[bigDinosaur]

Going off the beaten path in my experience requires genuine friendships with locals. I guess if you're super outgoing and adventurous you don't need that, but in my experience it has helped immensely to have locals (again, as friends, so they're not trying to scam you or at least mislead you) take me to cool things.

I suppose it's not realistic to do this for a lot of destinations, but where it works it works well.

[telesilla]

That's the key. I don't have the time anymore, but I'd often book a couple of days in a bnb or small hotel in an area I was curious about, then get to know the locals for where to actually go for a longer period, usually with introductions and instant friends.

I now know well a tiny village I go back to regularly where I'm part of the small summer swell of visitors, to go fishing and sailing without a crowd of tourists, because getting there is a bit complicated without assistance.