Quiz Result: Cultural Immersion [Where To Travel Next]

instructor showing fresco paintings during a fresco art class — Taking a fresco workshop in Florence

The best type of trip for you is one where you can immerse yourself in the local culture! You love to gain a deeper understanding of the destinations you visit, including their history, language, customs, and cuisine.

Keep reading for tips on how to book these types of trips as well as suggestions for unique culturally immersive travel experiences to have!

Note that this page contains links to relevant content from my blogs Jessie on a Journey and Epicure & Culture. Additionally, it contains affiliate links to trusted partners I think you’ll love, which means if a booking is made I earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Tips For Booking Culturally Immersive Trips

1) Start with an aspect of culture you love to explore and build out your trip from there. For example, if you love to focus on food when you travel, consider a destination like Mexico or France—both of which offer cuisines that UNESCO designates as cultural treasures.

From there, create an itinerary that features locally-owned restaurants, food tours, cooking classes, hotels with top-notch food programming, and more. Mexico City also has an amazing art scene.

Not sure where to start?

Consider watching documentaries and reading books about places you’re curious about. This will help you discover aspects of the culture and history that you may want to explore deeper.

2) Consider a homestay over a hotel. Platforms like Homestay.com make it easy to find these, as does CouchSurfing—though with the latter double-check the type of accommodation it is, as you’ll sometimes have a room while other times it will be a couch (for free!).

If you’re a female traveler, you can also check out Her House, which is like CouchSurfing for women and also offers housesitting and home swapping.

3) Use tour companies known for their culturally-immersive offerings. An additional bonus is that having a guide allows you to learn about a place from a local’s perspective. Personally, I’m a fan of:

EatWith. This platform helps you find opportunities to dine in local homes and attend cooking classes and tours led by locals.
League of Kitchens. If you’re visiting New York, you can take immersive cooking and culture classes in the homes of women from around the world.
Context Travel. This company offers tours and experiences led by true experts.
Airbnb Experiences. These experiences are created and led by locals. I’ve gotten to do and see some truly unique things through this platform, like hiking to a secret waterfall in Puerto Rico far away from touristy Old San Juan.
WithLocals. Book private experiences created and hosted by locals, or have a local create something custom for you.

Popular booking platforms like Viator, GetYourGuide, and Klook also have specific lists of culture-focused tours for each of their many destinations.

4) Aim to have deeper conversations with locals. Here are some tips for meeting and connecting with locals while traveling, though I want to stress the power of learning the local language, even if it’s just the basics. At the very least, have Google Translate downloaded so you can communicate.

5) Visit places that are less frequented by tourists for a more authentic experience. A few of my top picks for this include Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and Bhutan.