Not only had I visited Paris many times throughout my life, but I was also living in La Ville Lumière when I took my first waking tour of the city. Having previously spent hours of my precious travel time in other cities wandering about in hurried huddles of tourists — straining to listen to a person holding a red umbrella and waiting in long lines at over-touristed shops — I had long ago decided walking tours were not for me. In my head, walking tours had a negative connotation attached to them: too many tourist shop stops, too much time waiting for others to keep up and too little opportunity for chasing what captivated me in those cities. I figured my passion for research and love of wandering aimlessly in a city would be enough when I moved to Paris, so I had forgone booking any walking tours in my new home base under the over-confident assumption I could navigate myself to the points I found most interesting.

PHOTOS: © KRISTY ALPERT

But once I discovered the app Le Walk a free AI-powered walking walking guide from Routes AI that generates real-time walking tours from real locals and content creators — I realized I had been missing out. Phone in my pocket and earbuds in place, I soon had renowned Paris expert Jay Swanson in my ear telling me his favorite places to eat while pointing out the city’s lesser-known Space Invaders mosaics. Later, guidebook author Lily Heise whispered secrets to me about Pigalle’s most romantic enclaves. I stopped for coffee right in the middle of the tour at a café I had wanted to try and picked the audio tour back up when I was ready to begin again. I was hooked and had learned my lesson: Always book a walking tour first.

“Taking a walking tour with a local guide offers a richer, more layered experience that adds tremendously to your independent exploring,” said Lisa Chen, CEO, ToursByLocals. “For one, guides bring a depth of knowledge that’s hard to match. They can connect the dots between landmarks, neighborhoods and history in a way that makes the city’s story come alive. Often, they’ll point out things people walk right past — an architectural detail, the spot of a lesser-known historical event or a local business with a great backstory.”

City walking tours have changed over the years, adapting to the modern traveler, and today’s walking tours take a more curated approach to guiding visitors through their cities. Themed tours and private guides are now the norm, with the best ones led by informed locals who love sharing their city with anyone who shows an interest in going deeper than traditional tourist routes. Tour agency Context Travel created its network of scholars and specialists with this idea in mind: to invite travelers into the real heart of the city through the lens of people who live there, work there and understand the city’s history and culture. More than 80 percent of its guides have a master’s degree or a Ph.D. in their respective fields, and that expertise now translates to more than 60 cities across six continents. Context Travel offers guided tours through Arlington Cemetery in Washington, D.C., with a historian; private tours through the Marché d’Aligre in Paris with a chef; and even a tour through the temples of Kyoto with an architect and historian.

Walks City Experiences specializes in offering skip-the-line and out-of- hours access to some of the most popular attractions and museums around the world, all led by knowledgeable guides whom it refers to as storytellers. Its storytellers know secret spots in the Vatican and can share lesser-known stories from deep beneath the city streets of Paris in the Catacombs.

PHOTOS: © KRISTY ALPERT

I always recommend booking a walking tour as early as possible in the trip, so you’re armed with insider information from the start. Then you can either revisit places you want to learn more about on your own time or change your plans entirely to hit new spots your tour guide mentioned that you hadn’t heard of before. Morning tours are great for getting an overview of the city’s layout during a quieter time of day, while afternoon tours often gear toward specific themes such as food tours and historical walks. The lesser-known gem of walking tours is the evening tour, where a local guide can bring you into the heart of the local mixology scene or even give you access to a museum after it’s closed its doors for an exclusive view without any crowds.

Context Travel was one of the first companies to offer prerecorded, pre-trip lectures from its local experts — available for free on its YouTube channel — to help inspire vacation ideas and create curious and informed travelers. Taking the concept a bit further, ToursByLocals put together live virtual tour packages by using live video conferencing software, bringing local tour experiences into homes for those looking to research more about their destination prior to travel. Without even leaving the office or home, people can explore the Louvre with an art historian or follow in the footsteps of Caravaggio in Rome. Many book these virtual tours as a precursor to their vacation to gain a better understanding of what they’re seeing, as well as to make a connection with a local guide who can assist and answer questions before arrival so they can better plan their own routes.

“It’s not just about seeing a city,” Chen added, “but about really immersing yourself in that new place. To that end, a good guide doesn’t just show you the sights; they help you understand and connect with what you’re seeing.”

PHOTOS: © KRISTY ALPERT

As a growing trend in travel, private walking tours align with a shift toward more immersive and authentic travel experiences. “Travelers are increasingly seeking to connect with the heart of a destination, and walking tours provide an intimate and engaging way to do just that,” said Chen, who noted they’ve seen a steady increase in older travelers booking walking tours as the demographic continues to remain healthy and active well into their 70s and 80s and wants to “get their steps in,” even on vacation.

European tours are, not surprisingly, the biggest seller for most tour companies focused on city walking tours, offering compact, pedestrian- friendly and historically rich city centers with plenty of opportunities for niche themes or off-the-beaten-path tours. ToursByLocals found the top five most popular cities for walking tours in Europe for summer 2025 are Rome, Paris, London, Athens and Barcelona, while the trend toward off- the-beaten-path locations has risen in lesser-known destination bookings for 2025 including Bath, England; Bilbao, Spain; Bari, Italy; and Caen, France.

“More than ever, we believe travel has the ability to connect us to people and places in more meaningful ways,” Chen emphasized. “When we do something as simple as spending a couple hours exploring on foot with a local guide, we come away with not only a wealth of new knowledge about a city but also a deeper understanding of the individuals who live there. The conversations that surface from walking and talking help us forge friendships and learn about each other in fun and often enlightening ways. I think the world could use more friendly discourse right now, and a walking tour on our travels is a great place to start.”