Holidaymakers trying to avoid tourist traps is a bit of an oxymoron. If you want to avoid tourist traps on vacation you firstly need to take the destination into consideration. There is no point going to Orlando, for example, and hoping to avoid other tourists as the whole place is designed for tourists and to make their lives easier (and take their money). Most of the more easily accessible cities and resorts are geared up for the tourist market and you will find fellow tourists unavoidable. Tourism is a big business throughout the world. At best ask local staff in hotels for local restaurants or small, specialist museums or places of interest that attract a local clientele and limited tourists. This is also helpful if you speak the local language, if you don't you may find your options are more limited. The local newspapers may also have this information.

To completely avoid other tourists is going to be impossible in most hotels in any desirable location. You will need to thoroughly research a place and avoid hotels that are featured in the main guidebooks and instead try and find independent home stays or small guest houses that take only a few people at a time. Staying a little way off the beaten track, in residential areas will also mean you support local, independent business rather than the larger corporations. If a place, hotel or attraction has a lot of write ups in books and on the web then you can expect other holidaymakers to have read the same reports and stay in the same places. Having your own transport will make getting to out of the way destinations a lot easier and will at least mean you can plan a visit to a certain place of interest so that you can try to avoid the crowds on the coach trips.

Going to a mainstream destination with a world famous attraction means other tourists are inevitable. These attractions are popular for a reason, so you may just have to bite the bullet if you want to visit these.

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