For me is so time consuming and you end up going to the tipical places for turists.
Do you know a better way to find better places to visit?
Edit: I live in a super tourist place, around 4 millions tourist per year, and I know that 95% of tourist don't go to the best places but a few do. I'm curious about how these 5% manage to find it out!
If you want things off the beaten path, start off the path. I find local restaurants at off-peak times a good place to begin - anyplace with a counter or bar should work. Ask, and ask again for what they find interesting.
i travelled to tokyo a while back, tried to save money by staying @ a business district instead of the cool places like shibuya and shinjuku.
before i left i walked into a bar @ 4pm - empty - and had free drinks with the owner. He used to be a kawasaki bike repairer. I tried speaking to him in his broken english - was so cool he tried with me! He then opened up this bar for businessmen.
i also recommend looking at google earth in aerial view. Looking for interesting looking places - and just giving them a go! i found an incredible spot in Kauai, Hawaii near Lihue...wild coast on one side, a shrine on the other, airplanes taking off on the other. I had to drive past a military satelite installation kinda off road to get to it....zero tourists...was pure magic. I stayed there for 3+ hours all alone :)
Having the one thing to do gives you structure and a guarantee that you don't waste the day. The rest gives you novelty and a chance to actually relax if you want to.
Google maps "attractions" feature is surprisingly good once you learn to use it (of course google maps could be way better if google had any interest in making a great product instead of an ad platform product).
Culture Trip and Atlas Obscura/Gastro Obscura are pretty OK. Eater is pretty good for food.
Yelp and TripAdvisor are trash.
It's hard to walk 20km without running into something interesting. Aimless walking is underrated.
Going to the same establishment every day for 2 weeks will likely get the owner/staff talking to you, particularly if it is small and not busy. This has been the genesis of a few of my favorite travel memories.
As far as the question you asked, I've found the activities themselves aren't all that memorable compared to who you experienced them with. Good people make lame activities great.
So again, hostels are good ways to meet people. I always look for hostels that have the best looking common room. If you spot a place with a common room that you wouldn't mind hanging out in for 30 minutes-1 hour, and the rating is good, that is probably a quality hostel.
For what it's worth I don't think your question was asked in good faith. It's super disappointing to see this question asked without disclosure that you work in the industry.
> Full stack web developer with 14 years of experience in the hospitality industry.
> Founder: JobBoardSearch.com TouristItinerary.com VillasMediterranean.com
[1] https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/all-places-in-the-atla...
Otherwise, I like just walking in a direction. I'm not sure if it's the best approach. There are places that are incredibly welcoming to tourists - youth hostels, museums, religious buildings, the occasional barber. I try to visit a barber or some grungy restaurant in every new town, outside a tourist district. It's a good sample of the locals.
These days, I have had good luck with ChatGPT giving me a top level view. Then I supplement with travel books from my local library.
This is a problem I've been working on in my area with doplaces.com but even a small area is a lot of work to maintain.