10 Ways to Avoid Tourist Traps
While traveling, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is eating at a tourist trap restaurant.
Traveling is all about eating authentic, delicious food, without paying a premium — just like the locals do daily. But the simple fact is that most tourists don’t know how to avoid tourist traps. And that’s a serious issue, in my opinion.
It’s a vicious cycle, and it goes something like this:
Tourist visits overly-crowded, often pointless tourist attraction that they circled in their guidebook.
Tourist gets hungry and/or thirsty from fighting their way through the crowd for the perfect touristy picture.
Tourist sees a restaurant just a few steps away, and it’s full of other tourists.
Tourist thinks, “Bingo! This place is busy and it has a prime location. This must be the perfect place to have lunch.”
Tourist empties his/her wallet for sub-par food and service, and leaves the destination thinking, “Wow, that city was expensive and the food wasn’t all that great.”
And the cycle repeats itself. Again and again.
So what is a tourist trap?
A tourist trap is a place (a restaurant, for purposes of this article) specifically designed to attract tourists, and charge them outrageous prices for things they don’t necessarily want or need.
In the case of tourist trap restaurants, everything will be overly expensive. The food will be inauthentic, often disgusting, and likely previously frozen, thawed, and cooked in a microwave or oven. And lastly, the service will likely fall short.
Does all of this sound like something you’d like to avoid on your next trip? Great, then welcome to How To Avoid Tourist Traps 101. In this course, we will teach you how to avoid tourist traps in any and every situation with these 10 guidelines!
HOW TO AVOID TOURIST TRAPS
1. Never (ever, ever, ever) eat at places next to, or close to, big tourist attractions.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Times Square, Angkor Wat, La Plaza Mayor, Machu Picchu. It doesn’t matter where you are in the world if you’re eating next to a tourist attraction, you’re eating at a tourist trap. Period.
2. Never eat somewhere where an usher tries to pull you in and seat you.
Obviously, if the restaurant feels the need to have someone trying to lure customers in, that restaurant sucks. Plain and simple. If their food and service are superior, it will show. You’ll see the lively dining room and smiles on the customers’ faces, and you’ll smell the enticing aromas. If the restaurant is worthy of your time, money, and the temporary real estate in your stomach, no usher is necessary.
3. Never eat anywhere that’s advertised on your city map, or on a brochure in a hotel/tourism office.
All of these advertisements are designed for, and strategically placed in front of, tourists. And you know what that means? Tourist traps! So skip them!
4. Never eat anywhere where the menu is translated into multiple languages.
This should be an immediate red flag! Locals speak the local language, not English, French, Mandarin, German, and Russian. Shocker, I know. Any place like this is a tourist trap and should be avoided at all costs.
5. Never eat at places where pictures of food are displayed on the windows.
Those pictures are probably copied and pasted from a website… Which website? The one owned by the company who manufactures and packages up the frozen food, which the tourist trap will heat up for you. Talk about authentic!
6. Never eat somewhere that has food on display outside.
This rule ties into #5. Is fresh pasta on display outside? What about a delicious pizza? Or a cheeseburger? Locals and savvy travelers know what the area’s typical food is supposed to look like, they don’t need a display. Please, just keep walking.
7. Avoid anywhere that has a million stickers on the front windows, featuring free WiFi, awards from TripAdvisor, Fodor’s, etc.*
These stickers are placed on the windows for a reason. Always remember that.
*There are exceptions to this rule! Some restaurants displaying these stickers will be well worth your time and money.
8. Don’t take food recommendations from your hotel’s concierge/front desk.*
Hotels can, and do, receive kickbacks for sending their guests to nearby tourist traps. Do yourself a favor and don’t listen to restaurant recommendations from the front desk staff.
*There are exceptions to this rule! If you’re staying at a very nice hotel, the concierge will be there to genuinely assist you in creating the best trip possible. You can trust them.
9. Avoid using TripAdvisor to find restaurants.
Who uses TripAdvisor? Tourists. So you’re bound to find plenty of inauthentic tourist traps on that website, obviously.
10. Always do your research.
Before your trip, read trusted food/travel blogs and make a list of places you’d like to eat. From there, cross-reference on Yelp for reviews by other fellow foodies. Once you’ve arrived at your destination, chat with the locals you meet on the street, talk to your driver, etc. Ask them where they recommend, and go there!
Article Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-avoid-tourist-traps-10-must-read-guidelines_us_5784016ae4b05b4c02fd606e
Image Source: http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/5784027b1a00002300dd0bf8.jpg
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Subpar (adj.) ~ below an average level
2. Thaw (v.) ~ (of ice, snow, or another frozen substance, such as food) become liquid or soft as a result of warming
3. Lure (v.) ~ tempt (a person or an animal) to do something or to go somewhere, especially by offering some form of reward
4. Enticing (adj.) ~ attractive or tempting alluring
5. Savvy (adj.) ~ shrewd and knowledgeable in the realities of life
6. Concierge (n.) ~ a hotel employee whose job is to assist guests by arranging tours, making theater and restaurant reservations, etc.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What is a tourist trap? Do you often go to tourist traps when you are travelling?
2. What do you think is the best way to have an authentic experience of the place that you are visiting?
3. What kinds of food do you have when you’re travelling? Do you like trying out authentic local food or familiar food?
