Ever trekked to the most epic waterfall only to find it is so full of tourists, you can’t even get a little old rock to yourself??
Ever taken a spiritual day out at an ancient temple, only to find the shouting touts and trash everywhere… not so spiritual??
This is for you, my spiritual, waterfall seeking, trash hating friend…
!AVOID TOURIST TRAPS!
Check out my top 12 ways to avoid the crowds whilst traveling, including two hacks that have completely saved my ass and kept me away from those vicious tourist traps!
BEFORE YOU BOOK
- Travel off-peak
Want to avoid the tourists? Go on vacation when the tourists aren’t even there! Some countries and destinations tourist population vary dramatically from month to month. Of course, there’s usually a reason a destination is ‘off-peak’. The sub-optimal weather being the main one. However, most peak seasons are also connected to school breaks and bank holidays. Avoid traveling during these times and you’ll cut your chances of head-butting a tourist in half.
- Travel to non-major cities.
As a rule, the further from a major city your destination of choice is, the fewer tourists you shall find. Tourists have a finite amount of energy, for every hour further away from a major airport they travel, their mental capacity for cultural experiences diminishes. I read it in a book.
- Ask Reddit
Before you travel, throw it out there to people who know. Go on reddit.com and ask the community for your specific destination (usually r/yourdestination, e.g ‘r/slovenia’). Do a search on the subreddit first to see if there already is an answer on what the best non-tourist spots are to visit. If there’s anything Redditors hate its lazy people who don’t help themselves first before asking help from others.
START SEARCHING
Once you have your travel destination and trip dates set, these are a few strategies that you can use to find places to visit that bother amazing and not overrun tourists.
- Search event listing sites for local events
Avoid tourists by choosing events that are marketed to locals, not foreigners. Think about it, how do you find cool shit going on in your own city for a certain date? Not by reading a travel guide! Use sites like Eventbrite, Meetup and Facebook event search to find awesome curated events that will make your trip completely unique and travel blog worthy.
keep reading below…
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- Find comparable alternatives
The Philippines has 7,000 islands, but there are pretty much 3 that 99% of tourists got to. Does this mean the others suck? Absolutely not. When researching your travel plans, find a list of the main things to see or do and then punch each tourist spot into google followed by the words ‘alternative’. You’ll quickly find great places to visit that are 90% as good as their more touristy counterpart. This is exactly how I found about ‘Ninh Binh’ in Vietnam. It was becoming clear that Ha Long Bay was so overrun with tourists that it might not be worth visiting anymore. This one quick google search changed our entire travel plans for the better.
- Go even further with Google.
Type in the city or country you are visiting followed by “hidden gem” or “best-kept secret” into google search. You’ll always find a few options to add to your itinerary.
- Stop thinking like a tourist
What’s the best way to experience a new place? Like a local. Rather than looking for the ‘best things to do in x’, why not go more niche. Use your own hobbles as a starting point. If you are into fitness, find a local outdoor fitness class. If you a music fan, search the local concert listings. I saw Bruno Mars whilst in Oslo, Norway. Not only was it an awesome experience to be dancing in the middle of thousands of Norwegians, it cost about 1/8th the price of seeing him perform in LA.
REFINE YOUR LIST
One you have a meta-list of places you might like to visit, spend a few minutes to check whether they are really worth your time
- Check reviews on TripAdvisor.com.
See what real travelers are saying.
- Check Instagram hashtags and location tags
This little hack caused me to change my itinerary in Croatia when I found out all the photos of a certain nightlife destination were god damn LIES! Type in the location of a particular place into Instagram and click the location tag. You’ll see all the photos recently taken at that place. This will give you an accurate representation of how busy a place is, what the crowd make up it and what it really looks like. This can be down for anything from national landmarks to specific restaurants. The same can be done by searching related hashtags
- Just ask the locals!
Once you are traveling, talk to the locals! Get the inside scope on where to go and where not to go. Not only will you make friends in the process but you’ll ultimately get a more authentic experience. You may even learn a few new phrases. If you aren’t a social butterfly, don’t make it harder than it needs to be, just ask your uber driver, bartender… the guy sitting next to you at the bar!
IF YOU MUST GO SOMEWHERE
If there’s somewhere you absolutely must go, or something you absolutely must do, go outside of the main tourist times.
- If it’s a Restaurant…
Don’t go during lunchtime! Go mid-afternoon after the main rush, and definitely not on a weekend. In many European cities, the locals are taking a siesta around 4pm – sounds like a good time to stuff one’s face if you ask me! The same thing goes for dinner – Europeans tend to eat much later. Book a later reservation to miss the early bird tourists and chill with the locals.
- If it’s a natural wonder…
Don’t take a tour. Make your own way there. Get there as early as possible before the other tourists have had breakfast. In the Philippines, we island hopped to a very popular uninhabited Island called Daku Island. We left at Sunrise and had the whole island to ourselves for a couple of hours until 8am rolled around and the families started arriving. Having the island completely to ourselves was an unbelievable experience and well worth the early wakeup call.
Check out Daku Island:
(after the other boats had arrived)
If you have any tips or tricks on how to avoid touristy areas, please let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!
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