In the past years, many travelers have gained a deep appreciation for free tours throughout the world. They love the concept and motivation of the companies and guides that lead them through new and exciting cities. However, there are many companies out there and not all of them have the best reputations and practices. It can be difficult sometimes to discern which company to choose from as well as factors of quality, reliability and sustainability. That is why we feel it is important to highlight the main reasons why you can’t go wrong with a tour with us, Robin and the Tourguides.
Great Way to See and get a Good Overview of what the City has to Offer
We offer two free tours of the city: the Historic City Centre Tour and the Harbour & St.Pauli Tour. Both are completely different from each other and offer great overviews of the different districts in the city.
Our Historic City Centre Free Tour focuses on the main sight-seeing spots here in the inner city and delves into the history of how Hamburg became what it is today. From the early fortifications of the Hammaburg to the early twentieth century ports, you will discover this city’s rich history while seeing the main attractions.
Our Harbour & St.Pauli Free Tour focuses on the more modern up-to-date aspects of the city. From the container ports and ferries to the alternative, red-light and party district here in the city.
On both tours, you get a great insight of things to do, places to enjoy some local cuisine, great photo opportunities and personal anecdotes into Germany’s largest port city. You will definitely have a lot of recommendations for after the tour for activities and places to visit!
Nr. 1 Rated Tour Operator in Hamburg
We here at Robin and the Tourguides give a lot of care for the quality of our guests’ time while on our tours. We ensure that the guides have a deep understanding and connection with the city.
Many times free tour companies are associated with maybe exchange students or expats that haven’t been living in the local community for a long time. This is not the case with us. Our guides know the city very well and love to show the city to their guests. They have also passed a quality certification exam from us and have a deep knowledge of the city. They are experienced and professional tour guides that will do their best to take care of you on the tours!
This is very well reflected in our vast number of high quality reviews and feedback from our guests. In fact we are rated the nr. 1 tour operator in all of Hamburg by TripAdvisor for the past several years now*. We also enjoy a perfect 5 star google rating* from over 1,300 customer reviews*! So why risk it going with another free tour operator that maybe doesn’t have as high standards as we do?
*(as of 14.12.2022)
No Matter your Budget you can Come Along on a Free Tour
One great thing about us is that we truly believe that everyone should have a great time here in our city no matter what their budget is. Even if you are a Backpacker, student, traveler on a shoe-string budget, free tours allow everyone to come along and enjoy the city. We, of course, realize that everyone has hard times sometimes and don’t believe in excluding people based solely on their socioeconomic status. That is why we offer free tours.
Will some people take advantage of this concept?… Of course, but we have noticed overall, people are decent and honest people. Those that can afford to pay what they think it is worth tend to do so which makes up for those that can’t.
Please note though, that groups of 8 or more people will not be allowed on our public free tours. This is so as not to overwhelm our guides and other members of the group with unexpectedly large groups. We kindly ask that groups of 8 or more book a private tour with us.
No Hidden Sponsoring or Sales Pitches
When traveling to other countries many people take tours and halfway through they are bombarded with a stop at maybe a company that highly encourages them to buy souvenirs or gifts from them. Many times with free tour companies they might also make a stop at a cafe to push their guests to buy paid tours that they offer later. Mandatory stops are also many times made at cafes or restaurants where the guests are encouraged to buy food or drinks while the tour company cuts a commission from the cafe or restaurant for every sale they make despite the quality. We here at Robin and the Tourguides do not believe in this practice.
We don’t have any hidden sales intents or commissions we get from stopping at certain places. Of course, if it is very cold in winter or very hot in summer, our guides will often offer the group a nice cafe to get some refreshments or to warm up a bit, but because we don’t have hidden arrangements this allows the guides the freedom to stop at really great local and maybe small hidden places that are a lot better than chain cafes or franchises such as Starbucks. Our guides have the flexibility to go to the places they really feel comfortable with and think you deserve as a guest to really get to experience the true Hamburg feeling.
Meet other Travelers
Traveling many times is a great adventure and opportunity to discover new places and cultures, making great memories and meeting new people. However, especially for lone travelers, breaking the ice or having the opportunity to meet new people in a city you don’t know can be intimidating and sometimes overwhelming.
There are countless examples of people meeting and discovering a new city together on free tours. Many times it is not uncommon to hear of such great friendships that travelers decide to travel together or meet up in other cities or even their hometowns.
On free tours, people meet a lot of other enthusiastic travelers to share and exchange their personal travel experiences with. You can get a lot of great tips from other travelers about where to go next on your journey or what to watch out for.
Also, it is great to spend some time with others in the evening together in a maybe a nice bar or restaurant and planning activities together with others that are still anxious to discover the local scene. Free Tours allow for you to make connections with others to plan for some great interactions!
We are a Local Company and Support the Local Community
Evermore, with free tours, there are conglomerates of multinational companies that are on a mission to expand to every major city in the world. These companies are usually highly influenced in maximizing their profits from mass tourism on the backs of their workers and guides. The owner usually sits in New York or London and has little direct knowledge of the other cities his company does business in and relies often heavily on low paid City-Managers or regional managers, usually who are desperate students, to manage several cities or countries… all the while making a hefty profit from their exploitative practices.
Robin and the Tourguides believes in giving their employees, guides and partners a living wage with respectful and fair conditions. We are a truly local company and will stay that way. We are based in Hamburg and only offer tours in Hamburg. This means our taxes also go to the city and don’t wander off to tax havens or other dodgy countries.
Our Partners are also locals businesses and not just franchise chains that are based in other countries. This means we support local entrepreneurs and small businesses helping the local economy and offering a more personal experience for our guests.
We also believe in self-empowerment for our workers and were founded by guides themselves. We are still managed and run by guides that call Hamburg their home. This allows for a much better understanding and ability to adapt to the local tendencies and an incredible flexibility to care for the needs of our customers in a responsible and sustainable way. We are just not a cookie cutting, one-size-fits-all company copying their free tours and cheap pub crawls all over the world.
We are also a proud member of the Free Tour Community and the local Tourism Association of Hamburg (Tourismusverband Hamburg e.V.). The Free Tour Community is a non-profit organization of independent and local free tour operators from all around the world with excellent reviews. For more information you can visit their website at: www.freetourcommunity.com .
Reliability
We have also noticed over the years that many companies open tours here in the city and just don’t show up to the meeting point. With us you can be certain that we will be there with our yellow umbrellas for the tours!
We Believe in Sustainability
We are a company that strongly believes that everyday actions have a big impact on the world around us and are willing to act responsibly for our environment. From everything to using 100% renewable energy for our office actions, co2 neutral Flyer printing, sustainable banking with the GLS Community bank (Germany’s first ecological bank), to yearly donations to charities, we do our best to preserve the wonderful planet that we all want to explore!
Also, our free walking tours are the most sustainable way of seeing a city. So instead of taking a diesel double-decker bus or an exhaust blustering cruise ship feel free to come along on a walking tour with fresh air and a little bit of exercise for the environment and health.
Our Tours are Fun!
Not only are our free tours a great way to get to know the city but they are also really fun and entertaining! We all know the feeling of paying for a normal tour and having to listen 2 or 3 hours to maybe an elderly professor reciting a memorized script of the city as if it were interesting. Our free tours are not like that at all! We don’t, for example, have scripts that our guides learn by heart. Our tours are individual to every guide and often no two tours are the same.
Our guides are highly motivated to give you a great experience here in the city because if you don’t like the tour, let’s be honest, you probably won’t want to give them a rewarding pay at the end. The free tour concept is just too rewarding for the guides to give fond and memorable experiences for the guests each and every tour!
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