10 Ways I Explore A New City
Travel Tip #14
As we head into the final stretch of 2025, I’ll have traveled to 25 countries this year—20 of which are new to me. So I thought I’d share the ways I explore a new city.
Usually, within the first day, I join a local gym or dance class, check out the local farmer’s market, peruse the neighborhood cafés, and head toward a park to read and people-watch. To me, strolling city streets and wandering aimlessly are big fun. I love not really knowing where I’m going and being surprised.
Lots of Cities = Lots of Opportunities to Explore
In addition to my rambles, I take advantage of some of the online sites and communities set up specifically for tourists. Here are 10 ways to become more acquainted with a new city.
3 Favorites
Frequency: 1-2 x month
Review: Relies on a pay-what-you-want model, which is usually between $10-$20. Because the guides work for tips, they are professional (read: knowledgeable and entertaining). Groups can get kinda big.
Best Experience: In Sofia, Bulgaria, we had a great guide, who was full of facts and fun tales. Also, a shout-out to my guide Nina in Ljubljana, Slovenia, who was a language professor and guided in her spare time.
Frequency: 1-2 x month
Review: Tours range from $30 to $80 and are generally fairly reliable since they have a Yelp-like rating system. I use these tours mainly for out-of-town adventures, like hiking excursions. I sometimes visit the site to check out the itineraries, then head out on my own.
Best Experience: I had a great tour in Tajikistan, where we traveled to the Fan Mountains to hike for the day. Also, I had a fun time wine-tasting in Georgia.
Showing our love of wine after a day of touring Georgia vineyards.
Frequency: 1-3 x month
Review: I have met up with more than 20 women in at least 8 countries: Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Ghana, Senegal, Georgia, Armenia, Tunisia, and Morocco. With more than 800,000 members, the group is becoming somewhat unwieldy. Note: I hate the Facebook oligarchy and spend as little time as possible on the site, but this is where the group lives.
Best Experience: I met up with 5 women when I was in Accra, Ghana. They were all so generous with their time, taking me dancing, to drinks, and dinner. I’m still in touch with several of them.
3 Honorable Mentions
Facebook Groups
Frequency: 1 x month
Review: Some Facebook groups are good for gleaning hyper-local insights. I found these ones particularly useful: Traveling to Armenia, Expats in Bratislava, and Kyrgyzstan Travel Group. Note: Same comment as above about hating FB.
Best Experience: The Kyrgyzstan group, in particular, offers frank reviews of the local trekking and tour companies, which are very helpful, especially since tourism is in its infancy there.
Meeting up with friends from the Host A Sister group in Essaouira, Morocco.
Frequency: sometimes
Review: These ubiquitous buses can be useful if you only have a short stay of 1-2 days in a city, as they guarantee you hit the tourist highlights. Particularly useful if the city’s attractions are far apart or it’s raining. Can be a tad pricey.
Best Experience: I literally can’t remember when I hopped on last, so I guess that says something.
Airbnb Experiences
Frequency: twice only
Review: New to me, but pretty handy, since I’m usually renting Airbnb place anyway. They seem to specialize in small groups, personal experiences, and specific interests, like jazz music or paella making. Often you are invited into a local home.
Best Experience: I had a great time in a cooking class in Tbilisi, Georgia. I hesitated to sign up, but was convinced to try by another traveler’s rave review. And it was super fun!
4 Other Options
7) MeetUp – I visit the site every now and again, but the app seems pretty outdated and the events tend to be more business-focused, which are not so interesting (to me, anyway). Another way to survey the local business scene is to visit a co-working space.
8) EatWith – Featuring cooking classes, food tours, and private dinners. Sounds like a cool idea, but they’re spendy, usually over $100, which is a lot, especially if you don’t like your dinner companions.
9) Tinder – Several of my friends (men & women) go on Tinder dates throughout the world. A few have had good luck, finding romantic friends to hang out with while they are in a town. A few have met up with (local) knobs.
10) Couch Surfing – Apparently, the site is trying to move beyond hosted stays in someone’s living room into local meet-ups. I was invited to an event twice in Baku, Azerbaijan, but didn’t make it.
I’m curious if anyone uses any of these sites regularly. Please add a comment if you have—would love to learn about your experience. 🦋
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Christened “Wander Woman” by National Geographic, Erin Michelson has traveled to 130+ countries & all 7 continents. She is a professional speaker and author of the Nomad Life™ series of curated trips and travel guides, including the #1-ranked Explore the World with Nomads.
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