Vacationers Splurge on Private Tours

And for 500 bucks for four hours, we are.

Who says private tours are just for the rich and superrich? Once a fairly exclusive domain, this tiny niche of the travel business is attracting the merely well-off — or at least travelers who want to feel that they are by indulging in a day or two of private touring. For $150 to $1,000 a day, tour guides ranging from freelance local-history buffs to licensed travel professionals are leading families, couples and even individuals on the same tours people take in those gigantic buses. Only now there's no need to share a glimpse of the Champs-Elysées or Rockefeller Center with 40 strangers, wasting time with bathroom breaks and slow walkers. While private tours sometimes follow a standard itinerary, many adapt to travelers' interests, from Paris shopping trips to tours of historic Scottish kitchens. The trend is toward customization, says Bob Whitley, president of the U.S. Tour Operators Association, because "boomers like to feel that they're in control."

Indeed, it's largely boomers taking these tours — travelers with money and an expectation of having a unique experience under catered conditions. Michael Moshes, founder of Private-Guides.com and a pioneer in this business, reports that tour bookings have quadrupled in the past year. Artisans of Leisure, a New York-based company that arranges longer custom tours, says it's doubled its business every year since opening in 2003. One factor driving growth is more intergenerational travelers — people like James and Devereux Socas of McLean, Va., who recently hired retiree John Sutton, a history buff, to lead them, their mothers and three young sons around Colonial Williamsburg. Sutton brought "color," they said, appealing to grandparents and kids alike.

But how do you find a reputable guide whose accent isn't too thick, whose driving record is clean and who knows more than a thing or two about those Scottish kitchens? Some countries require licensing, but that can be just an administrative rubber stamp, and hotel concierges don't hesitate to recommend an overpriced tour service or even their unemployed cousin. (Our concierge handed us a brochure focused more on the cars we'd be riding in than on the content of the tours — a red flag.)

For our recent trip to Prague, we decided to hit the Web to plan three private tours: two all-day walking tours of the city's architecture and one driving tour outside the city. We discovered that all this specialized catering can be a mixed bag — sometimes delightful, sometimes exhausting.

CHOOSING A GUIDE feels a lot like online dating. Looking for our special someone with whom to share a day of adventure, we canvass web sites like guidingprague.com and infohub.com, combing through bios and tour descriptions, eliminating any guide whose English seems shaky. Then we knock out any whose mug shot looks too youthful (history is better filtered through maturity, we speculate) or too dour (who needs cranky?). Despite his shaggy picture we gravitate to Petr Zidek, a civil engineer who specializes in architecture and Jewish history, and Joeri Happel, a Dutch expat who speaks six languages and promises a rich mix of history and contemporary culture. After digging up client testimonials, we email questions about the guides' licensing and expertise. We're not bothered by motley career histories; previous lives as street musicians and barkeeps lend an exotic air of life experience. What we're really sniffing around for is genuine passion — for history and culture.