[damnitbuilds]

Title: "The Locals Don't Know"

First line: "My best piece of travel advice is to avoid doing what the locals do."

The writer seems incapable of distinguishing between the special, cool local things the locals KNOW about, and which a tourist might well benefit from trying, and the things locals DO because they don't do those special, cool things every day. Instead locals are usually doing similar things to what we normally do.

Which renders this article rather pointless.

[necrobrit]

Speaking as someone from Edinburgh where the locals are notoriously jaded (ask someone that has lived in edi for a few years what festival shows they went to this year): It's more that we _forget_ rather than never knowing.

Asks me what cool things to do nearby on the spot and I'll probably draw a blank. But say what you are doing instead and I'll probably go "oh yeah! That's brilliant! I love thing X".

I do know where good dog walking spots just outside Edinburgh are though, and I'm still regularly discovering more because I'm effectively a tourist ;).

[pjc50]

I struggle with this too in Edinburgh; I make a point of trying to stay engaged and keep recognizing how amazing the place is from the outside.

Going to the festival (and the book festival, back when that was in Charlotte Square) is improved by leaning into your local status and knowing how to duck in and out. And ideally knowing someone with a lanyard who can get you into the media bar: it's not cooler and more happening in there, it's actually quieter.

There's a vennel route across the city. It's an odd experience going through a deserted and mildly unpleasant alley, stepping out into a shuffling horde of tourists, cutting sideways across their paths, and ducking behind some bins into another quiet path. Like walking from the wings of the stage across it.

[mft_]

Further, he specifically mentioned Bordain, who focussed predominantly on food, and I think the concept of doing what the locals do is hugely rooted in choosing a restaurant. As in: locals won't eat in overpriced tourist traps, and will have had the chance to try enough local spots to know where's good. So if you want to choose a (e.g.) Chinese restaurant, choose one with lots of Chinese people in. (This applies whether you're in China or elsewhere.)

[lbreakjai]

That sort of advice never made sense to me. I used to live in a very non-touristic place, and there were tons of terrible food places, despite only being able to live off "the locals" who were supposed to know better.

[renox]

Well, it dépends: there are a lot of places where the locals goes because they are cheap not because they are good.

But yes, ask the locals.

[swiftcoder]

> there are a lot of places where the locals goes because they are cheap not because they are good

Por que no los dos? The whole cheap/good-choose-one thing is not universal in my experience. I've rarely been steered wrong by trying out the cheap-and-cheerful local option

[saltcured]

I don't even know if I accept the premise.

When I was an expat, there was a subtle kind of experience in settling into buying groceries and getting haircuts from the local providers. Or shopping for furniture for our own apartment, or hiring someone to do remodeling on a house...

But, I'm the type who also finds enjoyment in the same scenic trails and camping areas visited hundreds of times in my life in different seasons, etc. I don't need to try to see everything once in a superficial, whirlwind of a tour...

[em-bee]

this, you need to find the active locals that care about their community. the curious ones that like to explore and they will tell you. i could show you places in vienna that no tourist has ever seen, right in the center of town. i have gone on a day hike with a family in japan, up the mountain right near where they lived. no idea how well known that place was. same for new zealand and other places. china is touristically well developed. mostly for domestic tourism, so there finding the special spots only the locals know is more difficult. but they do exist. one friend took me eating at a local buddhist temple in the small industrial town where i lived. people taking me to their favorite hangout spots gives me a glimpse of what local life is like.