BEST VIRTUAL CITY AND COUNTRY TOURS

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Virtual city and country tours were mainly the products of the pandemic. Platforms offering touristic services (tours and tour guides) realized the new potential in providing virtual tours of cities around the world, which also helped jobless tour guides keep their heads above the water. The point was to allow you to visit places without leaving your home. But can this really replace the personal experience that a real tour offers? Will virtual city tours remain popular when we can freely travel again? It seems yes, as virtual tours have not vanished with the revival of tourism but continue to expand. In this article, I share with you some of the platforms to find virtual tours of cities around the world that I participated in and why despite being skeptical initially, I would recommend them. 

Personal experience with virtual city and country tours

I took my first virtual tour at the beginning of the pandemic. This virtual tour was about Iran. I had been there a couple of times before, but I hadn’t visited every part of the country. So, I took an online tour through zoom of a less-traveled part of the country. Even if I missed traveling, I was skeptical about these online tours. This one-and-a-half-hour tour cost 12 AUD (~9 USD), which is not an immense amount you should consider long. Traveling from home sounds weird right? It was hard to imagine how an online experience could even partly replace all the positive benefits of traveling. 

Well, I thought the same. 

The tour guide was not walking around with a camera in hand. Instead, he introduced the culture and nature of a region with the help of google earth, photos, and videos while describing the sites and sharing interesting facts. At the end of the tour, I thought it was not only worth it, but I started to look for other virtual tours. Since then, I have joined the Culture quest tours team, and I offer virtual tours of Hungary. 

Who are virtual city tours recommended for?   

Virtual city tours are a good 

– To get inspired to travel to a particular destination. You may not have the time, or there is not much information about that off-the-beaten-track destination.  

– If you have already chosen your next travel destination and want to get insider tips from a local guide through a virtual walking tour of a city or a more general one about a country. It helps you plan your trip and have a meaningful travel experience.

– For those who cannot travel because they do not have the budget, or the time, face health problems, are on maternity/sick leave, or for any other private reasons, cannot think about traveling at the moment. Still, through these virtual tours, they can virtually change their location and get the feeling of discovering another part of the world.

– to learn about places restricted for everybody, and you have no chance to ever get a first-hand experience, like the Gaza strip (through Green Olive tours).  

– If you have already been traveling to that destination but want to recall your memories and hear about what has changed.

– If your family is related to the destination and you wish to know more about the origins of your ancestors

– You get a new work assignment and want a basic overview of the city or the country.   

One of the biggest advantages of these virtual tours is also that you can directly ask a local anything you are interested in.

What types of virtual city tours exist?

There are chargeable virtual guided tours and free ones that depend on the tips the attendants leave at the end. 

There are two types of guided tours: 

Live guided walking tours 

The local guide takes you around his city or neighborhood while giving detailed explanations through video. 

So, let’s talk about the quality of these virtual walking city tours. I did a walking tour in a district of Algiers in Algeria with an excellent tour guide. She called my attention ahead from time to time that the internet connection could be interrupted when she entered certain places. It happened occasionally but was not ruining the experience, and I enjoyed this live virtual walking tour in Algiers through Tour HQ. However, I also joined another free virtual tour in India with Heygo, where the voice and connection quality badly affected the experience, and after a short time, I quit the tour. It probably had to do with it being streamed from a hilly remote part of the country because another one in an Irish city was easy to follow through Heygo. 

Virtual guided tours through zoom

The other type of virtual tour is an online presentation per zoom. In this case, the local guide or expert does not walk through the city but instead makes a presentation about his hometown or the country, illustrating it with google maps, google earth photos, and videos. The advantage of this is that the internet connection is much better, there are no interruptions or background noises, and instead of a walking city tour, you can get a more comprehensive explanation of a whole region of a country.

Recommended virtual city tours and country tours around the world

1. Green Olive tours – virtual tours in Israel and Palestine with a highly educative purpose on politics

Green Olive Collective offers cultural and political tours to educate people about the Israel and Palestine conflict. It is a unique Palestinian and Israeli cooperation, working to end the occupation and foster respect for human rights, political rights, and freedom for all.

This is one of the few travel companies specializing in political and educative tours. They offer guided virtual tours of cities and educative online tours about life, political issues, and hot topics of the region:

– Introduction to Israel-Palestine online tour

– Jordan Valley

– Jerusalem

– Gaza

– Militarism in Israel

– Bansky’s graffitis that cover the defense wall between Israel and Palestine in Bethlehem

– Palestinian cooking class

– History and culture of Jaffa  

– Rituals, food and dress, and daily life of the Orthodox Jews

– Actual issues that are worth talking about to get a better understanding of what happens in Israel

I participated in more of their virtual tours, and after the first one, I joined several others. They take place through zoom and show the relevant spots through google maps. Israel/Palestine is one of the most controversial places on earth, and even if you only travel around to see the touristic places, you must have a good understanding of the region and its conflicts. 

The company is specialized in offering educative and cultural daily and multi-day tours to Palestine, Israel, and Jordan. 

Time: each online tour is available at a different time. 

Price: free, but if you appreciate the presentation, do not forget to give some contribution. The company spends 10% of its income on humanitarian purposes supporting Palestinian communities. You get a link at the end of the trip to make your contribution.

Length of tour: 90 minutes, including questions

Opinion: I’m a regular participant in their tours. I saw the one about Gaza, militarism in Israel, Jaffa, Bansky, and living as a Jew among the Palestinians, and all were worth the time. 

Check the tours here. 

2. Culture quest tours– virtual guided tours to explore Persia, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kerala, Hungary

Bahman Abedi, an Iranian living in Australia, launched a series of virtual tours about Persia and the surrounding countries. Since then, he expanded it to Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Russia (unfortunately, due to the war, they were canceled), Kerala in India and Hungary. 

He makes different tours about Persia that offer an excellent opportunity to get a deeper insight into a country that brings so much negative coverage in the media. On the other hand, after watching the tour, you probably immediately get inspired to put it on your bucket list. 

Classical tour of Persia

The classical tour of Persia is the most popular of the series. It covers the highlights of Tehran to Yazd, Isfahan and Shiraz, the most common destination of travelers. You learn about Persian history, the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian religion, explore some of the most famous gardens in Shiraz, and the stunning blue-tiled mosques of Isfahan. Yazd is one of the most beautiful cities in Iran, with fine examples of desert architecture, like wind towers, mud-brick houses, and qanat (underground water system). It is probably the most popular virtual tour of Persia.

Infrequently, there are other “dig deeper tours” that offer more detailed information about specific parts of Iran: Azerbaijan province, Southern Iran: the land of nomads, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tehran, Yazd, Deserts of Iran, Caspian Sea region: the north of Iran, Persian cooking classes.

Opinion: Bahman shared much information about local customs that were new to me even after several visits. The pictures, videos, and music all add to the complex experience. I highly recommend the tour. 

Virtual tour of Hungary

I’m doing this tour! I was born in Hungary and have worked as a tour guide abroad and write the travel blog you read now. This is a tour of Hungary covering several topics to understand the Hungarian mentality, culture, and important episodes of its recent history. During the tour, I talk about: the Hungarian inventions and famous Hungarians, life under communism, and Budapest as the city of spa and center of film shootings, Hungarian dance and horseriding traditions.

I aim to give you a good insight into this small central European country besides showing some of the capital’s famous attractions. Read more about the tour here.

Other destinations: Culture quest tours offers other virtual tours of Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, and Kerala in Georgia as well, though infrequently. 

Tour guides: The virtual tours of Persia, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Georgia are offered by Bahman Abedi, the company’s founder. Shailesh, a travel vlogger and tourism expert, makes the tour of India and me the virtual guided tour of Hungary. 

Cost of the tour: the virtual tour of Kerala and Hungary costs 12 AUD (9USD)/person and takes one and a half hours; the virtual tour of Persia costs 19 AUD (13 USD) and takes 2 hours. 

Book the tour: you can book through the website or Facebook, where all the actual virtual tours are posted.  

3. Tour HQ – virtual guided tours around the world

Tour HQ is an India-based company, an online tour guide booking platform. They were one of the first ones to switch to online tours during the pandemic. They now offer virtual walking tours and cooking classes in every continent and almost every country, from African safari to Maya ruins in Mexico and Israel. These tours are live guided tours where the local guide takes you through his city through their mobile phone.

Opinion: I participated in the „Walk through the charming casbah of Algiers tour”. Apart from minor network interruptions, I enjoyed it a lot. The local guide was a lovely and knowledgeable young girl, an archeologist at the same time. She ensured I followed what she explained and showed me beautiful merchant houses with colorful tiles.

Tour guides are the core of virtual or any guided tours. At Tour HQ, you have the chance to listen to a short video in which the guides present themselves. I only sign up if the guide makes a good impression in the video, even if I’m interested in the destination. 

Price of the tours: it varies on a large scale. They start at around 10 USD per screen. You can share the screen with others or choose to pay an extra fee to enjoy a private tour. They can be more than 100 USD when exclusively offered to a group. These tours are only worth it when you are not alone. 

You can cancel the tour up to 2 days before the program. 

Another great thing is that you can also gift a virtual tour to somebody. 

Length of tour: 60 minutes

4. Tours by locals

This is another platform that offers the individual service of local guides worldwide. During the pandemic, it also switched to virtual guided tours in and outside Europe in more than 60 destinations.

Type of tours: there are many different types, including guided virtual tours of cities around the world, cooking classes, art history, and history classes. Some are live guided tours in a city, while others are conducted through video from home. There are also pre-tour consultations where a local expert helps you plan your trip to the specific destination (best time to go, safety, weather, insider tips and whatever you want to know. 

Some examples of the tour offered by tours by locals:

– The secrets of Naples with an archaeologist from home using live video-conferencing software

– Four “Golden Ages” of Korean History & UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Sites

– Russian Art from icons to Soviet-style virtual tour about the development of Russian art (painting) and the story about how it moved from icons to avant-garde and then to socialistic realism of Stalin’s time.

– Genealogy Research to find relatives from Ukraine

– From the Armenian Quarter and through the Christian Quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with google earth streaming

The price of the virtual tour is usually specified for a maximum number of participants. It is more economical to participate in small groups to share costs. They don’t offer tours for individual prices. 

Opinion: I have not participated in an online tour at Tours by Locals yet, but you can read several positive feedback. 

They also offer to gift somebody a virtual guided tour.

5. Heygo virtual tours

Heygo looks to be the real winner of the pandemic as it produced robust growth during the last few years. It is a tip-based platform offering online virtual tours from several countries worldwide. 

How can you join a virtual guided tour with Heygo?

Create an account

First, you must register with your email address. After that, you immediately see the virtual tours that are currently going on and the upcoming ones. Signing up and joining an experience are all free of cost. You get a one-minute preview before being asked to join.  

At the end of the tour, when you leave the streaming, you get a message asking you to tip the guide if you are satisfied. Since Heygo is a free platform, tour guides and the platform depends on the tip visitors offer. So, if you like it, do not hesitate to give some. After the tour, you get an email with the next screening of your tour guide, a link to leave a review, and a suggestion to follow the tour guide. Thus you automatically get notified of the upcoming tours. 

Choose your preferred virtual tour

You can search for virtual tours according to location, topic, or tour guides. Under “locations”, you see the countries where virtual tours are available, including exotic destinations such as Nigeria, Kenya, or Japan. The biggest selection of virtual tours is available in the US and the UK. 

Once you select the country, you can choose from the list of tours available in that destination. 

Instead of countries, you can select from the following categories:

History, art and history, hidden gems, seasonal and special, spooky, nature and wildlife, walking tours, music and entertainment, castles, gardens and parks, shopping and markets, in transit, museums and exhibitions, road trips, health and wellness, food and dining, at home, sustainability. 

Under “languages”, you can sign up for a language lesson or participate in virtual guided tours in a foreign language. 

Finally, you can also check what tours a particular tour guide offers. 

The virtual tour

Heygo works with a one-way video system, meaning you are not seen during the tour. However, you can ask your questions from your guide via chat. During the tour, you can take a postcard by pressing a button.  

The length of the tours: 45 minutes – 1 hour

Number of participants: there is no limitation on the number of participants, and there is no option currently to have a private tour. 

Device: you can join the virtual tour on a computer or mobile phone by downloading the Heygoapp.

Do you want to become a Heygo tour guide?

1. Download the Heygo app

2. Navigate to Go Live

3. Tap on Start guiding, and follow the instructions on the app.

Click on this link and follow the steps to become a Heygo tour guide. 

After that, a member of Heygo team will contact you if you meet the requirements to assist you in the further steps. You need to complete only a few steps to become a Heygo guide. Check the video tutorials about how to set up your channel, manage your tours and be successful on the platform. 

Some guides hardly make any money, while others make good money. Here are some tips from tour guides on Heygo to be a successful guide: 

1. Set up your channel well with a good quality cover photo, catching headline, and a creative “about you” description. In your channel, you can indicate your social media channels as well. 

2. Carefully select the thumbnail pictures to advertise your tours. If this is not eye-catching enough, people don’t click on that. 

3. Schedule your tours at a regular basis

4. Have proper equipment for the tour.

No matter how knowledgeable you are, if your video and sound quality is inadequate. Make a test stream to check the quality. You can use an android or IOS phone, and you need a gimbal.

Heygo recommends DJI Osmo Mobile and Zhiyun, which consistently work well on their platform! Other, cheaper gimbal brands often have only one stabilization point, making the stream shaky.

You also need a good microphone:

Rode SmartLav+ Lavalier Microphone for Smartphones

Include a call to action in your tour and ask your audience to leave a review and that they follow Heygo’s Facebook posts. Answer the comments, and watch the replay of your tour. 

5. Your personality is the core of the tour

The users come for the destination but stay because of your personality and creativity. Be engaging, entertaining, and informative. Check how other tour guides do and try to adapt things you find good. However, never copy exactly the guiding style of others. What works for somebody does not especially work for you. Don’t keep quiet even if not much is happening, but inform them continuously what is happening (you are crossing the road or if you chose another path because the other one is closed this time. 

6. Improve your virtual tour with other features

You can send through the chat photos to your audience (for example, how the place looked like 100 years ago). You can bring an extra device (mobile, tablet to show that to the camera on them), send maps, a summary of key facts or interesting points about the city, a map of the city, images of persons mentioned during the tour, etc. These are only a few examples. It is up to your creativity how you improve your service. 

7. Promote your tour, engage with your community, answer their comments, and share on social media.

6. Amazon Explore

You might be surprised to hear that apart from selling products, Amazon launched a new platform selling virtual walking guided tours, shopping tours, and other virtual tours. The range of tours is constantly updated; however, for the moment, it is only available for American citizens. This may change later. 

You can choose tours from the following categories: Visit destinations, master a skill or find hidden treasures.

Some examples of the tours available on Amazon Explore:

Learn about gin with a fun British host 

Modern-day crochet: shop live in Italy for colorful handmade creations 

Milan Duomo and downtown highlights

Discover wine-making secrets in Chateau Pape Clement in Bordeaux

Amazon Explore offers unique shopping tours, where you get an expert to explain and show you around to buy Argentinian leather, Murano glasses, or Japanese kimono textile. You get what you purchased during your trip, and your tour guide arranges the delivery.

Cost of the tour: it is not a free tour; usually, it costs 8-50 USD

Number of participants: maximum 7, and you have the option to enjoy a private tour

Device: only available on a computer there is no phone app

There is a two-way audio system, so you can ask questions from your guide at any time.

You can gift an Amazon Explore gift card for Christmas or any other occasion.

If you were not considering a virtual tour before, it is time to have a look. It is a creative gift for those who love traveling or are interested in foreign cultures. This can also be one of the best gifts for those moving abroad to gift a virtual tour of their future destination. I hope this summary of the virtual guided tours of cities and countries around the world was useful for you. Please leave a comment about your experience.