How To Research Travel Destinations (For Free!)

published by Bren

Last updated: May 31, 2020

I’ve already talked at length on this blog about how to find a cheap flight and how to find the right accommodation. However that’s (usually) only the first step; you still have to decide what to do once you land!

Learning how to research travel destinations efficiently is important, because not only will it probably end up taking up most of your time (unless of course, you’re booked on a tour), it also will determine how much you get to see and do during your visit.

I still meet many travellers who do the Lonely Planet guidebook thing, and there’s nothing wrong with that if you’re willing to pay for it. However, when running a tight budget it’s important you can also research your travel destinations for free.

There’s no ‘right’ way to all this of course, but if you’re wanting to learn how to research travel destinations without spending a ton, while still getting all the useful info you need, you’re talking to the right guy! I have never bought a guidebook and always leave my destinations fulfilled, and this is generally how my process goes:

How to research travel destinations for free:

Check the weather!

First thing I do is head to the Wikipedia page of whichever city I’m going to and check the climate figures.

I don’t like places that are intensely hot or cold, and I don’t like rain, therefore I try to avoid those seasons if I can.

As an example, below is a print screen of Wikipedia’s climate info for Manila:

manilaweather

Why check the weather first?

Because the weather is going to affect every part of your trip – what to pack, what kind of shoes to take, what kind of activities to plan. Just ask a New Yorker how much life changes between summer and winter. It changes everything. Be prepared!

In our Manila example above, we can see the hottest months of the year are March to June, and the rain is heaviest from June to October.

If it were me, I’d be looking to visit Manila between November and February, when it’s not too hot and the rain hasn’t arrived yet. Of course, your preferences might be different, but what’s important is you know what to expect.

Read the Wikitravel page

Next thing I do is read the Wikitravel page.

Wikitravel has crowd sourced information on pretty much every city in the world. Note: It is not always up to date (as a fun exercise, try reading the page for your hometown and see if it’s on point), but it is still helpful to read and see what other travellers are saying.

Here are the topics that a typical Wikitravel page will cover:

The section I find most helpful is the “Get in” section, which details all the different ways you can get into the city (bus, train, plane are all covered usually) and also some helpful tips on how to get from the airport to your hotel.

For example, check out the “Get in” section for Manila. Helpful, right?

Also, exercise some caution with the “Eat” and “Sleep” sections. Sometimes the recommendations here are written by the owners themselves (anyone can contribute to Wikitravel).

If you’re looking for a bed, my accommodations guide has some more reliable resources you can use.

Check the TripAdvisor Page

TripAdvisor is a great resource for finding different activities and what other people thought of them. It has everything from restaurants to tours to hotels, so you’ll find most places of interest on here. As an example, here’s a list of attractions to visit in Manila.

One thing to remember here is that, like Wikitravel, the ratings are not 100% reliable. Anyone can post a review on TripAdvisor, and this inevitably leads to small guesthouses and tour companies asking all their friends and family to write a 5 star review for them.

When I started freelancing I even came across jobs where people were paying writers to post fake reviews to sites like TripAdvisor.

Generally the rule is this: if it ranks badly on TripAdvisor, it probably is bad, but if it ranks highly, it’s not necessarily good.

Google it!

Next thing I do is Google “Things to do in City X” and “Things to eat in City X”.

This will usually bring up a collection of stuff on TripAdvisor, posts by travel bloggers, articles by big media such as CNN Travel and National Geo, and perhaps a few Youtube videos as well.

Read through the more recent pages and bookmark the ones that you find informative. Don’t forget this – I always punch myself when I forget to bookmark it and then can’t find it again 2 weeks later.

Travel bloggers

Travel bloggers are one of the most overlooked resources in travel today. It doesn’t matter which country on the planet you want to go to; even if it’s North Korea, Somalia or Iraq, there’s a blogger who’s been there. What makes them so valuable though is that they’re very accessible – 99% of bloggers will have a contact page and a Twitter and/or Facebook page you can reach them on, and most will be happy to receive and answer your questions.

The first step is finding the right blogger. For example, if you’re heading to India you definitely don’t want to be emailing me, but you might get in touch with Wandering Earl, who seems to be in love with the place. I, on the other hand can probably help you with questions about New Zealand, Philippines, Tanzania, Bangkok, Singapore etc. Just flick through their blogs and see where they’ve been.

Here’s an example. Let’s say I’m planning to head to Guatemala this year. I know that Shannon from A Little Adrift used to live there, so she would be a good person to get in touch with. It can be as simple as this:

Or as another example, when my camera broke in Bangkok recently and I needed to get it cleaned up, I sought some friendly advice from the Bangkok based Mark Wiens of Migrationology

And on my recent trip to Cambodia, I got some great ideas from Stuart from South East Asia blog Travelfish:

As you can see, bloggers can be a great source of fast, expert advice. Their responses will probably be brief, as they obviously don’t have time to sit around answering tweets all day, but they’re definitely a very accessible option when you can’t find what you’re looking for or need advice on something specific. And of course, don’t forget to look through the actual blogs themselves!

Once I’ve arrived at my destination, the first thing I do is ask a staff member at my hotel/guesthouse the following questions:

Which areas of the city are not safe to go to?
Is it safe to walk around this area after dark?
How much should I be paying for a taxi/tuktuk/bike ride?
When is the last bus/train back here at night?

And then I usually ask about sim cards, weather, and good local places to eat (food tip: instead of asking for food recommendations, ask them what they ate for lunch/dinner and where you can get it).

Ask for advice from other travellers

Airports, hostels, bus stations, hotel lobbies, cafes and coffee shops. They’re all perfect places to strike up a conversation with another traveller (we’re not exactly hard to spot, are we?) and ask questions.

Thinking about it now, so many cool things I’ve seen on the road have been the result of someone telling me about them in passing conversation.

Sometimes it’s just a simple, “Hey where did you get that hat?” or “What did you do today?” that will lead you onto some pretty crazy stuff.

In Your Pocket

In Your Pocket is a site I’ve been using a lot because it’s very straightforward, to the point, and it’s recommendations always check out.

It doesn’t have every city in the world covered, but the ones it does cover are covered well. Here’s an snapshot of the Berlin guide:

how to research travel destinations

Youtube!

Youtube is an amazing travel resource.

Almost every city in the world will now have travel videos by real travellers; things like vlogs, highlight videos, things to do videos, places to eat videos.

Youtube is the second biggest search engine in the world behind Google, so make use of it.

Hashtags!

Jump on Instagram and start searching hashtags of your destination.

Mix it up a bit too, instead of just #paris, you could try #parisfood or #parisshopping and see what’s hot on the ground.

Normally you’ll uncover many places that aren’t in guidebooks (people love to brag how “off the grid” they are in their travel photos).

This is one of my favourite ways to find interesting places to spend an afternoon.

Don’t over-research your travel destinations!

Remember, sometimes your trip will be a lot more interesting if you leave a few things unknown so you can discover them for yourself.

You don’t need to know about every restaurant and tourist attraction in town before you land.

Leave a few days in your itinerary unplanned and use them to just wander around and eat/shop/explore at whatever places you stumble across. You might find that some of the most memorable and interesting places of your trip will be found this way.

Have fun!

The most important part.

Once you’ve read the Wikitravel page, checked the attractions on TripAdvisor, Googled some things to do, got recommendations from travel bloggers, browsed through the travel forums, asked the local staff at your accommodation and flicked through an In Your Pocket guide, you really should have all the info you need to keep you busy for a few weeks.

In fact you’ll probably be over-researched, if anything.

Also remember, no resource I recommend here is going to be gospel. All of them are guides to what you can find and expect once you land. The only 1,000% accurate resource of travel info is going to be….you! Seeing the city with your own eyes and smelling it with your own nose and hearing it with your own ears is the only way you’re ever going to truly know that city.

So now that you’ve done the groundwork, all that’s left for you to do is travel, and enjoy.

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  1. Hi Brendan,

    Awesome post. Travel bloggers are such a tremendous resource.

    I run a blogging tips blog, but it’s geared toward folks who want to retire to a life of island hopping through smart blogging. I’m Blogging from Paradise, but it’s because I’ve learned about travel and blogging from bloggers, from each respective niche.

    Locals are awesome resources. Like you, I either ask locals, or simply do the online research bit. Being from New Jersey in the USA, I have an inner city Spidey Sense that can gauge when we’re in hood areas, or unsafe areas.

    In my 40 months traveling all over SE Asia, and Fiji, and through India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Costa Rica and Peru, I was in one situation where I felt things could get dicey at night, later on that is, and that was Sihanoukville, in Cambodia. The people were really nice, but it’s been the only place where, even with me next to my fiancee, guys were screaming and hollering at her, cat calling….it was a bit beyond silly stuff, and I’m a pretty muscular dude….made me head in early at night….plus, I’d heard more than a few bad stories about that town too.

    Again, awesome country, and nice folks here…..but it was a spot where you can tell, some angry, rowdy energy, combined with some serious poverty, created a situation where you wouldn’t venture out too late at night in certain parts of town.

    Thanks so much Brendan, awesome post. Tweeting in a bit.

    Signing off from Savusavu, Fiji.

    Ryan

  2. You can try to find a local tourist website with reccommendations and contact someone of locals before your trip about all the things that you should do or what to eat. I guess that it is the way where you`ll get the best informations about your accommodation, sightseeing and what to eat, etc. Better than on some world popular travel web sites. The best infos are from locals.

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