"I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and
hope they were entertained."
Walt Disney
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| Flamenco Dancer in Spain |
You have just arrived in a strange city.
You have several days to explore and see the
sights.
Chances are you have researched
what there is to see in the city.
Most
tour books will tell you the main sights that you should see.
So you are ready to go explore the city and
enjoy discovering new sights.
You may
even have researched places to eat, and you probably will have made
reservations for a place to stay.
But
what if you want to take in some entertainment while in this city?
Do you know where to look to find out what is
happening while you are there?
Entertainment is one of those things that changes often,
sometimes even daily.
If you are in New
York or London, you might want to take in a play.
Do you know where to get the best price for a
play for that night?
If you are in a
city that is famous for its music or its dance, then you might want to go see
that.
But where do you go, and how do
you make reservations?
You can always book through a tour group that will pick you
up and take you with a group, to a typical tourist spot that has
entertainment.
But is that the way you
really want to go, or would you prefer to go where the locals go, and see
something more authentic?
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| Tourist office in Paris |
There are several options for you.
The first places to check are your hotel
concierge, and the local tourist office.
I always look for an entertainment guide or a tourist guide.
These quite often have suggestions and
sometimes even discount coupons to places that are local.
Yes, they may be places where mostly tourists
go, but they are better than going with a tour group and being shuffled into a
place as part of a group.
Quite often
though these guides just have local venues for things that are going on in the
city, and they are not necessarily only aimed at tourists.
They advertise local bars that have the local
music and dance, or plays and concerts that are currently being staged.
The other thing to do is to strike up a conversation with
some locals.
If you are in a foreign
country, this can be challenging if you do not speak the language.
Always learn a few basic sentences in the
language of the country you are visiting.
Learn things like greetings and certainly how to say, “do you speak
English?”
Once you have found someone
that does speak English, then find out what they would suggest as a place to go
for entertainment in the evening.
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Half-Priced ticket booth in
Leicester Square, London |
If you are planning on attending a play or concert, find out
if there are any discount places that sell “day of show” tickets at a
discount.
Quite often if you purchase
last minute tickets through your concierge or at the window, you will pay full
price, but there are often discount places which sell tickets for that days
shows at a discount.
As an example, in
New York City there is a half-price ticket booth in Times Square.
In London the half-price booth is in
Leiscester Square.
Even here in San
Diego there is a half-price booth in the downtown area.
I would imagine that most major cities in the
states have this available.
Anything
that is not sold out is usually available at a discount.
You may have to stand in line for an hour,
but I’ve never had to wait longer than that, and the discount was worth the wait.
Besides, while standing in line you can talk
to others and do some people watching.
Going out to see local
entertainment in a city you are visiting is part of the adventure and part of
getting to know the culture of that area.
It is also, just fun. So be
adventuresome.
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