9 Totally different city tours

For a new twist on the classic city tour, ride in a vintage car in Prague, take a toothache-inducing chocolate walk through Paris or flag down Amsterdam’s legendary Disco Taxi

words by Sophy Grimshaw

1/ Rome by Vespa

Skip the cutesy horse-drawn carriages that pick up tourists outside the Vatican – 2006 is Vespa’s 60th anniversary, which is all the excuse you need to jump on the back on one of these iconic scooters and finally see Italy’s capital like a local. Happy Rent offers a city tour on a classic Vespa, during which you’ll see historic landmarks such as the Coliseum and whiz through the Jewish quarter, with scheduled stops including a pizza break at Campo Dei Fiori. You’ll soon see why tour organiser Stefano refers to Rome as “a museum without a roof”. Drive your own automatic or copy Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday and hop on the back for a ride on the tour guide’s scooter.
From €186 per Vespa
4 hours
+39 06 4202 0675
www.hrincentives.com

2/ London Monopoly tour

A real London cabbie brings the famous Monopoly board to life during this family-friendly trip around the British capital. Climb into the back of his black taxi (which can also accommodate wheelchair users) and he’ll show you the city via the sites featured in the property-based board game, such as Old Kent Road and Mayfair. Game instructions such as ‘Go to Jail’ are acknowledged with quirky stops, and your driver will chat with you about the history of each neighbourhood you visit. There are opportunities to stretch your legs and take photos, and it certainly beats playing the game and arguing over who cheated.
From £295 per tour (€367)
5 hours
+44 (0)795 727 2179
www.londontaxitour.com

3/ Tapas tour of Barcelona

United by their mutual love of Barcelona’s culinary delights and their dislike of the usual city tours, Tara Stevens and Kirsten Foster founded food-lovers’ tour company Saboroso. For individual travellers, couples, or groups of up to eight friends, they’ll show you Barcelona one dish at a time. Typical stops include a Galician tapas bar, tastings at a speciality Spanish cheese shop, and the chance to polish off some cake at a former Jewish Bathhouse, which has now been converted into a dainty tearoom. There are also wine stops to look forward to. Friendly chat about the history of Catalan food makes this an especially sociable way to see the city.
From €99 per person including food and wine
4 hours
www.saboroso.com

4 - Budapest helicopter tour

Zooming out and looking at the bigger picture is always a good idea, and on this helicopter tour of Budapest you’ll have the chance to see the city from the skies, with a complimentary bottle of Hungary’s Borsodi beer in your hand just to make sure you’re enjoying yourself. The adrenaline rush of taking off certainly beats trailing around behind a tour guide. Starting from Luppa Island on the north side of Budapest, a group of up to three passengers can survey the city from above. A tour guide flies with you to point out exactly what’s what – keep your eyes peeled for the ornate 19th-century Parliament building and the 1947 Liberty Statue on the banks of the Danube.
From €480 per helicopter, minimum 3 people
20 minutes
+36 30 563 8239
www.budapestmadness.com

5/ Treasure-hunt in Berlin

Participants are divided into two competing teams as part of the high-energy ‘town rally’ tour of Berlin. Each team has a tour book to guide them around the city, including tasks to complete and questions to answer about Berlin’s landmarks and history. Some of the challenges require participants to phone a mysterious number from a public phone box or log on at an internet café to receive more clues. One task asks that teams ‘build your own model of a Berlin landmark using only things you have on your person’. The TV tower is a popular choice, we hear, with fruit and plastic water bottles employed to impressive effect. The fastest-finishing team are crowned the winners and receive a prize on their return to base.
From €48 per person
One day tour
+49 (0)30 44 355 866
www.berlin-timebandits.de

6/ Communist Kraków

Crazy Guides can’t conceive of anything worse than seeing you yawn your way around Kraków. Fuddy-duddy tour guides? Forget it. Crazy Guides promises that your English-speaking guide will be young, energetic and, indeed, crazy. Climb in the back of a communist-era Polski Fiat 125p, and weave your way through the labyrinths of Stalinist tenements in the old communist district of Nowa Huta. You won’t be able to fault your guide’s enthusiasm, and the trip includes a genuinely fascinating talk about Poland’s political history. Afterwards, your tour guide will even take you out to an ‘80s-themed restaurant for vodka shots and some seriously bad music.
From 119 zl (€30) per person
From 2 hours 30 minutes
+48 (0) 888 68 6871
www.crazyguides.com

7/ Paris chocolate tour

Paris and chocolate are two of the best things the universe has to offer, so why not combine them in this tempting tour for cocoa lovers. Your guide is confectionary expert David Lebovitz, author of The Great Book of Chocolate. Concentrating on the Rive Gauche, he’ll take you on a tour of chocolate makers, sellers and aficionados, promising to “weave a fantastic story of culture, food and obsession”, all related to the sweet stuff. He’ll reveal the best Alsatian boulangerie for pain au chocolat, which tearoom makes the finest caramel macaroons, and will point out the best stops for chocolate lovers in the city’s food markets. You’ll also be introduced to the art of chocolate sculpture. Whether you take your wallet out in any of the chocolate shops is up to you and your willpower.
From €90 per person
3 hours
+33 (0)6 13 09 67 11
www.paris.contexttravel.com

8/ Amsterdam Disco Taxi

Local legend Maroni Sonelli drives the world’s coolest cab, Amsterdam’s Disco Taxi. Passengers range from willing disco participants surveying the city in super-kitsch style to hapless tourists who are just trying to flag down a ride to the airport. Whoever you are, climb in the back and, as neon lights and glitter balls flash all around, your driver will sing along to something pop-tastic from his 7,000 song library (think Michael Jackson and Destiny’s Child) through a booming microphone. Happily, he happens to have a fantastic voice. Look out for the Disco Taxi on Amsterdam’s streets (evenings only).
Advance bookings start at €30 for 30 minutes
e-mail discotaxi@europe.com

9/ Vintage Prague

To get around Prague in a manner that’s as charming as the city itself – but not quite as old – hop in an open-top vintage car and see the sights in style. Tour company 3veterani has four vintage car ranks positioned at major sites of interest. From the back seat of a Praga or Tatra – true Czech automotive icons – you can enjoy views of the cosmopolitan Paris Street, the Jewish Quarter and, of course, the Old Town. For a small extra fee you can head across the river and up the hill to Prague Castle. The ’30s cars come complete with running boards, radiator grills and wicker baskets strapped to the back. You’ll feel like an extra in a glamorous pre-WWII movie.
From 950CZK (€34) for two people for 45 minutes
+420 603 521 700
www.3veterani.cz