The cost of a journey...
... depends on how many people in your group, and what you want to do.
We charge a Trip preparation fee ranging from $25 to $50 to design your custom tour. This fee covers all our correspondence prior to your arrival: to figure out your interests, draw up a first draft program and then go through multiple modifications to come up with the best plan for you. Designing your guided day(s) also includes suggestions for the days you don't do with us, because we have to put our day in the context of what you might do on your own or with other companies.
Then, the tours are structured as follows:
- All are private: just you and your guide. Full day lasts 8 hours, half day is 4 hours.
- All the guides that work with me speak excellent English. They will never waste your time on taking you to exhibitions or stores where you are “suggested” to purchase, or to restaurants that pay them a commission, nor will they give you “free time” during the period you have contracted to have them guide you, nor cut your day short of 8 hours. We are not the cheapest service, but our guides receive a fair day’s wage. They do not need to make you buy things to increase their income, and you do not need to tip them if you can’t or don’t want to.
- You can have a tour with or without car. Without car, you walk and take public transport together with your guide.
- The price includes my support, the guide and the guide's car (including parking, gasoline and toll roads). It. does not include entrance fees, taxis, food, nor anything else.
Our fees range from USD$170 to $280 per day or equivalent in Mexican pesos, Canadian dollars or Euros, for a full day. The lowest fee is for a single traveller and no car, and the highest for very large (15 or more people) groups.
Most groups usually pay between $175 to $220, PLUS DONATIONS for private interviews with artists, activists, professionals (see "Educational Journeys", below).
For us, it is the same amount of work if you are one or six people. However, we charge less if you are alone, to make our service more accessible to you. Some ingenious single travellers have contracted their journey with us in advance, then once in Mexico City, talked to fellow lodgers at their hotel or B&B and got others interested in joining them. They thus managed to reduce their cost from $170 for a lone traveller, to $70 per person for 3 travellers! We applaud such incentives but do require that you communicate changes to us in a timely fashion.
Payment is required in cash, a small non-refundable deposit paid via PayPal at least 3 days in advance, and the balance due at the beginning of your guided day.
There is also the option of a HALF-DAY walking tours. This consists of 4 hours and costs 60% of a full day.
Cultural Journeys can focus on the important national sites usually seen by first-time visitors, or can involve an exploration of specific aspects of the every-day life in Mexico City.
Educational Journeys can include up to three visits in a day to individuals or organizations that receive us and give us a talk. Each speaker that receives us also receives a donation to support their work. Donations depend on group size and on how long we stay with the group/person, but they range from $30 to $80 per visit.
Translation only is a good option for visiting researchers or business travellers who have their own agenda, but need reliable translation during their meetings
Please write to us using the following form, or write directly to journeys@prodigy.net.mx
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A note about translation
We do not use any equipment, although we can rent equipment if you have the need and budget for it. Simultaneous translation means that we will be talking softly in your ear(s) in English, while the speaker speaks in Spanish. Then, when you talk to our speaker, we switch over to his/her ear and translate. It feels funny at first, but after a few minutes it comes very close to feeling like a "real" conversation. This works well for small groups of up to 5 people.
Successive translation is used for larger groups: the speaker talks for a minute or two and then pauses, while we translate everything s/he said into English.
Lodging
We will be happy to provide you with suggestions of hotels, and the contact information for you to make your reservations. In Mexico City, there also exists the option of a homestay, either in a beautiful upper-middle class neighborhood (Colonia Roma), or with low-income families in a neighborhood with a very interesting history of community action (Santo Domingo de los Reyes). References to Santo Domingo homestays can be found in the Testimonials page. |
