GetYourGuide is where a lot of trips quietly get their best moments booked: the early-entry Vatican tour, the food walk in Lisbon, the boat to the Blue Grotto. Founded in Zurich in 2009 and now headquartered in Berlin, it’s grown into the biggest dedicated marketplace for tours and activities. In a January 2026 memo, CEO Johannes Reck said its 50,000 supply partners offer more than 200,000 experiences in 18,000 destinations, and that travelers booked over 33 million experiences in 2025.
For most travelers it’s a safe, flexible way to book things to do, with free cancellation on most activities and verified reviews. The things to understand are that local operators run the tours, quality varies between them, and big-name attractions are sometimes cheaper booked direct.
What tours cost on GetYourGuide
GetYourGuide doesn’t charge travelers a separate booking fee. Operators pay a commission that’s built into the listed price. To give a sense of pricing, here are the starting prices for the classic Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill guided tour from three operators, as shown in GetYourGuide listings on October 24, 2026 (UK pricing):
| Operator | Tour | From |
|---|---|---|
| Crown Tours | Colosseum, Forum and Palatine guided tour | £41 (regular £51) |
| Roman Vacations | Colosseum, Forum and Palatine guided tour | £47 |
| City Wonders | Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Forum guided tour | £50 |
The same landmark, near-identical itineraries of about 3 hours, and a 20% spread in price. That’s typical. Compare group size, entry type (arena floor or underground access costs more) and what’s included before picking the cheapest.
Free cancellation and Reserve Now, Pay Later
These two features are the main reasons to book here rather than with a random operator’s website:
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before most activities, for a full refund. Some listings have different terms, shown clearly on the page.
- Reserve Now, Pay Later lets you lock a spot on eligible bookings and pay closer to the date.
- Mobile vouchers sit in the app, so you don’t need to print anything.
- 24/7 support by phone, with local numbers in the US, UK and several European countries.
The combination is useful when your plans may shift. Book the popular slots early, then cancel if the weather turns.
Originals and how GetYourGuide picks operators
Since 2018, GetYourGuide has sold some tours under its own brand with operators that meet its standards, according to Wikipedia’s company history. Today these “Originals by GetYourGuide” are experiences designed with local partners and sold only on the platform. In practice they’re a good default when you can’t decide between a dozen similar listings.
Reviews come only from people who booked through GetYourGuide, which makes ratings harder to game than open review sites. Still, look at the number of reviews, the recent ones, and whether complaints mention the same problem.
The Colosseum ticket question
One issue is worth knowing about for Rome in particular. In April 2025, Italy’s competition authority fined several companies, GetYourGuide among them, over the resale of Colosseum tickets in a way that made it harder for tourists to buy at face value, as noted in the same Wikipedia history.
The practical lesson: for headline attractions with official ticket sites, check the official price first. Guided tours bundle a guide, timed entry and sometimes restricted areas, which can be worth paying for. A plain entry ticket usually isn’t worth a markup.
Booking tips that save money and hassle
- Book popular slots early, then use free cancellation as your safety net, up to 24 hours before most activities. Sunrise and early-entry slots sell out first.
- Look for the free cancellation label if your dates or the weather may change.
- Check the meeting point on a map before the day, and note whether it’s the entrance or a café nearby.
- Read the inclusions line by line. “Skip the line” may mean a reserved time slot, not walking straight in.
- Compare group sizes. A small-group tour for a few dollars more is often the better experience.
What owners complain about
Most GetYourGuide reviews are positive, praising easy booking, flexible cancellation and good guides. A sizable minority are one-star, and they cluster around a few themes:
- Operator cancellations and last-minute changes, especially for weather-dependent tours and transfers.
- Refund disputes when a tour didn’t happen as described, or when a traveler missed a meeting point.
- Uneven quality, since one listing’s guide may be brilliant and another’s rushed.
- Hard-to-find meeting points in busy areas.
Our advice: read the meeting-point instructions the day before, save the operator’s local phone number, and if something goes wrong, contact GetYourGuide support while you’re still at the location.
GetYourGuide vs Viator, Klook and booking direct
Viator, owned by Tripadvisor, has a similarly huge catalog and is often stronger in the Americas. It’s worth checking both for the same activity.
Klook is the go-to in much of Asia, with strong coverage of theme parks, rail passes and city attraction passes.
Booking direct with an operator or attraction can be cheaper, especially for simple entry tickets, but you lose GetYourGuide’s cancellation flexibility and support.
GetYourGuide’s strengths are Europe, flexible cancellation and a polished app. Pair it with our KAYAK review for flights and hotels, or Dollar Flight Club if you want deal alerts. Our travel reviews and deals page have more ways to save, and if London is on the itinerary, comic and sci-fi fans should read our Forbidden Planet review before visiting the Megastore.
Who should skip GetYourGuide
Skip it if you only buy plain entry tickets you could get from the attraction directly, if you prefer arranging private guides yourself, or if you want guaranteed quality rather than operator-by-operator variation. The pros and cons are summarized below.
Our verdict on GetYourGuide
GetYourGuide is the easiest, most flexible way to book tours and activities, particularly in Europe. Free cancellation, pay-later booking and verified reviews take most of the risk out. Compare a few operators, check official prices for big attractions, and favor Originals or well-reviewed listings, and it’ll make your trip better.
Our review method explains how we research travel services from published policies, prices and customer feedback.