The Best ToursByLocals Alternatives for Travelers Who Want a Private Guide

I booked a full day with a private guide in Porto four months before the trip, which felt like the responsible thing to do at the time. Then work moved my flights by a week. When I went to cancel, eleven days out, I learned that the free refund window had closed three days earlier. The tour was excellent, by all accounts. I have no idea, because I never took it, and I paid for it anyway.

That is the sort of thing that sends people looking for alternatives to ToursByLocals. For other travelers it is the price, or the discovery that a four-hour walk costs more than the flight that got them there. For plenty of people nothing goes wrong at all, and they still come away feeling like they hired a professional service rather than met someone from the city.

Here is what the alternatives look like in 2026, what each one does well, and where each one falls short.

Quick Guide: The Best ToursByLocals Alternatives

• Best for private, local-led city walks: Lokafy, where your guide is a resident rather than a career guide, pricing is per group, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before.
• Best for private guides across Asia: GoWithGuide, with verified guides in more than 500 cities and direct messaging before you pay.
• Best for academic depth: Context Travel, where tours are led by scholars and specialists, at a premium price.
• Best for catalogue size and review history: Viator, owned by Tripadvisor, with free cancellation up to 24 hours on most listings.
• Best for European city inventory: GetYourGuide, particularly for attraction combinations.
• The best way to see a city: Take a private, personalized walking experience with Lokafy and spend the day with someone who lives there.

What ToursByLocals Is, and Why People Look Elsewhere

ToursByLocals is a marketplace for private tours led by independent, professional tour guides. The company was founded in Vancouver in 2008 by Paul Melhus, later took investment from Tritium Partners, and now describes a network of more than 5,200 vetted guides across over 170 countries. Its Trustpilot score sits at 4.9 from close to 4,900 reviews, which is one of the strongest ratings in the category.

The model is straightforward. Guides list their own tours, set their own prices, and the platform handles payment, messaging and support. Every tour is private, so you are never sharing the day with strangers. Travel writers who have reviewed the platform in 2026 put a half-day private tour in Rome for one or two people at roughly $150 to $280, and a full day in Tokyo for up to four people at roughly $200 to $400. Since pricing is per tour rather than per head, couples and families get better value from it than solo travelers do.

So why do people go looking for something else?

The cancellation window is unusually tight. ToursByLocals gives a full refund only if you cancel at least 15 days before the tour. After that, the money is gone unless the reason falls into its list of impersonal unforeseeable events, which covers things like extreme weather, strikes and a cruise ship failing to dock, and specifically excludes personal illness, injury or a change of plans. You can buy Cancel For Any Reason coverage instead, which costs 15 percent of the tour value and refunds you right up to the start time. That is a real product with real value, and it is also 15 percent on top of a price that was already at the top of the market. Traveler reviews on Tripadvisor through 2026 include cases of refunds being declined after flight and rail disruption, since the traveler could in theory have reached the meeting point another way.

The price reflects a professional service. Guides on ToursByLocals are running businesses. They are licensed in the countries that require it, insured, experienced, and priced accordingly. Guides posting in traveler forums have described the platform taking a cut of around 20 percent, which they build into their rates the same way any operator does. You get expertise for that money. You are not paying for an afternoon with a resident who happens to love their neighbourhood.

Coverage follows tourist volume. The network is enormous by the standards of private guiding, and it is still concentrated where professional guides can make a living: capital cities, big cultural destinations, cruise ports. In a secondary city, the choice often comes down to one or two guides with a wide radius and a car.

Vetting cuts both ways. Industry write-ups have put acceptance at roughly one in ten guide applications, and that filter is the reason the reviews are so consistently good. It also selects for people who present as professional guides. If what you want is a graphic designer who can show you where she eats on a Tuesday, that person is unlikely to have applied.

It is built around the tour, not the conversation. Listings are products with titles, durations and inclusions. Customisation happens through messaging before the day. This works beautifully for a Vatican morning or a wine region with a driver, and less well when the thing you want has no itinerary attached to it.

None of this makes ToursByLocals a weak platform. Its ratings say the opposite. It means the platform is built for one kind of private tour, and a lot of private travel sits outside it.

The Main ToursByLocals Alternatives, Compared

Lokafy

Lokafy pairs travelers with locals for private walks shaped around what you are curious about. No fixed route, no group of strangers, no script. You send a booking request describing your trip, who you are travelling with and what you like, and the team matches you with a Lokafyer whose interests overlap with yours.

The difference from ToursByLocals is the person who shows up. Lokafyers are residents rather than career guides: students, retirees, cooks, photographers, people who moved there five years ago and still remember how confusing the first week felt. Lokafy started in Toronto in 2013 under founder Kiran Samra and has since connected more than 146,000 travelers with over 19,500 locals across more than 300 cities, with walks booked in close to 1,500 places.

Two practical points matter if you are comparing on cost and flexibility. Pricing is per group and the per-person cost falls as more of you join, so a family of four pays less each than a couple does. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before the walk, with an automatic full refund, which is 14 days more forgiving than the standard ToursByLocals window and does not require buying coverage.

Booking is a request rather than an instant checkout, so leave some lead time: around 24 hours in a large city, and about four days in a smaller one while the team finds the right person. You can ask for a walk in a language other than English. If you want to go inside a paid attraction, you cover your Lokafyer's entry alongside your own, which is normal practice for private guiding and worth budgeting for.

Best for: Solo travelers, couples, families with mixed ages, repeat visitors who have done the landmarks already, and anyone who wants a conversation rather than a commentary. Also strong in smaller cities where professional tour infrastructure barely exists.

Not ideal for: Multi-day itineraries with a car and driver, or a tour that legally requires a licensed specialist inside a regulated site.

GoWithGuide

GoWithGuide is the closest structural match to ToursByLocals. Every tour is private, guides are verified and set their own prices, and coverage runs to more than 500 cities across over 120 countries. Its roots are in Japan, where it began life matching travelers with licensed Japanese guides, and Japan remains its deepest market by a distance.

The part travelers like most is the messaging. You can contact a guide and shape the day before any money changes hands, which takes a lot of guesswork out of a customised itinerary. Quality varies more from guide to guide than it does on a tightly filtered network, so the profile and the review history are worth reading properly.

Best for: Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, and anyone who wants a car, a driver and a guide in one booking.

Not ideal for: Travelers who want a consistent standard across every city, since the experience depends heavily on the individual you pick.

Withlocals

Withlocals is a curated marketplace of experiences hosted by locals, available in more than 250 cities with its strength in Europe and Asia. Tours are private or small-group, and the company is explicit that its hosts are not professional guides by default. It is also a certified B Corp, which is a reasonable signal if the ethics of where your money lands matter to you.

The catalogue leans toward themed experiences: food walks, market tours, neighbourhood introductions, cooking at someone's home. Its "Your Way" format comes closest to an open-ended day, built by the host around what you ask for. Coverage outside its core cities thins out quickly.

Best for: Food-led afternoons and neighbourhood walks in major European and Asian cities.

Not ideal for: Smaller destinations, and anyone who wants the whole day built from a blank page.

Context Travel

Context Travel was founded in Philadelphia in 2003 and works with a network of scholars and specialists: archaeologists, art historians, architects, chefs, many holding doctorates and teaching at university level. It runs private and small-group walking tours in more than 60 cities, with small groups capped in the range of six to ten people.

For a traveler who wants to understand Renaissance patronage or Roman urban planning properly, nothing else on this list competes. The trade-offs are cost, which sits at the top of the market, and flexibility. Its published cancellation terms give a full refund 30 days out, a partial refund in the weeks after that, and treat sales as final inside 48 hours of the tour.

Best for: Museums, archaeology, architecture and art history, for travelers who want the expert rather than the resident.

Not ideal for: Casual days out, late changes of plan, and cities outside the main cultural circuit.

Viator

Viator is the Tripadvisor-owned marketplace and the biggest catalogue in the category, with more than 400,000 bookable options as of 2026. It sells private tours alongside everything else, and its real asset is review depth, since listings feed into Tripadvisor and you can read years of independent feedback on an operator before paying. Most listings carry free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

The catch is that you are booking through an intermediary that is not the company showing up, which is where most complaints about meeting points, operator changes and last-minute cancellations begin. Marketplace commission on tours and activities runs at roughly 20 to 30 percent and is priced into what you pay. We covered this in more detail in our guide to the best Viator alternatives.

Best for: Maximum choice in major destinations, and vetting an unfamiliar operator before you commit.

Not ideal for: Anyone leaving ToursByLocals because they want fewer layers between themselves and their guide.

GetYourGuide

GetYourGuide is the Berlin-based marketplace with more than 200,000 experiences across roughly 18,000 destinations, and arguably the best app in the category. European city coverage is its strongest suit, and its Originals range gives it inventory nobody else carries.

It runs on the same reseller model as Viator, with a similar commission structure, so moving between the two changes the interface more than the experience. There is a fuller breakdown in our guide to the best GetYourGuide alternatives.

Best for: European city breaks and attraction combinations.

Not ideal for: Private, unscripted time with a resident, which the model was never designed to sell.

How They Compare at a Glance

Lokafy is the strongest choice when the value of the day comes from the person you spend it with, and when plans might still change, since cancellation stays free until 24 hours before.

GoWithGuide is the most direct swap if you liked the ToursByLocals format and want deeper coverage in Asia or a guide with a car.

Withlocals suits a themed half-day in a major city, especially anything built around food.

Context Travel is the right call when you want a specialist with academic credentials and are willing to pay for it.

Viator and GetYourGuide are the places to go for volume, day trips and attraction logistics, with the understanding that you are booking through a middleman.

Five Questions Worth Asking Before You Book

1. How likely are your plans to change? This single question decides more than price does. A 15-day refund window on a tour booked months ahead carries real risk. A 24-hour window carries almost none.
2. Do you want an expert or a resident? A licensed professional adds genuine value inside a regulated site or an archaeological zone. A resident adds a different kind of value in a market, a neighbourhood or a food street. Both are good days out. They are not the same product.
3. How many of you are going? Per-tour and per-group pricing rewards groups. Solo travelers pay the full private rate on most platforms, which is why the per-person maths matters before you compare headline prices.
4. Is your destination on the main tourist circuit? In Rome and Kyoto, every platform here has depth. In Trieste, Funchal or Salamanca, the question becomes who has anybody there at all.
5. What happens if the guide cancels? Read that clause, not the one about you cancelling. The platforms differ more on this than their marketing suggests.

How to Get the Most Out of a Private Walk With a Local

• Give real detail when you book. "We like food and history" produces a generic morning. "We are travelling with a 9-year-old, we have done the cathedral, and we want to eat something we cannot get at home" produces a good one.
• Book with room to spare. Around 24 hours of notice in a large city, closer to four days in a smaller one.
• Say what you have already seen. A local can route around the sights you covered yesterday instead of repeating them.
• Ask for the language you are most comfortable in. Matching happens person by person, so it is a reasonable request rather than a premium add-on.
• Budget for entry fees. If you want to go inside a museum or a monument, you cover your guide's ticket alongside your own.
• Bring one specific curiosity. Vintage shops, brutalist buildings, where people go after work on a Tuesday. Specific questions get specific answers, and that is where the good material lives.
• Ask for the list at the end. The most useful thing you take home from a walk with a resident is usually the bakery, the bar and the restaurant recommendations for the rest of your stay.

Take a Private Walking Tour With a Local on Lokafy

If the part of guided travel you care about is the human being next to you, that is the whole design of Lokafy. You tell us where you are going and what you are into. We find a local who fits, and the day belongs to you from there. Your pace, your questions, and nobody else's schedule to keep.

Take a private, personalized walking experience with Lokafy in more than 300 cities and see the place through someone who lives there.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best alternative to ToursByLocals? It depends on what sent you looking. For a private, unscripted walk with a resident at per-group pricing, Lokafy is the closest thing. For a similar professional-guide marketplace with deeper Asian coverage, GoWithGuide. For host-led food and neighbourhood experiences in Europe, Withlocals. For scholar-led depth, Context Travel. For catalogue size and review history, Viator.

Is ToursByLocals worth it? For the right trip, yes. Its guides are experienced professionals, every tour is private, and a Trustpilot score of 4.9 across close to 4,900 reviews is hard to argue with. The two recurring complaints are cost and the 15-day cancellation window, and both are worth weighing before you book months in advance.

Why is ToursByLocals so expensive? Guides set their own prices and are running licensed, insured businesses, and the platform takes a commission that guides have described as around 20 percent. Pricing is per tour rather than per person, so the cost per head drops sharply for couples and families and stays high for solo travelers.

What is the ToursByLocals cancellation policy? Standard coverage gives a full refund if you cancel at least 15 days before the tour. Inside that window there is no refund unless the reason falls under its list of impersonal unforeseeable events, such as extreme weather or a ship failing to dock. Cancel For Any Reason coverage costs 15 percent of the tour value and allows a full refund up to the start time.

Is there a cheaper alternative to ToursByLocals? Usually yes, though the comparison depends on group size. Lokafy prices per group with the per-person cost falling as the group grows, and large marketplaces like Viator and GetYourGuide list small-group tours at a lower headline price, with the compromise of sharing the guide.

ToursByLocals vs Viator, which is better for a private tour? ToursByLocals only sells private tours and vets its guides tightly, which produces more consistent quality. Viator carries far more inventory and much deeper review history, along with free cancellation up to 24 hours on most listings. Viator is the better place to find options. ToursByLocals is the better place to be confident in the one you pick.

Which alternative is best for solo travelers? Private tours priced per tour are expensive for one person, since there is nobody to split with. Lokafy is one-to-one by default rather than as a paid upgrade, which is why solo travelers make up a large share of its bookings.

Are there platforms that cover smaller cities? This is where the large networks are thinnest, because professional guiding follows tourist volume. Lokafy runs on residents rather than operators, which is why walks happen in places like Trieste, Bern, Funchal, Salamanca and Cusco, where structured tour supply barely exists.

How far in advance should I book a private tour with a local? Around 24 hours in a large city and about four days in a smaller one, so the right person can be matched to your interests. More notice generally produces a better match.

Can I book a private tour in a language other than English? Yes. Because Lokafy matches you with an individual rather than assigning you to a scheduled departure, you can request another language when you send your booking details. Availability varies by city.