I am helping some friends plan a trip to Paris and Amsterdam. I have been to Paris on three different ocassions and experienced the "pains" of not speaking French. Is anyone aware of how to hire a personal tour guide to travel and sightsee with us through Paris?

There is an excellent young American art student whom I have met who does tours. Write him at [email protected]<BR>He will tailor it to your tastes.

Definitely use Michael Osman ([email protected]). He gave us a great tour, and his prices are very reasonable.<BR><BR>Anne

Can you give an example of his prices? I think that might be a great idea for my family. My kids might &quot;hear&quot; another student.

He quoted me $100 for a day (in June 2003)for our three generational group of six. The children will be 8 &amp; 10. I have just e-mailed him to confirm.

A friend of mine in Paris just started up a service there and wrote me this about 10 days ago. I can certainly vouch for her. She has already taken me around before and she can really show you what nobody else can. <BR><BR>&quot;Wanted to let you know you that I have just set myself up in business<BR>to conduct personalized tours of Paris for very small groups (4<BR>maximum) to spots that are virtually unknown to the average tourist. <BR>It's basically what I have been doing for years for friends. Maybe<BR>on the strength of my art history studies over the last four years, I<BR>just felt that I could do a good job of it.<BR> <BR>I'm putting the accent on everyday life: real jewels of old boutiques,<BR>caf&eacute;s, open markets, public gardens that are just like they used to<BR>be: unique and sometimes even quaint -but always off the beaten track.<BR> Of course there will always be the classics such as the Invalides,<BR>and the Sainte Chapelle as well as smaller, lesser known museums and<BR>out-of-the-way ch&acirc;teaux and points of interest.<BR> <BR>I would love to see you soon in Paris and please do feel free to<BR>forward this information on to your friends who might be planning a<BR>trip to this area within the next year and who may be interested.<BR> <BR>Do visit my new Web site: <BR><BR>www.patmcclelland.com<BR><BR>and get back to me with your opinion!<BR> <BR>See you soon maybe?<BR> <BR>And thank you for sharing this with your friends.<BR> <BR>Pat&quot;

I will be in Paris this February and went to Pat McClelland's web site. I think she is a rip-off. 300 Euro for 1/2 day tour. I think one would have to be on drugs to pay that high fee.<BR><BR>I think I will do my own research and set my own itinerary with the help of the wonderful advise from the nice people on this board.

I checked Pat McClelland's site too. 300 euro for hald day does seem a lot. She may be extremely knowlegeable but basically she has been doing it only for friends till recently as she says. Can she already call herself a &quot;professional&quot; guide to charge that much ? She has just started her business. Maybe she should consider lowering her rate or are there enough rich Americans to pay it? 50 % (150 euro) deposit in advance? Well, not for me.

A tailored full day with Michael Osman runs less then 100.00 no matter how many there are. worth every penny in my opinion.

Pat McClelland charges 200 Euros for half a day for two people. I think the advantage of her system is that you can pick out what you want to see and she will take you directly there- very efficient as far as time is concerned. She also will give you a run down on everything. Minibus tours of Paris are 100 Euros per person for half a day but you don't get personalized service or a la carte visits. I guess it depends on what type of tour you want.

Just an observation/opinion. I think it is unfair to Michael to publish what you paid. He may adjust his rates for numbers, time, what you do, etc. Let him quote it or refer to his website. It is done now but it might be more fair to say something like &quot;he is VERY reasonable&quot;. I wish I had added that to my original suggestion.

Gretchen, what's the difference? Pat publishes her rates on her web site. It gives people the flexibility to shop around. At least I know what Pat is charging -- I don't want to waste her time or mine. If I know Michael Osman is more reasonable, I just night contact him. 100 Euro for an all-day tour vs. 300 Euro for 1/2-day tour is a big difference. <BR><BR>That's what I like about this forum. Give people the information and let them make their own decisions.

Pat's 300 euro 1/2 day seems a bit to high a rate. Then Michael charges 100 for full day ? This seems maybe a little too low. Satisfied customers, please tell me he never took you to shops to get comissions. Just curious.

Does one tip these guides? If so, how much? They are the owners of their own businesses.

My daughter and I had a customized tour of Pere Lachaise on one of several trips to Paris. It was one of my best experiences there. Our knowledgeable guide was Virginia Dae of Paris Insight. I would highly recommend her. She also rents out an apartment<BR>wesite:www.parisinsight.com<BR>email: [email protected]

He never takes you to shops for a commission. Just a super nice young art student with great knowledge who is in great demand.

I agree with Gretchen...just tell people how to reach Michael, and that he is very reasonable. He doesn't post his prices on his website, and I'm assuming he has a reason for that! He will quote a price when he contacts you. I was shocked at how reasonable the price was! I think he sets the price based on what it sounds like you want to do. I can tell you that he picked us up at 9:30 at our hotel, and stayed with us until about 6:30 pm. He had a basic itinerary planned based on what I had told him we were interested in seeing, and what we planned to see on our other days. Very personalized tour (only two of us). No pressure for shopping (he didn't take us anywhere to shop since we didn't want to). I did tip him because I felt that we got WAY more than our money's worth.<BR><BR>I do have to say that 300 for a 1/2 day tour sounds way too expensive for me!<BR><BR>Anne

I haven't taken a personal guided tour of Paris, but just wanted to comment that the main companies' group bus tours are not 100 euro pp for a half day as Rob apparently found above. At least, the main companies that do that in Paris don't charge that. <BR><BR>Parisvision has several tours, and an all day tour is 92 euro (over 7 hrs), a special art tour that is 1/2 day is only about 50 euro and a Montmartre tour of 5 hrs is only 60 euro. They have another all day tour for 120 euro but that includes lunch at Altitude 95 (Eiffel Tower). The Cityrama all day tour is 89 euro. I think all of those may be larger buses, but even the Parisvision minibus half-day tour that includes a Seine cruise is only 57 euro (3:30 hrs).<BR><BR>So, a group tour is about 50 euro per half day per person. 300 euro is a lot for a half day, even if specialized and for several people, unless this person got you into the Elysees Palace to meet Chirac or something. Her web site does say it's only 200 euro for 1-2 people, which is a little better (but still ridiculous). Some people with an elite clientele who really do something special may be able to get away with that, however (ie, a specialized shopping tour of antique stores with someone who knows them well and knows antiques well). Her web site lists many of the usual guidebook items for her tours, however, and appears very ordinary. <BR><BR>I've been inside the Opera Garnier and paid about 10 euro, for example (one of the things she mentions), for that tour (I don't mean the std tour available to general public who walk in, a special registered guide who took us to some special rooms). I've also had a specialized tour of the Hotel Dieu because I'm a health professional and wanted to see that and learn its history, and that was only about 10 euro pp in a group of 3 people. I go in groups organized by specialized guides who are registered with the city. Paris Tourist Office has a list of those, including multilingual guides.

I forgot to add that there is one pricey tour company that has a lot of special-interest tours, as well as customized to you if none of those suit, and is supposed to be excellent -- that is French Links run by Rachel Kaplan. www.frenchlinks.com<BR><BR>If I understand it, that company's fees are $350 per half day and $600 per day, but I think that's for your entire group (which is about the same as the 3-5 people McClelland mentions, I guess). So that is as expensive, but she is very well known, a published author and lecturer and her web site describes the potential itineraries and they are a lot more innovative and special than the McClelland web site -- they do have an antiques/flea market tour, but that includes negotiating, selecting and overseeing the shipping, stuff like that.

Anne: How much did you tip Michael? 10%??He quoted our family of 6- $100 for the day. I have not had my email to confirm answered yet, but I understand that he is slow to answer.