Whenever you’re planning a holiday, a healthy amount of your time is dedicated to the practical aspects of your trip. Buying travel insurance, finding flights, booking accommodation and figuring out how to squeeze everything you want to see into a time window that never feels long enough is all part of the adventure. Sightseeing is something that everyone approaches differently—there are those who like to partake in what we call ‘tick-a-box tourism’, rushing around to landmark after landmark in order to be able to say that they saw it.

There are also those who tire or traipsing to various points in a new city and prefer simply to soak up the vibes and people-watch. If you’re planning a trip and you’re trying to figure out what to see and what to miss, we’ve got a guide to sightseeing in style that’ll ensure you have fun no matter what you do!

Combine People-Watching With Sightseeing

There are certain famous places that are actually more interesting because of what they tell you about the local culture than what they tell you about the past. There are squares, parks and churches all over the world with rich history and cultural significance, but often simply taking a guided tour or reading the plaques doesn’t give you the full picture of its place in whatever city or town you’re visiting.

Take Times Square in New York City, for example. It is an iconic part of the city, now dominated by tourist joints trying to cash in on its fame, but to truly experience the magic of the area you don’t need a tour guide or a map—you need to lose yourself in the throng of people and feel the utter anonymity that comes from being one tiny person in a city of 8 million. Apply this doctrine to famous places all over the world and you’ll quickly discover that the best way to sightsee is often to become part of the sight itself.

Meals in Famous Places

Another great way to sightsee in style is to combine a nice meal with a famous location. If, for example, you’re visiting Rome, why not try to take your dinner in front of a different landmark each night? In Sydney? Combine a Sydney Harbour cruise with a gourmet meal! Whether it’s a picnic by a famous beach somewhere or a restaurant meal in a well-known historical square in Europe, combining dining and sightseeing has long been a time-efficient and enjoyable way to travel in style.

Pick and Choose

Part of sightseeing in style is knowing what you really want to see and what you’re happy to forego. This means combining some prior research with keeping your ear to the ground while you’re there—you’ll quickly find out what’s worth a look and what is a bit of a tourist trap. These, days, with social media dominating the travel sphere, it’s easy to get personal recommendations from international tourists who have seen it all before, so log onto travel blogs and forums and find out what you absolutely cannot miss. This gives you time to spend simply soaking up being on holidays, rather than spending the entire time sticking to a rigid itinerary!