Fancy seeing a city for free while getting the best local stories? Walking tours might just be the answer. Photo / 123RF
Fancy seeing a city for free while getting the best local stories? Walking tours might just be the answer. Photo / 123RF
Nothing in life is free or so the saying goes. But Leonie Jarrett has found the best way to see a city, and it doesn’t cost a cent
If I hadn’t done a walking tour with Ela in Bologna, I would never have known that Bologna used to be full of canals or that it was once connected for commerce to Venice and from Venice to the sea. Nor would I have known that a traditional Bolognese sauce is made with a splash of milk.
Ela was originally from Croatia, but she met a chef from Bologna. When the pandemic hit, Ela had to decide whether to stay in Bologna with her then-boyfriend or return home. Love won, Ela married her chef, and she now loves her adopted city of Bologna.
Ela talked a lot about food. I learnt that the cut-off pasta scraps are called “maltagliati” (literally, badly cut) and should not be wasted but dried and used in soup.
I also learnt that, when Ela and her chef husband travel to see her family in Croatia, he takes some guanciale (salt-cured pork cheek) with him to make a carbonara sauce. Bacon just doesn’t cut it apparently!
There are many ways to explore a city on foot. You can do a typical city walk (ideal if you haven’t been to a city before or for a long time), or a themed walk centred around food or the supernatural. I vividly remember a food tour of Manhattan where we ate piping hot, artichoke pizza on a freezing winter’s day. I also fondly remember doing a “Harry Potter” walking tour in London, which involved a quiz connecting the sites we saw in the films.
Traditional Bolognese, made with a splash of milk. Photo / Leonie Jarrett
A walking tour is a great way to orient yourself, and it usually takes you past the key tourist sites. Think of a hop-on, hop-off bus but with interactive commentary and walking rather than sitting, which is also a great way to shake off jetlag.
Better than the orientation, though, are the stories told by the tour guides. Typically lifelong residents of the city and always local, these guides are invariably engaging and passionate about the cities they live in. You learn something about the city’s history, something about the culture and something about the way people live in the city.
In Florence, my tour guide, Riccardo, told the group about the demise of the city’s leather-making industry and the exodus of the young people. Like so many other “tourist hot spots” in Europe, he explained, Florence is no longer affordable for young people.
The only canal still visible in Bologna. Photo / Leonie Jarrett
We walked on with Riccardo and, when we were positioned at the rear of the famous Duomo (Cathedral), he pointed to the street sign – Bischero (pronounced Biskero). Riccardo told us the origin of the name. At the end of the 1200s, before building the Duomo, the government offered the local families money to buy their homes and relocate. All accepted except the Bischeri family, who hoped to increase the offer. Mysteriously, the Bischeri house burnt to the ground and, from that day on, “Bischero” has been used by Florentines to refer to a stupid person.
The story was funny and interesting in itself, but it became hilarious moments later. Riccardo, looking directly at the two sullen teenagers in our group, reminisced about a history lesson when he was a teenager, where the teacher discussed a lot about the Medici family, but also mentioned the Bischero story. At the end of the lesson, the teacher asked Riccardo who the important family in the story was.
“Bischero,” he’d said confidently.
The street in Florence once named for the Bischeri family. Photo / Leonie Jarrett
“No,” said the teacher, “It was the Medicis. You are the Bischero!” A good joke made even more impressive by the fact it was delivered by a Forentine in perfect English.
Jack was our guide in Oxford. He introduced himself as a “Townie” and a “Gownie”. A “Townie” means he lives in Oxford. A “Gownie” means he had studied in Oxford too. Now a self-confessed, struggling writer hoping to have a career as an academic, Jack guides walking tours and infuses his facts with local knowledge.
Jack told our group how the town of Oxford came to be, but most interesting was his insight into Oxford as a university town. He told us that 31 of 58 English prime ministers have been educated in Oxford, and explained how every student is assigned to a pastoral hub, being a college. He spoke earnestly about how Oxford University looks to the future and is now leaning away from undergraduate study towards postgraduate studies and to be a world centre for research.
Divinity College - part of my walking tour in Oxford. Photo / Leonie Jarrett
Another day, another fascinating walking tour. This time, in the summer in Dubrovnik. The tour guide, Luka, was a Dubrovnik native who had some interesting and concerning thoughts on tourism. Croatia, he told the group, has lost 500,000 residents since 2011. There is now one retiree for every worker.
Tourists galore in Dubrovnik. Photo / Leonie Jarrett
Luka believes tourism has brought Dubrovnik back to life and saved Croatia’s economy. On the other hand, Dubrovnik has a population of 42,000 but 45,000 tourist beds! Hardly any locals live in the Old Town any longer - a mere 900 yet there are 2800 tourist beds. Even with a cap of two cruise ships per day during cruising season, there can be 9000 day trippers in Dubrovnik. No wonder the city has crowd control measures such as ropes and direction arrows indicating pedestrian traffic flow.
Luka told us one-fifth of the Croatian economy is tourism and that, slowly, all industries other than tourism are shutting down. Even wineries and olive oil production have become tourism businesses. He, himself, admitted that being a tour guide a few hours a day for part of the year is a much easier life than being a farmer.
Despite the challenges, Luka regarded his life as prosperous because previous generations lived through occupation and conflict.
Without walking tours guided by locals such as Ela, Riccardo, Jack and Luka, I would have wandered around Bologna, Florence, Oxford and Dubrovnik and gazed at the impressive buildings without any idea of the stories behind what I was seeing, nor how the locals live now.
I leave every walking tour with an enhanced sense of what the city was and what the city is. I leave with unique, local insights that cost me (next to) nothing.
How do I find a walking tour?
You can join a free walking tour by visiting the local Tourist Information Office or via a Google search. I like the GuruWalk app as it groups all tours together by city with descriptions of what will be covered, tour duration, languages, times, meeting places, maps and reviews.
Are walking tours really free?
Some walking tours attract a charge per head, but these are usually themed walks or tours that involve admission fees.
If there is no disclosed fee, there is no obligation to pay anything. Bear in mind, though, that this is a job for the guide. The guide is giving up their time and local knowledge, so a tip or donation at the end of the tour is recommended.
