Need travel guide advice
 

Anybody ever hired any travel guide before? If so, how was your experience?

On our most recent Italy/Mediterranean trip we had about 3 different "Tours by Locals" and thoroughly enjoyed each one.
As an example, we had a Game of Thrones tour in Croatia - and the guide was actually an extra in the series and had photos of the sets that he shared while we visited the filming locations.

In London.
Great.
If you are with an official guide you get to skip the lines. Worth it for that alone.

Did that at Windsor Castle. Worth every pence.

Tour by locals! How's their pricing? Actually I am planning for a Mexico trip, want to explore the cultural side of Mexico. I was looking https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g150800-Activities-c42-t235-Mexico_City_Central_Mexico_and_Gulf_Coast.html this one and https://gowithguide.com/mexico/guides Will check their prices with Tours by locals too. Hoping to enjoy this to it's fullest

May I know which agent or operator you had chosen?

Prices vary by location, type of tour, duration, etc. Just go to the site and start filtering for your interests.

I've done it in China and Peru, otherwise, I DIY'ed it. It's pretty necessary in China and Peru. You can't just roll up to Macchu Pichu on your own. It's super strict and documented. In China, even with Mrs. Lee (a native), we hired a taxi driver in Xi'an. He was super knowledgable and a great story teller. Even with a huge tip, having him for the whole day was a lot cheaper than hailing a cab for everything we did. Had another in Beijing and she was a pro with a tour guide license. That got us to the front of the lines in some places, she took us to massage places, killer restaurants (we always treated her) and even got a relative to drive us out to the Great Wall, who also took us to a killer restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Worth every single penny and it was cheap too.