Hey, Go Virtually!
For a great way to revisit favourite haunts or discover new ones, give live-streaming guided tours a try
As a travel writer and intrepid traveller, I’m compelled to share my latest discovery: an interactive virtual platform where people can access tours in real time with experienced tour guides. All you need to travel the world from the comfort of your home is a computer, tablet or cell phone and Wi-fi. Best of all—it’s free!
John Tertan and Liam Garrison co-founded Heygo.com at the start of the pandemic as a way to keep exploring new places and stay connected. Guides, unemployed all over the world due to lockdowns, signed on to share the places they knew best. The service continues today even as international travel gradually resumes.
How did I find this service? As a volunteer tour guide at Toronto Botanical Garden, I received a newsletter announcing fellow guide Abdullah’s virtual tour the week Heygo was promoting gardens of the world. Curious, I checked it out, and what jumped out at me first was Amsterdam guide Stephan van der Meer’s tour of Keukenhof!
The famous gardens in the Netherlands are flooded with tourists in April to take in the countless tulips. Stephan’s brilliant tour covered a section of the gardens dedicated to a fall standout, dahlias. Keukenhof Castle: Dance among the Dahlias taught me about the colourful blooms, statues and buildings. I captured images of these gorgeous flowers using the “postcard” feature.
Even when the guides repeat the tour, they are never the same twice. Using the chat feature, you can engage with the guide by commenting and asking questions. You really do feel part of it when they call you by name and answer your question. People often ask in the chat what the weather is like, how much things cost or what kind of tree we’re looking at as we meander the boulevards. It’s not Zooming—no one can see you, and so you can wear your PJS.
You can follow your favourite guides and learn more about their background and upcoming tours. If you try the tour for ten minutes and you’re yawning, just click “leave.”
Tours are free but tip-supported, so if you’re entranced, leave a tip. After all, your guide designed the tour, scouted locations, battled the elements, travelled by car or bus, and might have even paid an entry fee; to show you the sunset from the Ei el Tower, it costs 17 euros to ride the elevator.
When Lee from Amsterdam took us to the Poezenboot, a shelter for cats on a houseboat in the canal, she donated all her tips. So many of more than 100 animal lovers tipped generously. The shelter got 207 euros that day, which I think was exceptional!
I do admit I am addicted. In a month I’ve spent $60. It can add up, but it’s oh so worth it! There is endless variety: I have wandered the ancient buildings and aqueducts of Segovia, cruised down Amsterdam’s canals, watched a guide cook ricotta and spinach pie, seen the tea rooms of Harrogate and climbed the trails of Ban.
A FEAST FOR YOUR EYES
After several tours with a guide, you sense you are becoming acquainted. I’m rather fond of charming Florent, who lived in Montmartre as a student and has mentioned his wife Dora and baby Gabriel, all while providing rich and accurate historical information. So far, Flo and I have walked the cobblestones of Montmartre; gazed at a sunset from the Eiffel Tower; rediscovered Monet’s Garden in Giverny from the Japanese Bridge on a quiet autumn afternoon, free from tourist hordes; walked along the Seine as the City of Light sparkled; and reminisced about impressionist paintings in the D’orsay. Florent’s informative and imaginative tours have become a favourite.
Come join us on his food tour, The Belly of Paris, shopping pour le dîner as a typical Parisian in Quartier des Halles. It’s 5 p.m. as we enter the boulangerie for baguette, fresh from the oven. “Still warm,” he says. “We love our bread.”
Next, on iconic rue Montorgueil, one of the best market streets for French staples, we enter La Fermette for cheese and cold cuts. He buys three cheeses popular with Parisians—comté, Saint-nectaire and reblochon—as I eye the goat cheese. As Flo shows us the deep blue awning of Stohrer, he tells us it’s the oldest patisserie in Paris. Founded circa 1730, its treats were relished by Louis XV and his queen; Florent sprinkles his tour with delectable historical bites.
With its glittering chandelier and interior designed by a student of French painter Paul Baudry, the patisserie is a monument. I’m shopping in an art gallery! All so luscious, his purchase is two perfect chocolate eclairs—it’s what they’re famous for.
We pass decadent fresh figs and Au Rocher de Cancale bistro, once frequented by Alexandre Dumas of Count of Monte Cristo fame. Art, literature and groceries combine; we’re in Paris. Saving the best for last—odette—we purchase choux à la crème. “My favourite,” he says smiling. “I have to eat this after we say adieu.”
Combining Florent’s friendly manner, the artistry of the shops, delicacies with colourful textures that we can almost taste and smell, this has been one of his best tours yet. Bon appetit!
I enjoy visiting places I’ve travelled before, which gives me a chance to reminisce. Bellagio, Italy, is a case in point. I stayed a week in this delightful town on Lake Como in 2015, so I was thrilled to join Patrizia riding the ferry again across the cerulean lake, misty mountains in the distance. In
Bellagio, as we wandered narrow lanes, I felt at home. Italy is like that for me.
Strolling along elegant Passeig de Gracia Ave. in Barcelona with Pepus evoked my delight in Gaudi’s modernist architecture. I’d toured both Casa Batlló and Casa Milà (La Pedrera) in Spain in 2019. With four days in Barcelona, I still could not fit in a trip to Gaudi’s whimsical Park Güell. What a thrill to go there with Pepus to discover the mosaics on serpentine benches!
I’d always dreamed of seeing Iguazu Falls, tumbling over the border between Brazil and Argentina. We rode the glass elevator down to the base of the falls with Lillian Sierich as she warned we might lose the signal, so stay tuned. That can happen. Usually they have five bars, but drop to three bars and the screen can freeze. Don’t panic— refresh or leave and come back. We could hear the water thundering and take in the view from the bridge along the bottom as Lillian pointed out plants and butterflies. She informed us of the mythology and geography of this splendid natural wonder.
In winter, European guides may be heading indoors to galleries and museums. Perhaps it’s time to leave my comfort zone and head south, venturing to Rio de Janeiro or Buenos Aires. I could dip my toes in Australia’s beaches or watch a sunset over Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I can’t wait for spring in Europe. Stephan plans a return to Keukenhof for blossoms and spring bulbs—yes, those dazzling TULIPS! If Bloemencorso Bollenstreek—the flower parade of fragrant floats—is back in 2022, you can count on Stephan to highlight it.
These talented professional guides have enhanced my world, made history and geography come alive, enriched my awareness of cultures and values, and shown me more than great views. They have provided valuable insights and allowed me to dream of places too costly or far away to visit, while encouraging me to plan for future travel. I am grateful.
As travel guru Rick Steves is fond of saying, “Keep on travellin’!” ■