Handlebar Bike Tours is listed on AirBnB’s experiences, and truth be told we have more reviews on there than TripAdvisor. I think it is because of the type of traveller AirBnB attracts, someone who is interested in making personal connections to the places they visit.
I just got back from a trip to Nashville to see a show at the Ryman Auditorium. Being a tour guide myself, I saw some good guides out there, and some cringeworthy guides as well. Being a bike tour operator, I had to hop on a B-Cycle.
They have great cycling friendly street maps and I pointed my navigation to the sights, finding cycling in Nashville very easy. I made my own experience, since the trollies and party busses looked like uninspired cattle calls.
One goal I have with Handlebar Bike Tours is to make people feel like they have a friend showing them around DTLA, and by the end of the tour I’ve made a friend. It’s why we limit tours to 8 guests. I could easily guide 12-15, but we would miss out on the conviviality of a small group experience.
My trick for picking a more experience focussed tour company is to examine the pictures and copy. If the groups are large, and the copy is primarily places I already know about, I’m probably not interested.