Tour Your Own City, 14 Exciting Ways to Travel Without Leaving Town.
Touring your own city for fun!
Travel doesn’t have to be to expensive destinations and include a passport.
Sometimes it can be as easy as jumping into the car or on a bike.
Being a tourist in your own hometown may make you think ‘boring’. You’ve lived there for over 5 or even 20 years. Therefore, you’ve seen everything.
No matter where you live, there is unexplored territory around you. Everywhere.
Small town or big city.
Touring your own city doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money or time going to all of the touristy spots. It can be trying something that’s new to you.
And if you can’t travel to someplace lavish at the moment, this will keep your travel spirits high.
Staying curious can lift your spirits during difficult times.
Here are some ideas to get your mind thinking.
14 Exciting Ways to be a Tourist in Your Own City
Get up for sunrise/Stay up for sunset
Touring your own city, you can find things to do that you never thought of before, such as sunrise or sunsets.
There is nothing better than to start your day or end it with a beautiful sunrise or sunset. Find an amazing lookout spot and capture an Instagram photo.
Which leads me to the next ideas of visiting a lookout point.
Elevate your experience
Get the bird’s eye view of your city. Many people do this when visiting a new city to get their bearings of how to get around.
In some cities they have a building that you can go to see the city view and others may have a drive-up lookout. If these aren’t options you could also try a restaurant with a roof patio.
Walk a route you normally drive
You can see so much more when aren’t driving. Or even riding in the car.
Slow down and go for a stroll in order to tour your own city. I bet you will notice more. Even if it’s in your own neighborhood.
Stop the world from whizzing by.
Borrow a guidebook
What do you do when traveling to a new city? Either search online for stuff to do or check out a guidebook. Right?
Head to your local library to borrow a book on your town or city. Or download a PDF.
Start a local bucket list of all the places that you would like to see and do to tour your own city, just like you would if traveling someplace new.
Or you could simply be your own guide by joining Google Local Guides. Gain local guide points and receive benefits along the way.
Take your camera for a walk
If your going on an adventure, take your camera with you.
You never know when that photo opportunity is going to happen. I know that it may sound silly to tour your own city with a camera but I never leave for vacation without my camera. So why would touring your own city be any different?
Bring it along and create some visual memories of your day.
It also helps to make it feel more like a vacation when you do vacation things.
Join a tour
It is easy to feel like you know everything there is about your city, but going on a tour of your own city you may pick up some tidbits about it.
They also often run promotions, making them budget-friendly.
If you enjoy history check out the local history museum. Another way to tour, jump on a bus or trolley tour. These are best ways to see a city and see where all the tourists are going if you want to really get into that touristy vibe.
Stay in a hotel
If you really want to go the touristy route, stay in a hotel downtown. This way you will be in walking distance of most things.
Always wanted to check out Airbnb, this is your chance. You have nothing to lose being close to home.
Make it a staycation.
Look up free activities
Who doesn’t like free? Nothing is better than free.
Whether it be walking through the farmer’s market or checking out one of the town festivals, it’s nice to do something out of the ordinary.
Check the local papers or online to see if there are any coupons you can use.
Travel your own city like a local pro.
Ask around
Ask questions and do research. You may think that you know a lot about where you live, but do you really?
I think you’d be shocked about how much you’d learn!
If you are out at a restaurant, ask the waiter/waitress what there is to do. When you tell them where you’re from, they may give you a weird look but they may know of someplace that you don’t.
Follow a blogger’s itinerary
Check online to see if there is a blogger in your area that you can follow or if they have an itinerary of your city that you can follow.
It’s always nice to get someone else’s perspective of how they see things too.
Write your own city guide
If you can’t find a lot of information on your town or city, write your own guide on how to tour your own city.
Nothing is better than a local’s perspective. Your perspective. It wouldn’t hurt to get the perspective of other locals too.
This will come with a lot of research. Therefore, you will learn more than if you were just touring.
Seek out the popular Instagram spots
This is were your camera comes in handy. Seek out the popular Instagram spots and shoot away.
It might even be a good thing to put in that guidebook. Top 10 Amazing Instagram Spots in (your city).
Even if you don’t write the guidebook, it would still make your friends jealous that you have all these amazing photos. And you didn’t even have to leave town.
Check out the restaurant scene
If you’ve been wanting to check out a different restaurant but just didn’t want take the time to find one, here is your chance.
Want to pretend you are in Thailand? See if there is a Thai restaurant in your city. How about Italy? Or China?
Make a night of traveling to that different place virtually. Go to a Thai restaurant and then come home to watch a movie that is based in Thailand. Learn a few phrases and some history about the place.
It’s something you and your spouse can enjoy or your whole family.
If you don’t want to try different ethnic foods, go touristy. Find out what the best tourist restaurants are in your city.
The world is your oyster.
Take public transportation
If you have public transportation in your town or city, take that instead.
Especially in the bigger cities, you don’t want to have to pay for parking or better yet trying to find a spot to park. Instead, take the bus or Uber.
In some cities they even have bicycles or scooters for hire. Check these out when traveling from place to place.
Becoming a tourist in your own city has many benefits. You’ll see your city through new eyes, learn about your city’s history, and feel refreshed.
Just remember that there are beautiful and amazing things right under your nose. You don’t need a fancy vacation to give you that recharge you need.
Playing tourist in your own city might be just the thing to tide you over until your next big adventure. Make every weekend feel like its own vacation.
A couple of places for you to get started would be to check out: How to find the best local sites in your town, Staycation, travel with Google maps, or The Vocal Local (traveling with google local guides).
