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s/o Tourists

So, Hop-on/hop-off bus tours were mentioned in the Snobby Expat post. What other touristy things do you like to do when you travel?

I like walking tours, especially walking ghost tours. I haven't done one in a while, though. 

Re: s/o Tourists

  • I take a ridiculous amount of photos
  • Muesums! I like to do them separately from a group or who I'm traveling with. I usually tear through certain parts and stop at others.
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  • We do hop-on-hop-off buses and walking tours.  Take tons of pictures, including the ridiculously cheesy ones. 

    While we try to find restaurants off the main track, we also have no problem going to that ONE restaurant/stand/location that has THE local dish/treat/food you just HAVE to try (according to all the guidebooks).  More often than not, the wait is long, but the food item is pretty tasty!

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  • I love walking and hop-on-off tours.  I try to find restaurants that get good ratings (I tend to look online, ex - citysearch in the States) as well as cool places to go for a drink (found the smallest neatest wine bar in San Francisco through online searching).  I take tons of photos, but they tend to be of architecture more than of people - I don't know why I'm so not into photos of friends and family (weird).  I love just wandering around and, hopefully, finding cool stuff that isn't in the guidebooks.
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  • [quote user="ukyankee  I take tons of photos, but they tend to be of architecture more than of people - I don't know why I'm so not into photos of friends and family (weird).  "/quote] This would be me as well.
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  • I've done a few hop-on-hop-off tours and I think they're fun. I take tons of photos, particularly photos of food for some reason. DH spends lots and lots of time setting up the perfect night shot while I stand around looking bored :-)

    We like to find walking tours and have absolutely no problem standing on a street corner reading a guidebook and taking pictures of some pretty building. We tend to travel with just our backpacks and a lot of super casual clothing.

    And I've gone out of my way to go to 'the' place for 'whatever local specialty' too... I tend to love the reviews from the Lonely Planet guides and check TripAdvisor before most trips. I really love the planning for a trip as much as anything else!

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  • Kitschy tourist restaurants. Even if it's manufactured and fake, sometimes I like the ambience and costumes of the recreated "traditional" restaurant. (e.g. Olde Hansa in Tallinn, Cennet in Istanbul, etc)
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  • We love to walk, walk, walk. And eat, and drink coffees and splurge on dinners and nightcaps. We get to be carefree and wild if we want but also sleep in if we want. We leave plans to the side and make decisions on the spur of the moment.
  • Oh, and dressing comfortably. I won't go fanny pack and white trainers, but I frequently wear beige hiking shoes and a brightly-colored rain shell around a city when the weather calls for it. If I'm going to be walking around for days straight, I don't care that much about being fashionable. As long as I don't look like a tool, who cares if the locals think I'm chic? I'm okay looking like a tourist as long as i don't stand out as a target. I aim for someone who may not be local but still knows what she's doing and has been around the block.
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  • ooh, one thing we try to do is see some surrealist art wherever we are travelling. It's one genre that we both love and can spend hours looking at and one aspect of 'culture' that we really enjoy sharing together. We usually come home with a few prints too. (still have to frame the ones from last summer)
  • I admit to being one of those ?ber organized tourists who walk around holding the guide, pointing at everything and reading out loud the historical trivia ... lol, very subtle. We like walking tours, I especially love Frommers "24 walks" guides for the purpose. They're so neat, I even bough one for NYC.

    Other than that, museums, shows and shops are a must. We're a bit picky when it comes to food so I usually look up the best possible restaurants for each walk/neighbourhood beforehand.

  • I love doing a lot of research and dressing comfortably. I used to always try a Chinese restaurant in town because I found them so different from country to country. I'm also one who likes to see the big, popular, crowded sites. Don't get me wrong, I like small uncrowded spots as well, but I feel like if I'm going to be in a town known for x, I should at least see x. 

     

  • Bike tours!
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  • imagetraveling turtle:

     I used to always try a Chinese restaurant in town because I found them so different from country to country. 

    I do this too. Some of the best Chinese food I've had in Europe was in Milan. Unfortunately the Chinese food here is horrible.

    I did a hop on hop off bus in London and it was great. Generally we are wander around tourists. I rarely look at a guide book. I actually feel very uncomfortable in heavily populated tourists spots (Las Ramblas, Duomo) I like to see those types of  attractions, but I don't want to spend a lot of time there.

     

  • imageazure_azure:

     Generally we are wander around tourists. I rarely look at a guide book. I actually feel very uncomfortable in heavily populated tourists spots (Las Ramblas, Duomo) I like to see those types of  attractions, but I don't want to spend a lot of time there.

    I can't get into guidebooks before a trip. And so I don't buy them anymore. I do like to look at them when I get back though. It's almost like the place has to be familiar to me before I care. I will look at websites for ideas of things to do, though.

    As for heavily populated spots. I should change how I worded things. I hate crowds and going when there's crowds. But, I like to physically see the place. I don't need to go inside (unless it's not busy, why not?) In Rome I saw the Coliseum, from the comfort of the second floor of a double decker hop-on/hop-off bus. It seems I mostly travel off season so lines and people are generally not an issue. This also means that I don't get to see beautifully landscaped gardens or things likes that because I'm there in the winter.  

  • I like ghost tours when I'm traveling on my own.  Went on a very memorable one in Edinburgh.

    Lately, I seem to visit a playground in every place we visit.  For the record, the playgrounds in Lyon are nicer than the average playground in Wiesbaden. 

    When it is just DH and I we love museums and checking out the local Irish pub - there's one just about everywhere.  Love to walk around and explore and experience the local flavors.  When we have the leisure, I love to sit on a busy square, drink a coffee and watch the city move around me.  We love to visit churches, and if there is a tower to be climbed, I want to climb it.  

    And we often take a ridiculous number of pictures...

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  • I eat and drink my way around a place. I also like to bring random food stuffs home and possibly some small things found at flea markets.
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