Viator Travel Blog

Licensed tour guide Cem Balsun has been leading tours in Istanbul, Bursa, and Canakkale for five years, offering personalized tours and transportation around his home and showing visitors the effusive hospitality found in Turkey. Offering insight into the culture, history, religion, and economy of Istanbul and Turkey, he also loves to help tourists to discover what daily life in Istanbul is really like.

Now a full-time resident of Panama City, Kevin has been showing people the time of their lives in this extraordinary country since 2003. As a tour guide in Panama, Kevin is committed to maintaining Panama’s natural and cultural beauty, minimizing environmental impact, and contributing to local communities. We asked Kevin for his top activities for visitors to Panama, and here’s what he had to say:

Meet Jitendra Kumar Sharma, one of Viator’s local experts in New Delhi (and a highly rated licensed tour guide you’ll find at Viator Private Tour Guides).

Meet Mario Ramirez, one of Viator’s local experts in Montevideo, Uruguay (and a highly rated licensed tour guide you’ll find at Viator Private Tour Guides).

Meet Somyot Chamnanrith, one of Viator’s local experts in Chiang Mai, Thailand (and a highly rated licensed tour guide you’ll find at Viator Private Tour Guides).

Meet Shane Gouldie, one of Viator’s local experts in Johannesburg, South Africa (and a highly rated licensed tour guide you’ll find at Viator Private Tour Guides).

Spend some time talking to regular cruise-goers about shore excursions and a common view becomes clear: generally speaking, the shore excursions offered by cruise lines are cookie-cutter operations, designed to move large groups off the ship, through some points of interest onshore, and back onboard again with a minimum amount of fuss.

At Viator, we’re realists. We know that the tours we offer, no matter how varied or flexible, may not suit your exact needs every time. Even though we work hard to offer tours “for everyone,” we also understand that sometimes the nature of your group or the specific things you’d like to see and do are not available in one of our standard tour offerings, and for that reason we also offer Private Guides in many destinations around the world.

Meet Sunil Sathyan, one of Viator’s local experts in Dubai (and a highly rated licensed tour guide you’ll find at Viator Private Tour Guides).

Meet John McLaren, one of Viator’s local experts in Montreal, Canada (and a highly rated licensed tour guide you’ll find at Viator Private Tour Guides).