In recent years, tourism has changed: Many Tourists are not satisfied with traditional mass tourism any more. People want to experience the local life as it is, not how mass tourism companies masquerade it. The best way to make deep local experiences is to meet a local. Only they know their city best. This article points out how to get in touch with a local friend to get to know the local culture.

So how to avoid the tourist traps? How to know the real local culture?

The best thing is to get in touch with a local. People who live in the destination know their place inside out. That's why only locals can provide you with local activities that are REAL, things to do that don't appear in any travel guide.

If you don't want to stay at a hotel you can use couchsurfing. On this platform locals offer their couch for travellers. It's a good way to get in contact with locals and to see also how they live. Unfortunately most of the couchsurfers are young. And maybe you don't want to miss a certain kind of comfort. So how can you also get in contact with open minded locals without using couchsurfing and without staying at their home?

Just a few days before I found LocalGuiding.com, for me the best way to get in touch with a local but still be independent. LocalGuiding.com is a new online platform who connects travelers with locals. Each local tour guide has his own profile full of information about her personality, her education and much more. Moreover they give local advice and write travel tips to demonstrate their expertise. So you get to know the tour guide more personally before meeting in person. You can browse the different local guides and then contact the guide which suits best to you.

Besides you'll find also a list of things to do, tours and activities what the local tour guide is offering. To know if you can trust them LocalGuiding provides reviews from clients who have already experienced the tour. As reviews are based on first-hand experiences these comments are independent from any commercial interest.

I think this is a great idea - and it's also social. I can contact the local directly, so there are no middlemen in between. So it's guaranteed that the local tour guide gets a fair price for his efforts. Besides a convenient side effect is that the prices are lower than what you normally pay at your travel agency, due to the fact that you don't pay a commission to travel agencies and other middlemen.