What makes a Guide good or bad? And what composes a quote for a tour?

First, the "inside" option of visit. Yes, there are guides that don't go inside; but also there are people hiring drivers and expecting them to be guides. That is a common mistake. People talk to the concierges or at the hotel reception desk and trust the people they recommend. There is nothing wrong with it, but...

Recepcionists and concierges work on commissions paid by those professionals. The bigger commission, more services. And it doesn't matter the quality of the service. Others validate by the brand of the car (can be a full of rust falling apart van, but it is THAT brand) or if you wear a suit and tie. This is the plain truth. It doesn't matter how good you are at your work, or how comfortable is your car. So, 90% of people recommended by hotel receptions and/or concierges aren't guides, they are drivers. Some have formation on tourism, they learned from actual guides, or even studied by themselves, but in the end they will do their work as it is: drive the car around and that's it. Other tours are sold with "time to visit (...)"; and this is the catch: they sell you your time! Instead of selling a guide's time, they are selling you your free time! That is a great deal! There are exceptions, of course: difficulties in parking (and this can be solved in a useful time), a car that decides to break down during a tour (and trust me this happens!), someone that got an injury and has to stay in the car (and the guide/driver needs to have always someone else with that person at all times).

Other reason for guides not going inside (and this goes for the subject of both Daniel and Sérgio's posts) has to do with the company's discription of the tours. All the highest ranked tours on any platform (GYG, Viator/Tripadvisor, Civitatis, etc.) are operated by the bigger companies in the market; and the cheaper ones are the ones that have more add-ons. So for a smaller company, 1-2 guides it is an unfair competition. And there is the other thing, on a booking platform 99% of the tours are shared tours, not private. And being shared means that schedules are strict and there is no option of changing itinerary if you change your mind. It also means that the guide or driver have to pay attention to others, not only your group.

What about those great deals, cheap, that feel like you hit the jackpot? Usually scams (well this is a strong word, let's say that they use "word games" instead), usually you start reading the fine print and doesn't say the group size; advertises "small group(s)", but a small group is up to 33/34 people... not 8 or even 16/20. And being more than 8 people means a minibus; means going to a parking lot and go into the public bus after, you leave one bus to go into other (this is in Sintra). Other tours are sold to "exquisite and unique" wineries in the Douro valley; well they take you to where all the buses go, winery tours for 50/100 people at the same time, or restaurants that only work with tourist buses. How is that exquisite or unique?

And still about guides: what about skills? Not all the guides have all the knowledge or all the skills to be guides, period. Not everyone studied to be a guide. Neither the ones that did are better than others. A lot of times experience is the game changer. And the soft skills compensate the lack of other things. And still a question: do all the guides studied for it? No. Not all. Not even the majority. And that is the main issue. It isn't a badge or a card. It is the fact of learning. Any person can call themselves "guides"; as long as they have an operating license (RNAAT/RNAVT). Yes, as many said you can check it in https://rnt.turismodeportugal.pt/RNT/_default.aspx by inserting the registry number in the box and reading the validity of the insurances or the registry itself. And about the knowledge? That registry doesn't say the knowledge your guide has. It shows you that the registry number is under a company or individual name, the contacts, and also the insurance policies (liability and personal accidents). And about formation? What about learning?

I have seen multiple things: I have seen certified guides that behave like the if they are the only ones entitled to visit, entitled to guide, and that completely ignore anyone else, independent of their quality; I have seen some of the best guides working without having any certification. I have seen people lying about their qualifications; I have seen people saying less qualified than they really are... all the situations are possible. One example: I know a person that does tours and says that he is a guide; last year I did a post graduation and a friend of him told him to come and join us; result, even saying to people that he studied this and that, license degrees and post graduations, all are lies! He couldn't join that post graduation because he had never even finished High School... Does this change the service? No. But it makes us think on the quality of other's services.

What about pricing and quotes? That is the most sensitive part; everyone, company or individuals, have their own prices and they compose them differently; for example, when people contact me for tours and ask for a half day or a full day, my price isn't very different; and why? Because when I do a half day I never keep it strict to the 4 hours; and since I do private tours, the starting and ending hours collide with other tours I could sell... so 1 tour per day, either half day or full day. And what else? Other things influentiate the quote: number of tours booked, where you book (directly or through a platform), distance to cover, tolls, parking fees, entrance fees (if included); and what about the guide? Yes, that is also a very important part of the quote; you are paying for the guide's time, for his expertise, for his knowledge. And yes, I have seen 3 types of quoting prices: 1 - the quote is made with a "honest" price; 2 - the quote is overpriced (and I will stay out of this); or 3 - the quote is underpriced - people forget to add to the quote their own work price (I have seen people charging a bit over 200€ to do Lisbon-Porto: if you pay 50€ each way in tolls (that's 100€) plus the fuel (roughly over 120/150€ in current prices - and even electric have to stop on one of the ways to charge), what is left for the person working (driver or guide)? This is one example. So when people say that they got a lower quote, think well what is missing there. Can be a service different from what you expected.

And there are other things: traffic restrictions (Sintra, Arrábida as examples); or even quality of the secondary services (wine tastings, boat rides); a price isn't set in stone. It is the result of years of exploring, studying, creating relations with partners, trying new things, visiting monuments on our free time over and over again...

Doing things on your own is something valuable and something worth doing; yes you can find all sorts of information online and in books; but, that human touch? That person that is there and says, try this or don't try that because you have allergy. What about knowing by heart the visit times for each place? The working hours of a monument? Wether if it is open or closed (partially or fully)? That kind of knowledge costs: time, money (time is money) and most of all, will to know.

In all the graduations I did to be a tour guide, one thing is always present: Language skills. Geography. Monuments. History. Either History alone, history of the world, history of art, history of Portugal or even etnology and etnography. Curiously if you ask someone about it some of the "so called" guides (and now I'm talking about the ones that are in tourism just for the money), they know the basics about it; a lot don't know the Unesco Heritage Sites in Portugal, or even why our climate is so different in different areas of country, or the traditional houses, the traditional outfits, the traditions of a place; that is the difference. Another difference is the "extra" habilities: talk about the paved sidewalks (Calçada), wine regions and gastronomy, the fishing techniques or even the fishes that exist in our coast.... That knowledge adds to the price.

Yes, knowing the best spots for a picture or how to take the best one are also great to know. But, it all makes a knowledgeable guide. Good or not, it's your decision.

Feel free to add something or even to correct me if I'm wrong, but this is my oppinion. Thank you for reading!