Find the best sightseeing guides, city tours and experiences.
Top 6 Features - Get Your Guide
Top 6 Features - Attractiontix
Author: Chris R. Wilson. Chris has been a travel writer for over 20 years.
Remember, plan your sightseeing itinerary carefully and book your 'attraction entry tickets' in advance - research which venues get sold out quickly and which ones need to be pre-booked (think, Vatican museums, Colosseum tours, Sagrada Familia, Eiffel Tower summit, the Louvre and Westminster Abbey - all these venues usually require a pre-booked timed entry). Also, research local transport and city pass options.
Top Tips: Don't arrive at your holiday destination and hope your adventure will start by itself - you need to 'plan to enjoy' and maximise your holiday experience - especially with city break adventures.
City Breaks often have the benefit of more choice when it comes to visitor attractions; however, entry tickets to museums, galleries and visitor experiences often carry the risk of selling out early (especially during the peak holiday season). Consider booking popular attraction tickets in advance and contact the attraction/venue directly to reserve an entry time. Remember, some museums and galleries only allow visits with a timed entry, especially during busy holiday periods.
Types of Adventures & Attractions: Most pre-booked ticket and sightseeing pass options allow you to plan a visit more efficiently, they can also offer savings compared to pay-at-the-door prices. Also, most pre-booked tickets include skip-the-line privileges, allowing you to avoid long ticket and voucher lines.
Remember, it's not just local sightseeing, museums and city tours that you can pre-book - read on to find out more.
One of the best ways to research and plan your experiences is to access and download free maps, city guides and sightseeing itineraries from 'official tourist board websites' or the ticket providers listed above.
Research and note the attractions, tours and sightseeing experiences that interest you most, then create your very own "must visit" attractions list.
Next, choose how to book your tickets (either directly with the venue or through a ticketing agent). Also, check if your destination offers a City Attractions Pass that provides entry to the sights on your list. Individual tickets and passes can be printed off or downloaded to your mobile device or app (ticket types will vary depending on the ticket or pass purchased and the ticketing agent used).
The City Attractions Pass. During your research, check if there's an official City Pass available that covers entry to the museums, galleries, historic buildings, and experience-based attractions you most want to visit. If you plan on doing lots of sightseeing, a Pass can often save you money; it also has other benefits which we cover later - (remember, entry to some of the attractions on your list might not be covered by the standard City Pass version, you may have to upgrade or purchase separate tickets for these venues).
Also, check if you need to reserve an entry time; information on how to book entry times to venues should be included with your Pass. Remember, some of London's most popular attractions have free entry, so there is no need to buy tickets - just book a timed entry slot.
For large cities like London and Paris - try to avoid daily zig-zagging across the city between venues, plot all the attractions you want to visit on a tourist map and book the venues closest to each other for same-day visits. Remember - "plan, save time, fit more in".
Also, pick up one of the handy pocket-sized bus and underground maps, freely available from most transport ticket outlets. These printed maps are great for planning journeys around the city. (It's often easier to view the entire transport system on one map when using public transport systems).
How you set about experiencing a new city depends on how long you have and how much you want to fit in. Most of my city visits are short durations, so I prefer to 'keep busy' right from the start and fit 'as much in' as possible.
For major cities like London, Paris and Rome, be prepared for long queues at popular attractions, especially during mid-summer. Beat the main crowds and start sightseeing early, at or around opening time (9am), especially for popular venues like the Tower of London, Versailles and Louvre. Alternatively, consider extending your experiences into the evening - on certain days of the week, museums and galleries usually open late and are often less crowded; for example, the magnificent Musée d'Orsay (Orsay Museum MO) in Paris is open late on Thursdays from 9.30am - 9.45pm.
Read on for more tips on planning your sightseeing adventure:
Alternatively, if you plan on doing a lot of sightseeing, consider buying a visitor 'city attraction pass'. These passes provide convenient access to local attractions and experiences (as listed within the pass description). Attraction Passes often include convenient extras, such as skip-the-line entry and/or discounts on local shopping and dining. There are different types of pass available based on the number and type of attractions visited.
For City Passes, there are usually two main types - (1) The Flexible City Attraction Pass, which includes entry to any number of attractions from a comprehensive list of options. (2) The Fixed City Attraction Pass - which carries restrictions on the choice and the number of attractions you can visit.
Before buying a city sightseeing pass, check if it offers ticket entry to the places you want to visit. Usually, Passes can be purchased directly from the city's tourist office website or from the ticket sites listed above.
We have listed below - a brief description of the types of experiences and services offered by a few of our favourite ticket providers.
Get Your Guide: We found GetYourGuide has some of the best information guides and research tools available. The GYG website works quickly and efficiently to help find and narrow down sightseeing experiences and entry ticket requirements.
Experiences available include local city tours, popular tourist attractions, museum & art gallery entry tickets, quirky activities, specialist and unique tours, plus full-day sightseeing excursions. We also found the GYG booking platform offered 'greater' choice - plus mobile ticket options on many products.
In general, we found Get Your Guide offered more convenient ways to book and use attraction tickets, including an app, over 70,000 travel experiences and a comprehensive review system.
If you're looking for information on how to Plan and Book adventure holidays, check our our Adventure Travel Guide.
Attractiontix: Not as big as Get You Guide relative to the number of activities available. However, Attraciontix is regarded as a quality supplier of worldwide theme park tickets, city tours and excursions – they are also an official partner of Disney, Universal and SeaWorld.
The company was founded in 2006 and is based in Birmingham, UK. The Attractiontix website has an easy-to-use search and provides a hassle-free way to buy advanced tickets to some of the world's favourite theme parks (and at good 'value for money' prices), including tickets and passes to Disneyland Paris through to Siam Park and Loro Parque.
There are many good reasons to pre-book and buy attraction entry tickets in advance, especially if the attraction is on your 'must-see' list - and you're happy reserving a specific date and timed entry (if required). Here are a few other benefits:
The downside to booking in advance is limited refunds when cancelling close the attraction date.
The Sightseeing or Visitor City Pass is aimed at tourists wanting access to multiple experiences and entry to many different attractions. The Pass is usually valid only for the 'attractions' listed within the Pass description. (Please note! check your chosen Pass 'includes entry' to the attractions you most want to visit) - city visitor passes are usually valid for set durations, ranging from 2 days up to 1 week and sometimes longer.
There are several types of visitor passes available, including city sightseeing, theme park, amusement, and country park passes. Conveniently, some cities have visitor attraction passes that include travel on public transport. Below are a few tips relating to visitor pass types:
