Post: #1

Has anyone ever used any of these sites?

https://www.couchsurfing.com/

https://www.showaround.com/

I'll be traveling to punta cana in an all inclusive resort for a bit, but I would like to leave it just to see what the culture is like. I'd like to do it with a local guide, and I'm more so interested in the second site. I believe couchsurfing ( being the more popular one), is more of a living thing.

Any opinions?

Or can anyone give me insight on either forms of local tour guides.

Post: #2

I ended up using Tinder to hire a tour guide in Ukraine. I was in a city that had almost no guides / translators listed online and only 1 (semi-shady) travel agency.

Funny enough this student was much cheaper and had better English than the travel agency I hired the day after (because I needed a driver to visit a rural museum).


Can't remember how I did it on Tinder but I think I wrote in my biography that I needed a guide / translator and then within the DM I mentioned I would pay them.

Post: #3

I looked into ShowAround some months ago, and most reviews (especially on the app page) seem disappointed with it.
The most common themes were about the cost not being worth the value you get.

They weren't really complaining about the guides, but the app experience and value in itself.
I think you have to pay each time you message a potential guide. I know I saw enough negatives to ditch installing the app, and I'm not easily swayed by whiny reviews.

It would be a great tool though, if it had a more friendly monetization model.

Post: #4

Taxi drivers are great for this as well, if you find a good one, you can offer to hire him all day. You get a local guide, translator and car and driver.

I have had some amazing experiences doing this.

Post: #5

(11-25-2018 04:27 PM)RatInTheWoods Wrote:  Taxi drivers are great for this as well, if you find a good one, you can offer to hire him all day. You get a local guide, translator and car and driver.

I have had some amazing experiences doing this.

Yeah it's how I did Angor Wat a long time ago. Kind of weird to hire a taxi driver for the whole day but Cambodia was cheaper and less touristy back then.