FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

English, French, and Spanish.

Public group tours are open to anyone who wishes to join. They offer a fixed itinerary and can be booked only on the day/time they are scheduled. There is absolutely no possibility of customization according to individual preferences.

On the other hand, private tours are designed for one party only: a single group of people who know one another and book the tour together, such as a family or a group of friends. The tour booked is not open to anyone else. In a private tour, as in a public tour, the itinerary and the content of the tour are predefined, but the customers can choose the tour schedule according to the guide's availability calendar. Furthermore, in a private tour, the pace of the tour and the level of activity can be adapted to the audience by its dedicated tourist guide, who provides them with undivided attention.

Customized tours are even more exclusive than private tours. Like private tours, they are designed for one party only and are not open to anyone else, but they are much more exclusive, as they are designed specifically to fit the customer's request. In customized tours, the tourist guide often picks up his guests at their hotel. The most exclusive customized tours are called bespoke tours.

Lastly, semi-private tours are based on an ambiguous marketing concept. These are actually public tours restricted to a very small number of customers. You are therefore with other clients whom you do not know at all, but they are very few. This makes the visit really comfortable and gives the guide a little latitude to adapt to his audience and answer some questions. Typically, these kinds of visits are organized in large museums like the Louvre with mini-groups limited to 6 people.

Depending on the case, the private tours are directly bookable online via the corresponding page of the tour for a maximum of 6 or 10 people.

There are two cases.

(1) Museums, where mini-groups are limited to 6 people by the museums themselves.
(2) Outdoor tours, which are limited to 6 or 10 people, depending on the case.

Beyond these numbers, you won't be able to book online. In this case, contact us, and we will check whether we can organize a tour for you.

No, monument and museum tickets are always extra. When you have to buy a museum or monument ticket for a tour, we clearly indicate it on the tour page.

Yes, our tours are always led by a qualified, official, licensed guide holding the Guide-Conférencier card (the highest-level French guiding certification).

To become an official tourist guide in France, you must obtain a bachelor's degree, and many tourist guides also have higher degrees. In France, an official tourist guide is called a "guide-conférencier," and his guide-conférencier professional card proves his accreditation (his license). This card is the only way to recognize a true licensed tourist guide. Tourist guides need to show their card to enter French museums and monuments for free, and they are required to wear it visibly in most big French museums like the Louvre or Orsay. You can learn more about all these matters on Yves' page, the Broaden Horizons tourist guide in Paris.

No, we don't offer free tours. These are not so "free," as they are based on remuneration by tips only—something that the "guides" of these "visits" repeat throughout these kinds of "tours." At Broaden Horizons, we concentrate on the content of our tours and our customer satisfaction. An official licensed tour guide always leads our guided tours.

Yes, whenever we are available, it is possible to book a guided tour all year round, with great schedule flexibility from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nevertheless, even if outdoor tours are possible during the low season (which in France is wintertime), it is prudent to focus on indoor tours during this period of the year.

It is better to book early. Availability (subject to confirmation) is shown in the tours’ calendars.

On each private tour page, a red button gives you access to our reservation page, which contains our calendar of theoretical availability. From there, just follow an easy four-step online process:

• (1) Ask for a tour: Choose a tour date & time and enter your details
• (2) Receive an availability confirmation email with a payment link
• (3) Pay by credit card
• (4) Receive a tour confirmation email with the precise meeting point 

Step (2): We respond rapidly (generally in less than 24 hours), and the answer is usually positive. You have a limited time to pay for the tour, generally 24 hours, but this may vary. For example, for a last-minute tour, the period is shorter.

No, we do not have physical points of sale in shops. Our guided tours can only be purchased online.

There is no online booking on the same day, but you can always try your luck by contacting us by e-mail or phone.

For the security of your online payment, we use Stripe, a world-recognized specialized service provider.

No, this is not possible. The private tours can only be paid in advance by credit card online. This is to protect us against "no-shows."

No, we show the true price of our tours. We don't add hidden costs at the last moment. If any extra cost has to be added to the price of the tour, it is clearly indicated from the start on our pages.

Sorry, but we have a no-refund policy. Once booked, a tour is not refundable. For more details on our cancellation policy, please check the specialized section on our "Rates & Conditions" page.

The meeting point for your tour is indicated in the final confirmation email you receive in answer to your tour payment. It usually includes:

• (1) Address of the meeting point 
• (2) A map showing the meeting point
• (3) A photo of the meeting point with a precise mark
• (4) Information on how to get there: Metro, bus or  tram, etc.  

Your guide knows your name, which is enough for him; he won't check your confirmation email (voucher). Nevertheless, you had better bring your confirmation email (voucher), as it has the meeting point and your guide's contact phone number on it.

First of all, good shoes are mandatory as we walk a lot on our... walking tours. What's left is a matter of common sense. It is always prudent to have a bottle of water, and depending on the circumstances, you should bring what you need to protect yourself from the sun, the cold, or the rain.

Our guided tours start "rain or shine." They go ahead whatever the weather; please come with adequate clothing for the weather!

We prefer to use laminated paper documentation  (mostly in big A3 format). Paper has the advantage of not breaking down, not glaring in the sun, and working even when it rains. We are quality-oriented; we don't "show" information on smartphone screens.

Yes, you can leave reviews on our TripAdvisor or Google My Business profiles.