Before Visiting a City, Read Its Subreddit.
Every major American city has an active Reddit forum , as do many cities around the world. And if you are planning to visit any of these cities, you can get loads of travel tips without even asking by digging through the archives.
The culture of each of these subreddits is different; some welcome questions such as “What is a restaurant with a great view?” some don’t. But for any of them, you will find existing questions and answers. Here’s what to check on each subreddit:
- In the default view, “hot”, you will see what is being said in the city and how often the weather has been in the past few days. You will also see how active the subreddit is: very active ones will receive all hot messages in the last few hours, while less active subscriptions may have messages from a month ago on the main page. The more active the subreddit, the faster you will receive comments if you post something new.
- While still on the main subreddit page, click the “top” tag to see the most popular posts for a given period of time. In the “all time” section, you will see a lot of photos at the top, and then additional useful information. See the Last Week section for more local news. Look for popular posts asking for travel information. Since people are asking the same questions over and over in these subreddits, you need to find the time that most people have answered.
- The right sidebar often links to particularly good posts, especially visitor advice posts. It can also link to external sources and other subreddits for visitors. Since most of these subreddits are aimed primarily at locals, the moderators want to help visitors without interfering with local discussions. You will also find the submission rules here, so always check the sidebar before creating a new post.
- If you are exploring a large city, there may be a more specific subreddit for your situation. Google the city name plus “subreddit” and check the sidebars to find additional links. New York has / r / nyc , / r / AskNYC , / r / nycpics , / r / newyorkcity (a smaller alternative for locals), a submarine for every borough ( Bronx , Brooklyn , Manhattan , Staten Island and Queens ), subcontractors for areas such as Astoria , underwater boat to ride on a bicycle and two for the metro , the historical submarine , restaurant and opera eyeliner . And we are missing some of them. If you want to post a new question, start with small subscriptions and work your way up.
- Check if there is a wiki subreddit. For example, / r / AskNYC has an extensive wiki page with travel information, guides to finding apartments, restaurant and bar recipes, historical links, and answers to all frequently asked questions. There are 12 links covering only the “hidden gems of New York”.
- If you can’t find the answer to your question after a thorough search and know that you are on a subreddit that accepts travel questions, then go ahead and create a new post, but expect some people to complain anyway. Some locals just want to get angry.
Reddit also has subscriptions for countries and travel styles like / r / irishtourism and / r / roadtrip . Add “Reddit” to all travel searches if you want to hear public opinion.