We had a fabulous 4-hour walking tour of Vancouver hosted by Derek of City Unscripted! We walked around False Creek through Vancouver's bustling downtown, pockets of heritage homes nestled in autumn trees, rows of Gastown shops, the historic Chinatown, and the LGBTQ+ neighborhood filled with bars, restaurants, and safe spaces. Lots of walking, punctuated by wonderful conversations over coffee and a lunch break. Excellent recommendations by Derek. We didn't really feel like we were on a "tour," but walking with a dear old friend.

Hands down, worst tour of my life. Having never been to Vancouver, my friends and I wanted to take a tour that would provide an overview of the city. We were matched with Andi, and I truly hope that no one else has to ever take a tour with her. While I think some blame for this terrible tour lies with City Unscripted - Andi mentioned that she received no support or training - the majority of the blame can be placed on Andi. She had virtually no knowledge of Vancouver, despite being a lifelong resident, was unprofessional, and lacked common sense. For a three hour walking tour she mapped out a route where, for the first hour, she took us towards Stanley Park, and then the next was the same walk back towards downtown Vancouver. While we mentioned that we were interested in seeing Stanley Park, she could have explained that the majority of the tour would be taken up by that activity and suggest we do it on our own. Especially because we literally just walked to the park, and then back, and didn't see any of the highlights within the park. Andi walked quickly and wouldn't slow down, even though we indicated we wanted a slower pace. She didn't give us an opportunities to stop, she didn't check in on us and see if we wanted to rest or grab some water, and she didn't bother to explain to us where we were going. She spent most of the tour walking ahead of us. For one third of the tour, she just didn't speak and we all walked in silence. Another third, she would speak to one person, and despite asking her to turn to speak to the group, she did not do so. It was kind of moot though, as when she did speak, she just spoke about herself or made fun of people on previous tours she had led. It was truly unprofessional and kind of insane - the things she brought up were completely irrelevant at times. The rest of the time, she would be unable to answer questions. There's a large statue by the waterfront, called The Drop, and when we walked by it, I asked what it was and she said, "Art." Then laughed, because she clearly didn't like the art piece. Uh, what? Then she found a placard near the work and read that to us. Gee, thanks. I would get similar responses if I asked about a building or other parts of Vancouver. She couldn't answer basic questions about Vancouver, about what we were seeing, or about anything else for that matter. She was extremely ill informed. When we would ask a question, she would say, "Would you like me to Google that for you?" in a condescending manner. She was even unable to give recommendations. We passed by a restaurant, and she told us that it was good. I asked what kind of food it was, she didn't tell me, and then talked about how it had a lot of vegetarian options, which is good for her. Um, what? One, I asked you a question, and two, why does it matter to us that you are vegetarian? That's great but we aren't and that's not helpful to us. I had to leave the tour an hour early, because I was about to lose my mind. My friends were polite and stayed on, and regretted it. In fact, we had asked that the tour end at a ferry stop so we could go to Granville island. She told them that she would bring them to the Yaletown ferry stop - and they told us to meet them there. We went to the stop and then they told us that Andi actually brought them to a different stop - Andi had no idea where she was going and kept looking at Google Maps. If I could give this tour zero stars, I would. I contacted City Unscripted two days ago, after the tour, and explained what happened and that we wanted a refund. They then said they were going to do a thorough investigation, whatever that means. Haven't heard back since. An appalling situation overall, and I recommend that you avoid this company at all costs.

We spent six hours with Kim who gave us a tour of the city from her own perspective. Kim was very knowledgeable and it was good to hear the story behind buildings and get to see a lot of things that we would otherwise have missed. Throughout the day Kim listened to the group and did small tweaks to encompass specific areas of interest - even taking us to a very funky shoe shop! The stop at Granville Island was a highlight and Kim couldn't do enough to make sure our day went smoothly. Stopping for a beer to give us internet access relieved a lot of stress (another story). By the end of the day I felt that I had made a friend and would recommend Kim to anyone visiting Vancouver.