City breaks around Europe are becoming easier and cheaper each year. As more people are looking to visit new cities during their holidays or squeeze in a weekend getaway, new activities and travel tips are being discovered. This also means that the classic sights of tourism are becoming saturated and, therefore, often less enjoyable.

If you are visiting for a couple of days, you don’t want to be spending time in long queues or surrounded by crowds of visitors. It’s not impossible to get a sense of the local life in a couple of days; you just need to consider your travel plans. Here are some top tips to avoid the stress of the typical bustle and make your city break extra special.

Ignore Reviews

Reviews are popular because we believe they work as a guarantee. However, between manipulated and falsified reviews, there is actually very little value to them, especially within major cities. The most popular and well-rated sites within review sites will often be busy, pricey, and lack authenticity. While, of course, there may be exceptions, holding a high position in the travel review charts is becoming less of a good thing.

A better option is to look at local social media. By searching for a location on Instagram, you can see pictures taken recently and locally, helping you scout out the perfect spot. Other sites like Cool Cousin offer recommendations from locals that will keep you away from the crowds. Or, for the traveler willing to take a few more risks, you can simply walk around without aim. Known as flanneling: the act of wandering a city and enjoying what one finds is a slow form of travel becoming increasingly popular.

Choose an Apart hotel

Staying in hotels can be expensive and sometimes sterile while staying in hostels usually sees us losing sleep to a loud travelling party. For an affordable experience that allows one to experience living like a local, apart hotels are becoming more popular. Combining the luxury of hotel comfort with the homestead familiarity of an apartment, apart hotels are perfect for many travelers.

For instance, if you want to find serviced apartments in London, you will be presented with many options for comfortable homes from affordable London living to extravagant cities apartments. Since you will have all the functionality of an apartment, you can cook at home and host friends or even work in an office space, helping you feel like a resident of the city while travelling.

Avoid Airports

While flying sometimes can’t be avoided, you’ll often have a more unique travel experience by visiting places away from airports. Cheap flights have led to major cities becoming increasingly saturated. If you are looking for a relaxing, truly local location, then find a destination without an airport.

Europe is full of excellent bus and train services that are affordable and efficient, offering travel to cities and towns that have yet to be fully explored. While it may add more time to your journey, more people are incorporating a longer travel time into their travel to aid exploration and low stress, as well as reducing their carbon footprint.