We’ve been traveling for many years (our blog Pourquoi Pas Nous has been around since 2016), and we’re used to booking a large proportion of our activities online. Guided tours, museums, excursions… over time, we’ve tested several booking platforms, comparing prices, conditions and quality of service.
We’ve used GetYourGuide for a number of bookings, and now we have enough experience to share a clear, well-argued opinion. We’ll try to answer the questions we’re regularly asked, such as :
- is it a reliable platform?
- Is it more expensive than the official sites?
- is it really worth going through an intermediary?
In this article, you’ll find our review of the platform, with plenty of examples , as well as the drawbacks and our advice on how to avoid unpleasant surprises.
What exactly is Get Your Guide?
GetYourGuide is a tourism booking platform founded in 2009 in Zurich, Switzerland, by four friends with the idea of simplifying access to experiences and tours around the world.
Here you’ll find a wide range of tourist activities, including museum tickets, guided tours, day trips, cruises, culinary workshops, unusual experiences… all offered by local service providers, but centralized on a single site.
🗼 In Paris, for example, Get Your Guide offers a wide range of not-to-be-missed monuments, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Moulin Rouge, as well as a wide choice of themed tours (behind-the-scenes at Roland Garros stadium, wine and cheese tasting…) and off-the-beaten-track tours.
You can book your activities :
- Online on the website
- Or on the app, which comes in very handy when you’re traveling, as it consolidates all your reservations and makes it easy to modify/cancel them (more on this below).
Get Your Guide has become a real travel dashboard for us, with all our bookings in one place.
The advantages of Get You Guide
Prices similar to official sites (with proof)
This is often the first fear: going through an intermediary platform and paying more. In most cases, prices on Get Your Guide are identical to those on official sites.
🎟️ Here’s an example of a 1-day ticket to Puy du Fou for 1 adult. We’ve compared prices for a wide range of activities.
- On the park’s official website: 37€ (indicating a promotional price…) -1re capture
- On Get Your Guide the ticket price for the Puy du Fou: 37€ also – 2nd capture
✨ In most cases, prices on Get Your Guide are similar to those on official sites.
All reservations in one place
❗Some museums no longer have physical counters, so you have to make your reservations in advance and online.
So being able to group all these bookings in one place is an advantage that we often underestimate… Until we actually go on vacation, and even more so when we’re travelling with children.
💡 This drastically reduces your mental workload, and means you don’t have to search throughyour e-mails for the various reservations.
For example, when we went to Amsterdam we were surprised that we could only buy our tickets for the Van Gogh Museum (the city’s most visited museum).
With Get Your Guide, all reservations are centralized:
- museum tickets,
- guided tours,
- excursions,
- activities
No need to rummage through e-mails, search for a PDF downloaded three weeks ago or check which ticket corresponds to which day. Everything is accessible from the application, even offline.
📱 To illustrate all this, we’ve added a capture of our real upcoming bookings. We’ve deliberately masked the booking numbers and precise dates, simply because these are our personal upcoming bookings.
At the moment, we’re mainly staying in France for our activities and outings. The reason is simple: we’ve just had our second child, so we prefer getaways closer to home, which are easier to organize with a baby just a few months old.
Real flexibility with free cancellation
For us, this is one of Get Your Guide’s greatest strengths: the ability to cancel or modify a reservation.
Another example: when we visited the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, the official website states that“a purchased ticket cannot be redeemed“. But on the Vasa Museum booking page on Get your Guide, cancellation is possible up to 24 hours before the activity.
In many cases, cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the activity. And when you’re traveling, you know just how much a program can change: capricious weather, fatigue, unforeseen logistical problems…
👉 How can I find out about the conditions for cancelling an activity?
- Go to the page of the selected activity
- Cancellation conditions are indicated below the price.
We really appreciate the very flexible modification and cancellation conditions, which make a real difference when you’re traveling, and as you’ve already experienced, plans often change when you’re traveling.
👉 How do I change or cancel my reservation?
- Login
- Click on the “My reservations” tab
- Select the reservation in question
- In the “Manage your reservations” section
Clear, easy-to-understand information in French.
Another major advantage of Get Your Guide, and one we really appreciate, is the clarity of the information, and especially the fact that everything is available in French. Descriptions, inclusions, timetables, duration, meeting points, cancellation conditions… everything is explained in a simple and understandable way, even when the activity is abroad.
Conversely, some official sites can be much more complicated to use.
A good example is Mount Vesuvius, near Naples. The official Vesuvius website is only available in Italian, which can quickly become a headache if you’re not fluent in the language. Between the compulsory time slots, access rules and ticket conditions (no ticket on site), it’s not always easy to find your way around… Especially when Italian wasn’t necessarily your LV2 at school.
Some travellers arrive at the ticket office and have to turn back, having usually made the journey from Naples, paid for parking and/or the shuttle bus.
In fact, in response to the lack of clear official information, we’ve written an entire article ourselves to help organize a visit to Vesuvius. Today, it’s one of the most consulted articles on the blog, precisely because so many travelers find themselves lost when faced with information available only in Italian, and we recommend that they take the tickets on Get Your Guide.
No bank charges
Another plus: no currency-related bank charges when booking. Even when you book activities in countries that don’t use the euro, as when we went to Copenhagen with the Danish krone, the price displayed is clear and there are no unpleasant exchange rate surprises at the time of payment.
Responsive customer service
Of course, after many years of use, we’ve already had to deal with Get Your Guide customer service, and that’s an important point to emphasize.
On our cruise booked in Stockholm, the meeting point had been changed by the local service provider, but the information was not clear. By contacting customer service via the app, we got a quick response, in French, with a concrete solution. The problem was solved before the start of the activity.
When you’re traveling, knowing that there’s a contact person who can be reached efficiently makes all the difference. And that’s not always the case when you book directly with small local suppliers.
Reviews and ratings: a real quality filter
Another big advantage of Get Your Guide: customer reviews. They are numerous and detailed.
Before booking an activity, always take the time to read :
- recent comments,
- recurring negative points,
- practical details mentioned by other travelers.
This avoids a lot of disappointment. For example, some activities are highly rated, but only if you fully understand what they offer. Reviews help you to know whether the experience is really what you’re looking for.
To avoid disappointment, when reviews are generally poor or the same problems recur frequently (organization, duration, lack of interest, poor communication), we advise you to book on the official website.
The drawbacks and our tips for using Get Your Guide (and avoiding disappointment)
Even if the platform is reliable, here are a few simple reflexes to get the most out of it. And we’ve read several negative comments about the platform, so here’s how to avoid bad experiences as much as possible.
Read the activity description carefully
It sounds obvious, but it’s essential. Some guided tours do not include admission to the site. The guide explains, contextualizes, accompanies… but admission must be purchased separately. This is always specified in the description.
Check what’s included (and what’s not)
🔍 There’s also a very common point to be aware of on Get Your Guide: several activities can be proposed on the same page, and we find that sometimes the activity title can be confusing.
For example, for a cruise, there may be an option with drinks included and another without, for a different price.
Similarly, for city passes, several durations are often available (24 h, 48 h, 72 h…), and it is important to check the duration selected when booking.
Taking a few minutes to compare options and reread the description will help you avoid any confusion and choose the activity that really matches your expectations.
For example, in Amsterdam for this cruise, the title of the activity says “unlimited drinks” whereas there are 2 ticket options 1 with unlimited drinks and the other without… We agree that the title is a bit misleading.
Read reviews carefully
💬 Not just the overall rating. Comments often give very concrete info: group size, pace of the tour, real interest in the content.
Finding the right meeting place
This is a key point. The starting point may not be the same as the entrance to the monument or site you’re visiting. Checking the exact address allows you to arrive safely and on time.
Lack of choice, especially in France
In several French cities (excluding Paris), the offer remains more limited than in major European capitals or foreign tourist destinations.
Some local activities, visits to small sites or very specific experiences are not always referenced on the platform, as is the case for us on the Ile d’Oléron.
Of course, in such cases, you can still find plenty of ideas and book directly via official websites, tourist offices or local service providers.
Which tickets should I book on Get Your Guide?
When we’re planning a trip, we book most of our tickets on Get Your Guide. The aim is simple: to centralize everything in one place, so that we have an overview of our planning, without having to multiply the number of sites and e-mail confirmations.
Here are the types of tickets most often booked on the platform 👇
- Museum tickets 🖼️
Ideal for large museums and busy sites. Tickets can be accessed directly from the app, often with time slots, and sometimes even with a “no-trespassing” option. - Guided tour tickets 👣
These are mainly used to gain a better understanding of a place or city. Just be sure to check whether or not the entrance ticket is included in the tour, and the language offered. - Cruise tickets 🚤
City, river or sea cruises… we always look carefully at the reviews and the options included (drinks, duration, comments). There are often several formulas for the same activity. - City Pass 🏙️
Very practical for stays of just a few days. Be sure to check the selected duration (24 h, 48 h, 72 h…) at the time of booking to ensure that it matches your schedule. - Amusement parks 🎢
Useful for avoiding queues and securing entry in advance, especially during busy periods.
Centralizing all these bookings on Get Your Guide allows us to easily prepare our travel schedule. What’s more, if we need to change something at the last minute, due to bad weather, a change of program or unforeseen circumstances, everything can be managed from the same place, which is really appreciated.
Our final review of Get Your Guide
Looking back, our opinion of GetYourGuide is very clear: it’s a reliable and practical platform, especially when you want to organize a trip without having to multiply sites, accounts and e-mail confirmations.
With prices generally in line with official websites, centralized booking, flexible cancellation options and efficient customer service, we’re totally sold!
Of course, we also know that bad experiences can happen. However, from reading the many reviews, we get the impression that these disappointments are often linked to a lack of information or misunderstanding of the description at the time of booking. In the majority of cases, Get Your Guide offers a refund or a solution, which is reassuring compared to some of the more rigid official sites.
Don’t hesitate to share your experience with us in comments, whether positive or negative. It’s the best way for future travelers to make an informed decision.
We like to take the time to test services over time and write this type of content with hindsight, as we did with our Chapka travel insurancetravel insurance, which we used on three long trips. For us, it’s this real-life feedback that helps us travel better informed… and with greater peace of mind.
This article is not sponsored. We’ve paid for all our posts on the site ourselves. If you go through our affiliate links, we earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. A big THANK YOU, because it’s what keeps us testing services, sharing honest feedback and keeping the blog going.
