Tour guides? Say what? As backpackers, we want to get the biggest bang for our miniscule budget.
We wander the streets on our own and look for hidden gems that don’t normally make the popular guide books.
A quick search on wikipedia or popular travel sites can give us a good idea of the popular attractions to visit in any given city.
And while that will satisfy most people, it won’t do for the traveler that’s looking for a more personal and intimate experience that only a knowledgeable local can give you.
Many expats living in Madrid know first hand that locals who make a living as a Madrid tour guide, many of whom are expats themselves who have chosen to live in Spain, can give you a very gratifying and memorable experience with their personalized and custom made Madrid tours.
They themselves had to learn the intricacies, off the beaten path hangouts, and secret local favorites of this beautiful city by exploring it themselves every chance they had when they first moved to Spain.
It’s not easy to build up a great list of hidden gems. This kind of thing takes time to learn and build. You have to learn of these places over time through the new friends you make, word of mouth, friends of friends, fellow employees, local tv, solo exploration, and so on…
That’s the only way to build such a complete list that tourists will find amazing and will be glad they took the plunge on hiring a local Madrid, Barcelon, Seville, tour guide.
The new young King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain like to eat out locally at small restaurants. Here they are after eating out at a small casual restaurant in a very popular part of Madrid that they love to frequent.
Would you know what restaurant and what part of town they like to visit? A local savvy tour guide might know that and much more.
Some of these tours can be a little more than you planned on spending, but budget should not be your only consideration here.
You have to consider if and when you’ll be able to visit Spain sometime in the near or distant future as well, and also factor in the costs and travel expenses to plan another trip to Spain.
If you’re visiting Spain for the very first time and have a lot of other countries that you want to visit in the future as well, then making the most of your limited time is essential. Better to spend a little bit extra and be more than satisfied on your first trip.
These local travel tours can be very rewarding and will add a whole other dimension to your trip.
Yes, you can do all the normal top 10 tourist attractions as seen in the Barcelona travel video below, but what you won’t see are the thousands of hidden spots that normal tourists will never get to see or experience.
A lot of these Spain travel tours can be altered to something more suitable to your taste. If museums are not your thing, but outdoors activities, and quirky historical facts are, then a travel tour can be custom made to meet your satisfaction.
Custom travel tours in Madrid and in Barcelona are a great way to add depth to your travels know that there are tons and tons of hidden gems around the city.
Madrid food tours are also quite popular as Madrid is well known as a food lovers paradise.
If you’ve got a little bit of wiggle room in your travel budget, consider pulling the trigger on a well respected travel tour guide company.
Just make sure that if you’ve got specific things on your “to-do” list they are able to accommodate those things and can customize a trip just for you.
