Tours can truly make or break a holiday. I’ve had some incredible experiences discovering new places, learning new things and meeting awesome people. But I’ve also wasted hours with uninterested and unhelpful tour guides, particularly when booking something in person. Which is why I love using tour reseller sites with reviews, like GetYourGuide.
Having now used two major tour resellers, GetYourGuide and Viator, I can write this thorough and honest GetYourGuide review. I will draw upon my experience with both platforms, so you can find out where to book your next tour!
Pros
- The platform is easy to use
- Free 24-hour cancellation
- Great variety of experiences worldwide
Cons
- More expensive than booking direct
- The quality of tours differs
My experience
During my travels in Mexico, I decided to book a vegan street food tour in Mexico City. I have spent a lot of time eating through all the vegan food in CDMX, but the tour offered an opportunity to eat local street food that I hadn’t tried before, including huitlacoche (a fungus that grows on corn).
I booked my tour through GetYourGuide and I will now share my experience using the platform, the variety of experiences I had to choose from, the price, and the quality of the experiences themselves. To make this a thorough GetYourGuide review, I will compare it to my experience using Viator.
Ease of use
Using the GetYourGuide platform is super simple. You can either browse based on location or style of experience, including cultural, food, nature, and sports. You can also use their search bar to locate something more specific. For example, I always search ‘Vegan + place name’ to find tours that would be suited to me.
The platform also allows you to search for any time and availability or you can be more specific. And once you choose your experience you select the amount of people and time you are booking for. The site will search for availability and will provide you with any options. Then you can reserve your space. As soon as it is reserved you will get an email with all the necessary details.
It really is as simple as that! Moreover, I find it works in a very similar way to Viator and other tour reseller platforms, so if you have used any before then you will probably already understand how it works.
Variety of experiences
GetYourGuide has a huge variety of experiences on offer, although many of which are very similar. But that does mean you have choice when it comes to choosing the right tour for you. For example, you will find 1000s of experiences in Vietnam, but many of them are Cu Chi Tunnels or Halong Bay cruises.
I often find at least one or two tours that cater for vegan diets in most popular destinations. Moreover, there are always a few experiences that are quite unique as well as some really practical things, like bus pick ups.
That being said, I have overall found there to be more variety of experiences offered on Viator. Particularly when it comes to vegan food tours.
Price
Obviously, when booking through a third-party reseller you may end up spending a little more than you would if booking directly with the tour operator. That being said, the price difference is never a huge amount and is fair considering how the platform is able to connect you with tour operators that you may not otherwise have discovered!
For example, my vegan street food tour in Mexico City cost around $5 more when booking through GetYourGuide than if I booked directly with the tour operator.
I would however recommend booking directly with tour operators where possible as they may still get charged extra by reseller platforms and so won’t necessarily see all of the money you pay.
When comparing the prices of GetYourGuide to that on Viator, they are pretty similar. Sometimes they differ depending on the tour you book, which is why it can pay to shop around!
Quality of experiences
This is a very subjective section to write and also since GetYourGuide is a reseller, it will differ between each tour. But having read many GetYourGuide reviews online, I’ve seen many people complain about subpar experiences and hosts that weren’t so great.
When using Viator, I’ve often found the customer service to be really helpful and they tend to stand behind their tours and put more pride into their offering. But GetYourGuide customer service is said to be less helpful. However, I haven’t had to test that out, since I thoroughly enjoyed the tour I went on.
The guide was knowledgeable and professional. The tour itself felt well organised and ran seamlessly. Although, I was very careful to pick which tour I went on, basing it on the online reviews and other reviews I found when Googling them online.
GetYourGuide review verdict
I will certainly be using GetYourGuide again, particularly in any situations where there is an interesting looking tour that I can’t find on Viator, or that is cheaper on GetYourGuide.
Using the platform is an absolute breeze and I found the communication to be quick and informative. Within minutes I had a confirmation email with all the information I needed about my tour. The tour guide got in touch straight away with further confirmation and showing up on the day was really easy with the provided email.
I am certain there are probably bad tours being promoted on GetYourGuide and that is pretty much out of their control, but I am concerned about reviews I read online of other people’s bad experiences with their customer service. Which is one of the reasons I will continue using Viator as my first choice, with GetYourGuide coming in a close second behind.
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