Exploring a new city or seeing your own through a new lens is easily done with a guided tour. Kick it up a notch on your family vacation and enjoy a unique experience in some of the world’s most visited cities. Enjoy a new twist on the been-there, done-that tour scene.
Explore London like a local with the help of a homeless guide. Unseen Tours offers walking tours through some of the city’s most popular locales with a professionally trained guide who knows the streets better than anyone. Guides receive 60 percent of the revenue. — many are no longer homeless — and the company received a World Responsible Tourism Award for its efforts. The rest of the proceeds are reinvested in the company, which is a non-profit social enterprise.
Visit the London Bridge and Covent Garden between personal stories from the guide. The tour concludes at a local café or pub where guests often engage the guide in more stories about gentrification on the East End and inside stories of the area. Tours last 90–120 minutes for 12 GBP per person, or $15.65.Tours are also offered in other areas such as Shoreditch, Camden, Brick Lane, and soon Soho. Social responsibility is a lesson the kids can learn at any age and will make the whole experience more memorable.
Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin, Texas. © Juliscalzi | Dreamstime.com
Kayaking, bats and bridges. What could be a weirder way to explore Austin? Enjoy a Live Love Paddle tour to the famous Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas. Paddle out with the family on the nightly tours. Guests watch from the water as more than 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats fly out from beneath the bridge. Tours cost $45 per person and last more than two hours; kayaks, paddles and drinking water included. Perfect for active families and nature lovers, this tour is a unique and unforgettable experience with the kids.
See the worst Portugal has to offer with the “Worst” Walking Tour. In Porto, The Worst Tours brings guests on a free, two-to three-hour walking tour exploring the less desirable locales in the city. Stop by buildings in decay from abandonment and time while learning about Porto’s history, architecture and less-touristy destinations. For those who have been to Porto before, let your guide know and they can curate the tour to the group.
Your kids might fancy themselves hippies, but show them the real thing with a 1960s Summer of Love Tour through San Francisco, California. Hop on the Magic Bus Tour, beginning at Union Square, $55 per person, and explore all the landmarks from the 60s hippie movement. Rock out with the kids and join drum circles, while learning about the history, pop culture and politics of the time.
New York is one of those cities you can visit 100 times and never fully see. Explore a different part all together that will interest both you and the kids, during the Hush Tours Hip Hop tour through New York.
Hip-hop artist takes groups through the music side of Harlem and the Bronx, where the genre all began. Learn about hip hop music, dance and graffiti and see historic locales where big names like Nas, Biggie and Jay-Z grew up. Tours can last a few hours depending on the group, $32–75, and includes a lesson in hip hop dance, so dress comfortably.
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