Vacationing Off The Beaten Path

Visiting a major city is fun, but also a struggle... which sites and areas do you prioritize? Specifically, how do you make sure to see the "off the beaten paths" part of a city while also seeing the highlights?

For me, I always find I most remember & treasure those smaller areas & tours more because I feel like I discovered a hidden treasure. Everyone traveling to London will see Big Ben and ride the London Eye. And certainly no trip there would be complete without those highlights. Less, though, go to east London and wander around the Brick Lane flea markets on a Sunday to sample the street foods and vintage goods.

These are the areas of a city that feel truly alive.

One of my favorite vacation memories is an afternoon wandering around Dublin. After joining many other tourists to look at the Book of Kells at Trinity College, we started walking east past the Grand Canal docks with no specific end-point in mind. We stumbled into the suburban neighborhood of Ringsend. This was a quiet & pretty tree-lined area that was a hub of shipping and industry. We hadn't planned on going there, but we had a relaxing and fun afternoon wandering its small streets before crossing the River Liffey to the heart of the Dublin ports.

Personally, I think the best way to see any city is on foot. Things like tour buses give you an outsiders point-of-view. The street is where the local view is. (As an aside, I generally walk 10-15 miles a day on a vacation in a city... that's of course not necessary to have a good trip, just my preference). If this sounds similar to how you like to explore a city, then Custom NYC Tours is the place for you.

My hope is to provide visitors to New York a similar experience in my hometown. I'd love to show you the highlights of NYC (historic downtown & the World Trade Center, Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, etc), but also the lesser-known treasures of Brooklyn and Queens. What do you hope to get out of your NY trip?

Let's talk today!