We hear it all the time in travel advice: do what the locals do. It's fantastic advice, but if you're in an unfamiliar city it's a lot easier said than done. Thankfully, with a little preparation (or on-the-fly Google skills), it's entirely possible to experience a city just like the locals.
Acting like a native in a new city means behaving like you would if it was your home, but also sneaking in a few of those bigger tourist attractions while you're for the obligatory photo ops to send back home. While learning the language and customs is important, it's also about "going where the locals go." What it really boils down to is ditching the travel guide, and hitting up all those "hidden gems" within a city. Let's start with the hotel.
Book Your Hotel (or Apartment) In a Neighborhood You'd Actually Live In
Deciding how you want to approach the local experience from the outset is key. Are you more interested in restaurants and clubs? Or do you want to sit on a beach for the day? Deciding that ahead of time will make it easier to decide what part of town to look for a hotel in.
Your hotel's location is essentially your neighborhood for the duration of your stay, so it's just as important to scout out when you're traveling as it is when you're looking for a neighborhood at home. We've talked about scouting neighborhoods before, and we like TripAdvisor and StreetAdvisor for providing a good overview of a neighborhood. Both sites include the local shops, restaurants, and a good summation of the overall vibe of a neighborhood. Of course, not all cities will have a hotel in the neighborhood you'd live in, but you can at least get close.
That said, locals don't sleep in hotels, so why should you? If you're a little more adventurous, the home-renting service Airbnb likely has a place to stay for you pretty much anywhere you want. If you're staying for a longer period of time, NBC News also recommends looking for rental apartments or homes on sites like HomeAway or VRBO.
If your search for the perfect neighborhood isn't turning up much, posting a question on Twitter or Facebook to your friends may very get you a response, or at least point you in the right direction. If you're still a little unsure what neighborhood you'd like to stay in, move along to the next steps of finding restaurants, events, or bars that you want to visit and then book the hotel (or apartment) based on what you learn.
Apps and Tricks to Help You Find Amazing Things to Do At Any Time
A little research ahead of time gets you in the right spot of town, but that'll only take you so far. You still need to find your way to the best local places that offer you an experience unlike anything you'll find at home.
Eat and Drink Like the Locals
Any good vacation is filled with a lot of eating, but finding out where to go is often a crapshoot. A little randomized guessing certainly has it's place, but if you're on a budget (or just don't have that much time), then a little research is required. Thankfully, it's pretty easy.
You have a lot of good options to find a place to eat, and it really depends on what you're looking for. For hallmark stuff, Eat Your World provides a good starting place to get you familiar with what a city's known for and its culinary staples. Of course, sites like Urbanspoon, Yelp, Chowhound, and Local Eats all provide a good mix of different restaurants with a mix of user and professional reviews. The goal here is simple, stray away from anything familiar, try something new, and if you're lucky you'll find those gems that natives would have shown you anyway.
As we've mentioned before, another easy trick is to look through local blogs and weeklies to find their top picks. Almost every weekly newspaper has a "best of" at some point, and looking through them should net you some of the best clubs, restaurants, and bars.
The same goes for whatever culinary pursuits you might want to look into. If you're a big fan of coffee, for instance, searching for something like, "world barista championship" and the city name should net you the name of a few choice coffee shops. The same goes for breweries, restaurants, or even DJ nights.
Find Local Events and Weird Landmarks
When you want to find something to do when you're in town, it's all about digging into what a local would do, and searching through the same web sites (or papers) they'd read.
Again, weeklies can be a great resource to find local events, whether it's special hot dog day at a local restaurant, or a hot new dance club. Most cities will also have an events page listing the big stuff—orchestra performances, events in public parks, or parades—listed as well. Goby is also an excellent resource for finding events in U.S. locations.
If you want to dig into the weirder side of a city, few sites are better at chronicling oddball tourism spots than Atlas Obscura. The site lists off bizarre restaurants, strange architecture, tiny museums, and plenty more.
Likewise, Triposo catalogs a lot of the more interesting places to eat and find events You'll find pretty much everything ranging from dance lessons to art openings, and if nothing else it provides a good starting point to figure out what you want to look for.
Act Like a Local by Obeying the Customs and Lingo of Your Location
Every city in every country has different customs, and in some cases, different lingo. That's not easy to keep up with. Even if you have a grasp on the language, every place is a little different.
For iPhone, we like TripLingo (the Android version was recently removed as it's getting an update) because it teaches you the phrases that matter to you and that you'll actually use. For Android, Google Translate is still one of your best options, even though it doesn't teach you the language in context like TripLingo does. Otherwise, a good collection of apps that break the language barrier are handy to keep around.
As for customs, The Ultimate Guide to Worldwide Etiquette provides a nice quick overview of customs, etiquette, and tipping standards around the world. If all else fails, just follow the lead of people around you.
Ask Questions to Find Everything Else
Once you're on the ground and wandering the city, it's time to really dig into the city and find what you're looking for. You have a ton of great options for tailored content above, but sometimes you might be looking for something nobody is really talking about.
To find those answers, you need to actually ask the locals. Asknative for the iPhone is one way to do this. Simply type in the city you have a question about, and ask your question. Hopefully some locals will respond. Otherwise, forums for local city groups are great (hobbyist forums too, if you're looking for a particular activity), and people will often offer suggestions on where to go and what to do. Even traditional travel guide forums like Fodors can be a great place to chat with people who've actually been places (or live there).
It's also worth noting that in most cases, simply asking a question of someone at a restaurant or bar will go a long way. As St Louis Today points out if you have a few choice places you return to it's easy to ask regulars for suggestions on what to do. The bonus, of course, is that you'll have a little bit of regularity mixed in with all the new things you're experiencing. A random stranger isn't going to know your interests, but at least they'll point you to something new.
Photo by Jennifer Woodard Maderazo.