Looking for a tour of Maribor? Let us take you on an adventure!
Joining a guided tour no longer means sharing a bus with forty people while you quickly drive from town to town to squeeze in everything on the itinerary and listen to somebody rattle off historic and architectural facts. Now you can experience Maribor with the help of a local guide and enjoy a guided tour of Maribor in a small group with your friends and family.
Picture this: you’ve found a lovely place abroad, and you’re ready to experience a different culture and learn about the local lifestyle. So you book a tour, and board a bus, and finally arrive at your chosen destination. The town is lovely indeed, but there is much talk of history and little of everyday life, there are churches and castles to see, but no time to chat with locals. Something piques your interest, but you have to shuffle along to the next sight, so you try to ask your guide for more information on the way, only to find three other people have had the same idea and the guide is deep in conversation with them. Sounds familiar?
Tourist agencies may offer you itineraries that are rich in content, but they cannot pander to the personal interests of every individual. Big groups don’t allow for very much flexibility, and agencies cannot tailor their itineraries to your specific needs and wants, neither timewise nor in terms of a thematic focus. Your guide’s focus will always be split between forty-odd people, and you’ll barely get an opportunity to interact with locals and learn about their ways of life directly from the source. If you wish for a genuine local experience, you’ll want to avoid big tourist agencies and hire a private guide who grew up in your chosen destination instead. Here are our top reasons why:
1. Locals know facts about their towns that aren’t included in any travel guide
Local people didn’t learn about their town only from textbooks and travel guides—they acquired their knowledge through years of living there. They were there when their town changed and developed, they know every nook and cranny and stories that will never make it into print. A local guide can point you to the hidden gems of their town or advise you on whether or not a famous attraction is really worth seeing—and when. What’s more, they can be a true lifesaver when it comes to practical information about navigating the town, fighting your way through a public transportation system, or grabbing a bite on the go.
2. They won’t simply talk about the culture—they are a part of their culture
One of the most valuable and insightful experiences you can have when you’re visiting a place is a good conversation with one of the locals, and yet it can prove very elusive: your group and your own tour guide represent a barrier between you and an authentic local experience. Hiring a local tour guide removes that obstacle because locals didn’t have to learn about their culture—they are a part of their culture. This means you won’t be learning about a different culture from afar, but rather experiencing it for yourself. You will have a unique opportunity to learn about your chosen destination, since a local will prove to be a deep well of information about the everyday life, habits, and social norms of the town’s inhabitants. These observations may not make it into travel guides, but you might just find the discovery of the little differences between your own culture and the culture you’re visiting to be one of the most memorable parts of your trip.
3. Touring a destination in a small group means your guide is always readily available for you
Touring the town in a small group means more room for flexibility and adaptability, which will in turn result in a far more comfortable, interesting, and engaging experience. There is no need for you to adapt to forty other people or settle for listening to a general presentation of a town. In a small group, your tour guide is always readily available for you and your questions. You might find that your guide knows much more than you’d expect: many fascinating facts never make it into the presentations that guides give for large groups, simply because people tend to have very diverse interest. In a small group that will tour the town at a relaxed pace, you’ll have plenty of opportunities for conversation. You won’t have to listen to topics that may not be your cup of tea anymore. Instead, you’ll get to ask exactly what interests you, be that history, beer, or an impromptu language lesson.
So forget boarding the bus with another forty-odd people and looking at places through the window. Now you have the opportunity to let one of our local guides take you on a walk through the heart of our town.