Sometimes the biggest tourist attractions aren’t the best places to spend your holiday. They can be crowded, which can mean spending lots of time in queues. The noise and general business can detract from your experience of the place, and the tourist trail doesn’t show you what a country is authentically like. Besides, tourist destinations are pricey. But how do you stray from these well-known and easy to find locations? Well, it’s not as tricky as you might think. Here is how to travel off the beaten path and forge a path of your own, to create a more unique and sincere travel experience.
Chat With Locals
There’s no better way to choose your next destination than to get a recommendation from someone who knows the area well. If you’re traveling somewhere where you don’t speak the language, this might require some practice with your language skills, but it will be completely worth it. Strike up a conversation in a bar, while shopping or out on the street. If the person isn’t busy and seems open to spending a few minutes with. you, see if they’ll recommend places to go, and/or restaurants to eat. Most people will be glad to help introduce you to where they live, given that you’re making a good faith effort to get to know the area.
See also: Top Student Holiday Destinations
Wander Without a Destination
Some of the best travel experiences come when we’re not following a strict itinerary. If you’re in a new city, try wandering around without a plan and seeing what you stumble upon. You might find some hidden gems — or get hopelessly lost. Either way, it will make a good story. You can always enlist the help of your go-to map app later on if you need it.
Read Travel Blogs
Just because you’re traveling off the beaten path doesn’t mean you have to reinvent the wheel. Reading travel blogs is a great way to learn about the different destinations in a given area, and what that particular person thought of them. They might give you an indication of which places to make plans to go see, and which you can skip over.
Use Public Transit
Another great way to explore is to use the local public transit system. A bus or train map can give you a good idea of where the majority of people go on a daily basis, and might alert you to parts of town you may not have heard of before.