Staycation Tips: 7 Ways to Be a Tourist in Your Hometown

When it comes to this year’s vacations, the crisis brought to us by the coronavirus put us all into the same position: we’re most likely to stay at home. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that we can’t have a good time and enjoy our vacation, or to be more precise: staycation. There are ways to enjoy your free time without traveling and if you’re interested in being a tourist in your hometown, keep reading because we prepared some staycation tips for you.

Take a Tour around Historic Places

How well do you really know the history of your hometown? You probably know something, but there’s always more to learn. Freshen up the knowledge of the history of your city’s most popular landmarks. Find out all there is about the founding of your city. Ask around, you may find out some local stories you’ve never heard of before. Explore a bit online, find what historic places are recommended to the tourists that come to visit your hometown — they’re recommended for a good reason.

Try Some New Eateries

Are you one of those people who always go to the same restaurant? Well, it’s time to try someplace new! Ask a friend (or the internet people) for a recommendation, or stroll around the city and just enter a random restaurant you’ve never visited before. Also, order a meal you usually wouldn’t, it’s even more fun that way.

Visit More Galleries and Museums

Did you miss going to the museums and galleries during the lockdown? Good news, most of them are opened again or will be open by the time your staycation starts, so you can enjoy the cool new exhibitions. Keep yourself updated, especially for the opening nights — you’ll hear interesting speeches of the contributing artists and you’ll have a lot of fun.

Get a Room in a Local Hotel

You’ve most probably never spent a night in a hotel in your hometown, right? Find out what’s the best hotel in town, which one has the best spa treatments, and book at least one night. You’ll definitely feel like you’ve traveled somewhere for your vacation. Also, waking up in a hotel room will set the mood for exploring the city and enjoying it in a different way.

Walk down the Streets You’ve Never Visited Before

You may think you know the streets of your city like the back of your hand, but do you really? Go to the neighborhood that you don’t visit so often, wander around the streets, even get a little bit lost… There are surely some interesting new buildings or hidden places waiting to be discovered. You may stumble upon a small local shop that you never knew existed and find yourself a nice little souvenir.

Explore the Nature around the City

Maybe you’ve never been that into hiking and exploring the nature around your hometown, or you just haven’t seen enough of it. Find out a little bit about the most interesting natural wonders in your surroundings, ask a passionate hiker — maybe there’s a waterfall that you never knew about or a spring with the bluest water that you’ve ever seen. Nature is so amazing and relaxing, and if you’re not used to enjoying it, you’re missing out on many gorgeous things.

Act like a Tourist

This might seem either obvious or weird to you, but it works! If you’re pretending that you’re a tourist, taking a lot of photos, posing in front of your city’s most famous landmarks, you really start to feel like you’re somewhere else. Talk to the people you meet on the streets, or to the travel guides, ask for tour recommendations, or what interesting events are being held around the city, and just enjoy being a tourist in your hometown.

There are ways to explore your hometown and enjoy it like you’re a first-time visitor. You just have to put in a little effort and, what’s more important, you just have to relax and take your mind of the everyday things that might be bothering you. Just plan your perfect staycation carefully, commit to the plan, and pretend you’re not at home but somewhere else. We do know it’s a bit difficult to completely detach from your regular daily activities, but it is not impossible.

Also, if you’re interested in exploring the world digitally, there are various digital tours you can get on our Cultural Places platform and enjoy exploring cool cultural places from home. Check out our latest tour: