Fall is the perfect time of year to enjoy walking outside—crisp mornings, cool evenings, and warm sunny days. To change up your routine and usual route of walking around your city, try something new: Take a walking tour of your city and discover places of interest you’ve never ventured to before.
Here’s how to do it like a pro:
Plan Your Route
You don’t need to pay for a guided walking tour—just a few minutes online will yield rich results of cool places to visit locally. Have an open mind as you make a list of things you want to see—let your sense of adventure and curiosity have a voice in selecting venues. If you want to get a bird’s eye view of your city, locate a lookout point—perhaps a popular spot where the tourists go to photograph the city, but you’ve never had the time to visit. For inspiration, follow a local blogger for a curated itinerary of “must-see” places in your city or tips from a travel writer. You could pick a theme—famous writers, artists, or musicians—who lived and worked locally and then pick up their trail. Visit the coffee bars they called home or the museums where their art now hangs. As you walk the streets they walked, try to envision what inspired them.
And think about the time of day—do you want to see what the city looks like at sunrise? Or how the shadows hit the buildings as the sun goes down?
Prepare and Pack Light
Wear comfortable shoes that you can walk in for hours—you may have planned a short walk but find yourself exploring new neighborhoods and lose track of time. Check the weather—bring an umbrella if there’s a chance of rain and a weatherproof market bag that folds into your purse or backpack. You never know what unique items you may come home with after visiting a new bakery, bookstore, or shop you’ve fallen in love with.
Most importantly, bring your camera along to capture the details of architecture, street and park scenes, unique signage, monuments, or anything else that grabs your attention. Looking at your city through a camera lens often gives you a whole new perspective.
Solo or Group? It’s Up to You!
A solo walking tour can be an excellent escape from the chaos of life—it provides a quiet time to relax, refresh, and recharge. And wandering around alone allows you to meet new people and engage in conversations with a stranger that you wouldn’t normally do if you were with a group.
Don’t want to go it alone? Invite your friends and their four-legged fur babies to join you in an afternoon of exploration. You can plan the entire itinerary or have everyone come up with a landmark or place to visit. Walking and talking with your tribe fills the need for friendship and a sense of belonging, a time to laugh, great exercise, and you’re supporting the local economy of neighborhood eateries and shops you’ll undoubtedly pop into.
So make a plan now to get outside and enjoy fall while taking a walking tour of your city.
