The perfect guides to live the cities like a local
Goodbye, 'tourist'. The way of traveling is changing. It is no longer worth visiting a city adding check in the list of places to see and taking the mythical photo that all your Instagram contacts have. Now takes the genuine, the experience of truth. The one that you would only have in one place if you lived in it. This was confirmed by Pinterest in its study of travel trends for 2018: searches for 'live like a local' have increased by 146%.
Unknown places, which do not appear in traditional guides and in which you will not find queues, but locals. This is the proposal of alternative publishers who want to help you discover them, also throwing good taste and interesting designs. We collect them.
The 500 Hidden Secrets Guides
1.**WILDSAM FIELD GUIDES**
Can the soul of a city be reflected in a travel book? That was the starting point for Taylor Bruce, founder of Wildsam. “I realized that the type of guide I was looking for when traveling did not exist,” he tells Traveler. "I wanted one that would tell me the stories of the place, that would connect me deeply with a city, its roots and its soul." From this thought and in a New York coffee shop, the concept of Wildsam Field Guides was born.
"Our recommendations don't include the newest or hottest spot, we pick those dive spots that are classic and soulful." They also bet on local narratives: "We include essays by journalists, poets or novelists from the city." And no photos, "we worked with a local artist to illustrate the entire guide and maps," explains Bruce.
Brooklyn, Detroit, Nashville, New Orleans, San Francisco or Los Angeles are some of their destinations (all American). Among the next novelties, "our Denver guide is launched in July and right after we will release one to make a 'roadtrip' through South America".
Wildsam Field Guides
A manageable size, "that has a place on your bedside table or in your pocket" and an aesthetic that its founder defines as "timeless", in which bright and pastel colors abound. “We strive for content that points our readers towards meaningful travel experiences and with the design of our guides we also intend to facilitate them”, says Taylor Bruce.
2.**LOST IN**
slow travel it's here. “The desire to take more time to discover cities like a local responds to a need for authenticity of this generation”, speaks Anja Simona, Deputy Editor of LOST iN, from Berlin. “We prefer to acquire experiences rather than goods, to get closer to the essence. A much more respectful, conscious and pleasant way of knowing the world”.
To achieve this, they have decided that the locals themselves should tell about it in their guides. Generally, well-known characters in the city: “It's not the same as us telling you where to find the best schnitzel or being recommended by the chef who owns a Michelin-starred restaurant. He gives it a personal touch that brings the reader closer to the spirit of him”, explains Anja.
Beyond the specific recommendations, such as where to eat (and what to order off the menu) or where to find local brand stores, feature “extra editorial elements, such as original stories by celebrated writers (Banana Yoshimoto or Samanta Schweblin, among them), journalistic reports and photo essays by local artists . It appeals to different sensitivities and can be enjoyed much more than a simple tour, it is food for the mind!”.
LOST iN Guide
LOST iN offers paper guides for 19 cities (number 20 is on the way) . Among them, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Ibiza, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, New York, Paris, Stockholm, Tokyo, Warsaw, Vienna and Zurich. “We also have a mobile application with guides for 25 cities, and growing!” says the editor.
3.**THE 500 HIDDEN SECRETS**
The fever of the lists made a guide. The Belgian publisher Luster has created 16 volumes of cities , among which are Havana, Lisbon or Barcelona, and in each of them he has compiled up to 100 lists of five "hidden places" to discover. Sites or events related to food and drink, accommodation, shopping and culture that have nothing to do with tourist hot spots.
The selection is provided again by the locals, you can even do it yourself by contacting them on their website. The only premise is to "get off the beaten path, selecting lesser known places, which have not yet been found by the hordes of tourists." Suggestions that are secret or unknown even to those who live in the city add points.
The 500 Hidden Secrets Guide
4.**WALLPAPER* CITY GUIDES**
Design is everything. These guides to Editorial Phaidon promise a different visit to the city, putting the focus on art, architecture and interior design . “Our strong point is all the original photography , each highlight is illustrated with an image”, explains Jeremy Case CEO of Wallpaper* City Guides.
“We have unique features like fold-out covers with a panoramic photo of the city on the front and a map on the back, and tear-off tabs to make it easier to navigate. in each of the eight chapters,” says Case.
The content of his collection, from 71 cities, reflects that “trend towards authenticity in many fields, such as the local provenance of culinary ingredients, the rediscovery of traditional crafts and the celebration of the local over the ubiquity of global brands and chains ”.
Wallpaper Guide* City Guides
5. CITIX60
Also bringing together the key places of cultural life and design, and betting in each volume on 60 celebrities who live in the city as advisers, the CITIX60 project, by Victory:ary. Discover London thanks to Jamie Oliver or Angus Hyland and New York thanks to the designers Jessica Walsh, Jon Burgerman or Yuko Shimizu.
Among its pages, tricks to get around easily, unusual but unmissable visits and festivals to take into account. In addition to detailed maps and QR codes that provide travel facilities and extra information. And a space for your own creativity , on the back of the guide there is a blank section with pages to take your own notes or sketch as a bullet journal.
CITIX60 Guide