Being a tourist in your own city: 5 ways to celebrate local tourism

Tourism is always connected with distant lands, living and leisure - with vacations, holidays and planned retreats - with family, friends or solo.  Often, with this mindset we forget to explore our own cities and towns. We may do it  when we are new to the place or for other reasons, like when we accompany our relatives and guests who visit our city and go sightseeing.  Another popular way of taking a break for city-dwellers is the near by weekend getaways. Of course travelling long distance is an essential part of the fun. But, being a tourist need not always be associated with such trips and journeys, right?

Just do it!

The best part of exploring your own city is that you don’t need to plan and budget for it months in advance. Just decide on the interesting places to visit – it could be a museum, a  historical or religious monument,  a park , a lake, resort, or some interesting landscapes, zoo parks…. Or, better still, just go without a destination in mind and you’ll end up finding interesting stuff!

Taramati Baradari - Hyderabad

So what if it’s all familiar

Annual holidays, seasonal breaks and such planning things are fine to visit exotic places and discover new things.  Sometimes there’s fun in revisiting the same old familiar places with new curiosity, especially after a long gap of time. And, we get to relive the good old days and reconnect with the emerging urban landscape.

Near KBR Park

Serendipity

Remember those holidays where you enjoyed the most and try to recollect the moments that have remained with you. I’m sure those were most serendipitous moments,  things you found at the most unexpected places and times.  Every city or town has plenty of those to satisfy your adventurous spirit and get some peaceful moments being with nature.

Visvesvaraya Science Museum Bangalore 

There’s some thing for everyone

Are you the type who loves the hustle and bustle of the bazaars? Are you fond of  scenic places with serene surroundings? Or are you into wildlife and birding? Or are you a foodie, or are you into promoting eco-friendly lifestyle …or whatever may be our passion, every city has ways to help you unwind and chill in your own way.

Laad Bazar Hyderabad

Share your experience 

When we become tourists in our own place we see things in a different perspective. This is so valuable in understanding the ecosystem that surrounds us and how we are impacting it. Sharing insights and experiences helps the broader community in getting first person views on the changes that are taking place and how we can improve our cities.

Rockscapes in Hyderabad

So, are you set to explore your city today? Nothing stops us - neither booking the travel tickets nor accommodation. Local and familiar can also be exciting and entertaining when we need that urgent break from the mundane and monotonous.

(Contributed by Madhuri Dubey)