withlocals

Withlocals is a unique way to spend time in a city while travelling. It gives users the chance to experience new places under the guidance of local people, with everything from food tours to bike rides. By booking with local hosts, customers have the opportunity to discover hidden gems while, at the same time, avoiding booking with travel agencies or sharing with other travellers. The website offers over 1,200 things to see and do with verified hosts in more than 25 countries.

Withlocals is easy to navigate its simple interface, with a homepage that requires just your destination and group size. Once you have entered the details, you will be displayed a range of different experiences that you can sort by price or popularity, and refine using the various filters down the left hand column. After choosing an experience, you will be taken through to a more detailed profile, where you can view information, such as where to meet, duration, what to expect, and a rating based on verified user reviews.

What I like in particular on Withlocals is the ability to personalise your tour with the host. This means that if a tour is not precisely to your fancy, you can contact the host to arrange something more suitable, a feature that is often not available when booking via an agency.

A useful resource that the website is lacking is the presence of a informative blog. After looking through their articles, they only have one city guide – Marrakesh – and not a lot else to offer. This limits the website to an extent, as other tour booking services often include a detailed information section on what the city has to offer, as well as a bit about its history, culture and language. The website also doesn’t have a rewards scheme, however the lost cost of tours largely makes up with this.

David Jones

I am a professional travel writer and travel enthusiast who traveled the world twice, so I am sharing my firsthand knowledge about everything related to travel and spending time abroad.