You should be doing more than taking pictures of impressive landmarks and dining in overpriced restaurants filled with other tourists. For the international traveler, experiencing life as a local can be much more fruitful than going strictly by the guidebook. Scaling back the tourist trap and immersing yourself in the community will create a trip unlike any other, enriching and more involved with the destination.
Visiting non-touristy spots, exploring local markets, and embracing cultural immersion are just some of the ways to experience a city as the locals do. Rather than sticking to tourist attractions, explore the neighborhoods, dining, and activities that make up everyday life for the locals.
Whether you’re strolling around an arts district in San Francisco, discovering a dusty bookstore in New York, or catching an underground jazz club in Chicago, veering off the beaten tourist track will provide you with memories that will mean more.
Researching before you visit the better ways to have authentic travel experiences. If your guidebook goes by the map, you might miss out on some less touristy haunts, but there is tons of information available to come your way to help you discover secret spots. Why not have them read an independent travel blog, watch some
YouTube videos by local content creators, or follow social media pages focusing on off-the-beaten-path experiences where they share unique things to do in a destination? Community forums in which locals discuss their favorite spots are great resources for discovering non-touristy places.
Digging through Google Maps reviews, looking at local event calendars, and downloading apps like Spotted by Locals are all great ways to find parts of the city that haven’t been overrun by tourists. By not being complacent and trusting the recommendations from residents rather than what you might see on generic travel lists, you are more likely to compile an itinerary that favors experiences that resonate with a city's heart.
One of the best ways to really connect with the culture of a city you’re visiting is to go to local markets. These lively spaces highlight local foods, homegrown crafts, and residents' shopping habits. Unlike souvenir shops overloaded with mass-produced trinkets, markets are a chance to meet artisans, farmers, and small business owners.
Many fresh food markets offer local specialties that are not easy to find elsewhere. Visiting market vendors for regional flavors rather than eating in a tourist restaurant can provide a more authentic culinary experience. Shopping at these kinds of places helps support the local economy and allows visitors to take home souvenirs that reflect the city’s artistic and cultural heritage.
Sure, big-name sights have their promise, but devoting an entire trip to touristy places can result in a shallow experience. In many ways, Times Square, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, or the Las Vegas Strip are must-visit destinations, yet those areas are not where to find the charm and character of a city’s lesser-known districts.
And that can never be the case for alternative attractions that offer much deeper and more diverse experiences. Hiking up to the Griffith Observatory instead of wandering the Hollywood Boulevard strip provides a 360-degree view of Los Angeles without the throngs of tourists.
For a more authentic experience of New York’s arts scene, explore Brooklyn’s cultural enclaves instead of taking refuge in the city’s most heavily trafficked Manhattan commercial districts. The Freedom Trail is great and all, but the real Boston is found on the local bar circuit, and in the historic neighborhoods of Somerville.
One of the most valuable benefits of learning about culture is participating in activities that are ingrained in a city’s identity. That includes on-site performances, neighborhood festivals, and community events, which are immersive ways to explore a place with its residents.
Eating between or after meals, rather than sticking to a restaurant’s schedule, helps avoid organized tourist entertainment; you’re not just visiting the sights, you’re also leaving room for your local jazz clubs, underground comedy shows, and street art exhibitions, tying you into the city as it is now.
Taking a class or attending a workshop is yet another way to engage with a city’s culture. Hands-on experiences, like cooking classes, pottery workshops, or dance lessons taught by locals, take you beyond the role of observer.
Learning to cook Creole dishes in New Orleans can be more memorable than dining at a famed restaurant. In Austin, for instance, a two-step dance lesson in a honky-tonk bar offers a crash course in the city’s musical traditions. Activities like these provide a more tactile and intimate sense of a city’s way of life.
Although common-style tours tend to stick to more popular attractions, alternative tours give you more unique experiences by delving into a city’s past, culture, and subcultures. Street art walks, underground history tours, and visits to niche museums can offer a more textured narrative than those on a traditional sightseeing route.
Tours are often led by locals who are knowledgeable about a specific subject, such as architecture, the history of music, or social movements. In Chicago, an architecture river cruise provides an eye-opening look at the evolution of the city’s design, while in Portland, an underground tunnel tour unveils the lesser-known story behind the city’s past.
The tours tend to have smaller groups and more personalized insights, so they are a fantastic way to enhance your enjoyment of a destination.
Interactions with local artists and world-class musicians, which are infrequent at international events of this caliber, ensure that you obtain that inside scoop. A city’s personality is best embodied in the people who call it home. Talking with the residents can help you discover unique things and valuable suggestions you’ve never heard of from a travel book.
Bartenders, café owners, and bookstore employees often have the best suggestions for dining, drinking, and exploring. In low-key chitchat, asking for recommendations can lead to a small jazz bar, a family diner, or a beautiful walk that hasn’t made the tourist handbooks.
Some cities also run community-driven efforts in which volunteers give free neighborhood tours. In New York, a program called the Big Apple Greeter matches visitors with residents who give personalized tours of various boroughs. In San Francisco, local historians lead walking tours of historic districts with insights beyond the commercialized narratives.
There’s no better way to experience a place than through the eyes of those who know it best, and programs like these do just that.
Where a traveler sleeps can have a significant impact on their experience of a city. Generic amenities in large chain hotels tend to cater to visitors to tourist areas, and boutique hotels, Airbnbs, and bed-and-breakfasts in residential neighborhoods often provide a more authentic experience.
Staying in a local district instead of a tourist-heavy part of the downtown gives them a sense of a city’s daily rhythms. Opting for a neighborhood with a robust community presence can add a more tactile travel experience. Staying in Brooklyn rather than Midtown Manhattan offers a new take on New York’s cultural scene.
In Seattle, opting for a guesthouse in Capitol Hill rather than downtown affords access to the city’s indie music scene and its small cafes. Steering clear of hotels close to big attractions and staying in different parts of town gives visitors a chance to interact with locals and find lesser-known restaurants, shops, and public spaces.
Some of the best travel experiences are unplanned ones. Having an itinerary can certainly help, but this type of open-ended travel often leads to the most rewarding finds. Roaming around a city without following a prescribed plan means that travelers can observe the details that otherwise might be overlooked, a cute bookshop, a tucked away alley packed with street art or a small live music venue.
Walking allows for an intimacy independent of taxis or public transport that allows for a connection to a place. Not being tied to my next destination, wandering different streets, settling into whatever café catches my fancy, and making detours based on curiosity brings encounters that cannot be planned. Incorporating the spontaneous enables an organic travel experience unhindered by the strictures of classic tourism.
Avoiding tourist traps doesn’t mean skipping major attractions altogether. Rather, it’s about balancing them with experiences that allow more of a connection to the country’s culture. Going to local markets, finding away from tourists, engaging in cultural experiences, and engaging in alternative tours can help create a meaningful trip rather than a regular visit.
When travelers take care in deciding where to go, what to do, and how to spend time in a city, they can discover the essence of a place. These experiences are richer and more memorable than those you would gain from sticking just to the typical attractions. Whether a chat with a local shop owner, a serene afternoon in an unmarked park, or a night out at a neighborhood music venue, the best travel experiences tend to happen off the beaten path.
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