Meet Marijn, your expert in Madrid!
🌍 Lives in: Madrid
Regions of Expertise: Madrid, Castilla y Leon, Toledo, Ávila, Segóvia
Experience: 9 years guiding
Languages: English, Español, Nederlands
Marijn’s Specialties:
Get to know Marijn!
About Marijn
Originally from the Netherlands, Marijn has lived in Madrid since 2012 working as a tour guide both locally and internationally. He’s a licensed official tourist guide for the Madrid region where he leads tours all over the city, inside the region’s museums, palaces, and cultural heritage sites, and to surrounding towns.
Prior to settling in Madrid, Marijn led educational trips throughout Europe and cycling tours in France. While he can advise on many destinations in Spain (and throughout Europe!), the Madrid region is his specialty.
When he’s not guiding, you can find him out and about exploring every corner of his city and popping in to the newest exhibitions and gallery openings. With a degree in fine arts, Marijn is keen to help travelers discover Madrid’s world class museums and palaces and feast their way through the many delicacies that the Spanish capital offers.
Everything in moderation though, so he’ll also point you toward some hikes and outdoor excursions to burn off the calories.
Spain Travel Consultations
Why plan with Marijn
Spend 60 minutes tapping into Marijn’s hyperlocal expertise to plan a better trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Consultations cost $125 USD.
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Consultations are held over Google Meet. Once you’ve scheduled your call, you’ll receive a confirmation email containing the link for your video call. On the scheduled day and time, just click that link to join.
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Each consultation is different, but here are some common things that our experts typically help with:
Itinerary planning
Transportation, driving routes, and tips for how to get around
Practical travel information; culture, safety, weather, language, money/tipping, etc.
Suggested hotels/accommodations and advice on where to base yourself
Local recommendations for restaurants, activities, and unique experiences
Advice on reputable tour guides, tour operators, and excursions
Pro tips on how to best visit popular sights and attractions
Ways to avoid overcrowded destinations and tourist traps
Insider ideas on off the beaten path places, authentic experiences, and ways to connect with locals
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What you can get done in an hour depends on your goals for the consultation and how organized you are coming into it.
In most cases, an hour is ample time to create a solid itinerary, answer your major travel questions, get practical advice on how to travel in your destination, and discuss lots of great local tips and recommendations.
To ensure that the hour is used efficiently, when you schedule your call, our pre-consultation questionnaire will ask you what your primary goals for the consultation are. Prior to the call, your Local Expert will review your questionnaire and prepare detailed information addressing those goals.
They’ll come into the call ready to share specific advice, recommendations, itinerary ideas/revisions, and useful links and resources for you to review together.
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Yes! Each consultation is guided by a comprehensive pre-consultation questionnaire that you fill out immediately upon booking.
We’ll ask you a series of 30+ detailed questions that really dig into you, your trip, your interests and travel style, and what you want to discuss with your Local Expert.
The questionnaire will cover things like: the dynamics of your group, the things you enjoy while traveling, your budget, how early you want to start your day and how late you want to end it, whether you want to hit the highlights or roam the back streets, and even what types of restaurants you want to eat at.
Your Local Expert will focus only on your interests and travel style.
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Our Local Experts are seasoned travel professionals who have spent decades working in their countries/regions. While their personal interests may be different from yours, they’ve worked with thousands of travelers and have recommendations and advice for every type of individual.
They know their destinations in-depth and can help plan a trip for every traveler and taste.
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No. Our service is geared toward independent, do-it-yourself travelers who intend to make bookings on their own.
Our goal is not to plan your trip for you, but rather to help you plan a better trip independently. To that end, our Local Experts will give you all of the information that you need to confidently put your trip together yourself.
When Local Experts recommend things like restaurants, hotels, excursions/activities, tours, drivers, etc., they’ll provide you with contact details and links so that you can make the final arrangements on your own.
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Almost every Go Ask A Local expert has at least 10 years of professional travel experience as a guide or trip planner in their country/region.
We work with a vetted team of seasoned professionals who know their destinations inside and out.
Unlike other companies, when you book a call, you’ll always be connected directly with your chosen Local Expert. We never pass anyone on to a junior sales associate or some anonymous back office team. With us, what you see is what you get.
Ready to plan with Marijn?
Here’s how to schedule your consultation:
Private Guided Tours
In addition to offering Spain Travel Consutlations, Marijn is also a licensed local guide in Madrid. A specialist in art, history, and culture, Marijn leads tours that take in Madrid’s iconic sites, as well as its palaces, monuments, museums. He’s also an avid cyclist, and enjoy showing visitors Madrid and the surrounding countryside on two wheels.
No matter what your interest or how you want to explore Madrid, Marijn can arrange a truly unique and memorable visit!
And if you want to get outside of Madrid, Marijn also leads tours in the surrounding cities and towns of Toledo, Ávila, Segóvia, and Salamanca.