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Writer's pictureNick Perkins

Why you should get a tour guide

Exploring a new city on your own is all well and good, but you’ll never know how much you’re missing by not having a tour guide.


Obviously, everyone knows some of the benefits of getting a guide — they’ll take you around an area, tell you the biggest stories you need to know about it, and introduce you to others along for the ride. But beyond that, there’s other, underrated benefits that come with a having tour guide:


You Don’t Have to Worry About the Little Things

There’s plenty of complications that come with traveling — you have to coordinate how to buy tickets, how to get your family out the door, how to get from a hotel to your destination, and the like. Once you get to Ford’s Theater or the Lincoln Memorial or whatever historical locale you’ve been desperate to see, things don’t get easier. Where do you line up? Where are you allowed to talk?


Why stress about that yourself? Get a tour guide who knows all the answers. Guides are able to tell you which walls are okay to learn against and which areas you shouldn’t stand lest Abraham Lincoln roll over in his grave. There’s enough big things to worry about when traveling already — let a tour guide handle the little concerns for you.


Tour Guides Fact Check the History

Everyone’s heard certain stories about cities, D.C. included. Most visitors probably know that the reason D.C. buildings are short is because of a law that they have to be shorter than the Washington Monument. And true history buffs know that there’s no J Street because D.C. city planner Pierre L’Enfant had beef with Supreme Court justice John Jay and wanted to avoid the letter “J” at all costs.


Except none of that’s true. There aren’t tall buildings because of a 1910 act completely unrelated to the Washington Monument. Instead, there was a super tall hotel called the Cairo residents really hated, and they wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again. As far as the lack of a J Street goes, it’s less because L’Enfant was a petty planner and more because “I” and “J” were seen as interchangeable at the time, making it confusing and unnecessary to have streets named after both.


If you just wander around D.C. on your own, you’ll just have to rely on common myths and word of mouth without ever getting to know the truth. But if you get a tour guide — or read a mildly charming blog written by a tour guide — you can have all those myths debunked and learn all the true history of D.C.


Learn About More Than Advertised

When you book a tour guide, there’s a specific list of things that you know you’re gonna learn about. For example, if you go through Arlington National Cemetery with a tour guide, you know you’re gonna learn about the American military. If you decide to let a guide direct you through the Smithsonian, it’s fair to expect to see the best artifacts of prehistoric times and entertainment’s past.


But that’s not all your guides will tell you. Spending two hours with a tour guide means that you get part of a day with a D.C. local, and they can tell you how to live like Washingtonians do. For example, rather than eat mediocre food at downtown restaurants geared toward tourists, tour guides can tell you what the best bites in the area are.


At the same time, maybe you’re a bit confused about how to use the metro, or you think riding those lime scooters on the sidewalk looks really fun. Getting a tour guide means you have someone who can tell you how to get around on the metro, which side of the escalator to stand on, and — most importantly — to never ever step foot on a scooter.


You Can Find Out Sites Actually Matter

It’s almost impossible to tell where you should visit just based on the internet. Shockingly, every tourist attraction’s website claims that they’re the site you absolutely have to visit. And even reviews aren’t that helpful, as they’re done by people you’ve never met and thus can’t tailor a day to your needs.


Enter the tour guide. Guides aren’t just knowledgeable about the area they’re taking you around — they’ve been to all the sites of the District, and can tell you which ones are worth visiting and which ones you can probably skip. Plus, after spending a few hours together, they’ll know you and can help tailor a trip for you based on your interests.


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