay. And excursions for overseas guests are free spoken practice, and even in the extremely informal setting. In many cities, GriRea is mostly people aged who have a lot of free time, and in Russia, on the contrary, more youth.

How is the official organization and do she have some kind of "head unit", heading by all regional?

Everyone is running until the Virtual Global Greeter Network, who, however, has its own real president and even several departments responsible for marketing, accepting new members, etc. Every year in various cities are held meetings of the World Hyer-Community. There are plans to translate the activities of the Organization in the "Official River", but so far it's all in the design stage. Funny, but some members of the Global Greeter Network, for example, all the same Grirera of the Big Apple (Big Apple Greeter) exist in a completely formal form and even sponsored the city's city.

I suspect that with such support, the New York Griter Community is the most developed among its colleagues from other countries.

That's right, the Big Apple Greeter is the most advanced, because they stood at the origins of the movement, the originated already in 1992, while their "official bosses" Global Greeter Network appeared only in 2005. At the moment, there are more than 70 people in the Association of New York GriRerov, who spend about 150 excursions per month. True, it should be noted that such a high digit is achieved at the expense of domestic tourists, that is, Americans from other states. We, unlike Big Apple Greeter, are more aimed at working with guests from abroad.

Then let's pay us to the Russian Griter Movement, tell me a little about its indicators.

The Moscow Community Community will soon be 4 years old, and St. Petersburg operates only 10 months. In the capital registered70 participants, in Northern capital - About 40. With regard to the number of excursions, it is very much depends on the time of year. In the season in Moscow for the month, about 50 walks are held with foreign guests, and in winter - only 20. In St. Petersburg, the numbers are completely modest: only 40 excursions from the date of creation of the community. However, it should be noted that the number of concerned tourists is increasing annually, so we hope that we will continue to grow and develop!

It remains only to thank Alexey for an interesting conversation and wish Griertes of both capitals more interesting guests from all over the world!

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