The secret to uncovering the soul of the world's great cities

If you had to give advice to a friend who’s never been to your city, on how best to enjoy it as a tourist, what would you say? Yes, you could rattle off the sites and landmarks for which your hometown is famous, but said friend can find all that with a simple Google search, or by way of an old-school guidebook.

No, what they want is to spend the weekend in the life of a local, absorbing the soul of the city, feeling what it would be like to truly reside there. That’s why they asked you, not Google. So we interrogated our experts, many of whom live in some of the most popular cities around the world, what activity they’d recommend were they forced to choose just one.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, pastimes that revolve around eating and drinking proved particularly popular. After all, it’s how city-dwellers tend to congregate and enjoy life when they’re not at work. But you have to know where to go and at what time, of course, which differs from place to place. We had some unexpected suggestions, too (churches, bookshops and a commuter ferry being at the beating heart of one city). So without further ado, in alphabetical order, here’s how to swerve yourself off the tourist route and get under the skin of 19 famous destinations.

Amsterdam

“The direct route to getting in touch with Amsterdammers would be over a beer - in a flute-like fluitje, or a tumbler-sized vaas - at a ‘brown café’,” our expert Rodney Bolt told us. “These are simple, no-nonsense bars which owe their nickname from the past aeons of tobacco smoke that has stained the walls and ceilings, and general preponderance of wood, as well as - in some of the most traditional ones - barrels along the wall.”

The best way to strike up conversation with a local? Talk loudly about the Ajax football team, or rant about there being too many tourists cluttering the streets, apparently, deftly waving the hypocrisy aside. You can find Bolt’s Amsterdam guide here.

Belfast

Here’s a bit of a niche one: spend the day in a taxi. Not to get from place to place, but to mainly to talk to its driver on a Belfast Black Cab tour. 

“These offbeat 90-minute tours in traditional black taxis include the Catholic Falls Road and Protestant Shankill Road, the wall murals, the so-called Peace Walls keeping Protestants and Catholics apart, the docks and the university area,” Geoff Hill tells us. “The driver - like taxi drivers everywhere - will undoubtedly have his own pithy views on where it all went wrong, and how to put it right.” Free collection from anywhere in city (00 44 79909 55227; belfastblackcabtours.co.uk).

Buenos Aires

“Bars, bookshops, or both,” Chris Moss states, and if you’re a literary fan, you’re in the right place. The best way to get to its core, according to Moss? A self-guided tour driven by a dead author.

“Jorge Luis Borges is Argentina's best-known writer. His early poems captured the spirit of 19th-century Buenos Aires and his fables and stories reflect, in complex ways, the changing fortunes and troubled psyches of porteños,” he writes. “Invest in a volume of poems and one of the collections of stories and read them as you tour the 'Sur' or 'southside' of the city, the Bajo district along Alem and Paseo Colón – and Palermo, where Borges lived as a young man.”

See here for the rest of our expert’s suggestions.

Cape Town

Telegraph readers voted this South African gem as their favourite city in the world for five years running at the 2017 Telegraph Travel Awards. With museums, beaches, vineyards and a whopping great mountain watching over it, the array of things to do here is nothing short of baffling. 

But our expert Pippa de Bruyn had to choose one. “I think the best place to get under the skin of Cape Town is to stroll or cycle the length of its Promenade, particularly on summer evenings when the sun makes its descent directly into the ocean that hugs the broad paved contour path,” she says.

“It follows the coastline from Bantry Bay to Mouille Point, with the Atlantic ocean to the west and an expanse of grass dotted with playparks to the east. It also encompasses the city’s best municipal pool - the photogenic Sea Point Pavillion swimming pool, built right on the edge of the sea, as well as one of the city’s historic lighthouses, a putt-putt course and several art installations.

She adds: “It’s one of the few places in the city that attracts a mix of class, race, age - a rare shared communal space in this spatially-divided city. One of the annual highlights is to be here over Eid when the Crescent Observer Society, known as the maankykers (moon watchers), gather with hundreds of Muslim families at Three Anchor Bay in Sea Point to engage in prayer and watch out for the new moon. Once the moon is observed, they will break their fast on the Sea Point Promenade - it’s the most fabulous atmosphere and even if you are not Muslim you can’t help but be affected by the atmosphere of joy as Muslims celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan on the lawns lining the Promenade.

“It takes about an hour to walk from Mouille Point (near the Waterfront) to Sea Point. From Sea Point you can continue walking to Camps Bay and Clifton, the city’s prettiest beaches, along the pavement lining Victoria Road - here the views are even better, and it will only take another hour.”

Dubai

Locals and tourists alike spend a lot of time in Dubai’s shopping malls, but that’s not for everyone. According to our expert Sarah Hedley Hymers: “If you want to get to know Dubai, brunch is a probably the best place to start.”

She elaborates: “At a Latin-themed brunch this weekend, I watched modestly abaya-clad Emirati ladies take out their mobile phones to film curvaceous South American passistas performing the samba in feathered headdresses and sequined bikinis.

“Brunching has been taken to another level in Dubai and it presents an opportunity to mingle with all the emirate’s various communities. Friday brunch is the equivalent of a Friday night out in the UK. There are also night brunches on weekdays, no matter that brunch is a portmanteau that sets it at time between breakfast and lunch.

“Saturday brunches are more sedate and most like the international interpretation of brunch, while special brunches, for occasions such as Christmas, Diwali, Eid and the like, are eye-popping examples of Dubai excess.”

Florence

The city is known for fine art, but for something a little different you can embark on a tour of its street art. Or else try one of Florence’s best-kept secrets: a rafting excursion. “Boats are synonymous with that other great Renaissance city, but, bar a few local rowers, the Tuscan capital’s river is fairly deserted, making a journey along it the perfect way to unwind after negotiating the scrum of tourists in the Uffizi,” says Telegraph Travel’s Oliver Smith.

Guided by a spirited local named Marco, Smith’s rafting adventure through Florence ended thusly: “It was between Ponte Santa Trinita and its better-known neighbour that we stopped for our well earned aperitivo, hemmed in on all sides by history – but not by other tourists. We gazed up at the Ponte Vecchio, where a flustered, sunburned sightseer looked down, jealously no doubt, at our idyllic picnic spot. We gazed up, glass in hand and buffeted by the cooling breeze, smug in the knowledge that we’d uncovered a Florentine secret.”

Istanbul

“One of the very best ways to get a real insight into the vibrant metropolis of Istanbul is to hop aboard one of the multitude of ferries Istanbulites use as readily as Londoners use the tube,” says our expert Terry Richardson. “Join commuters zig zagging their way across Bosphorus strait, or head up the curving inlet of the Golden Horn: with its gaggles of devout, head-scarved women intent on paying their respects at one of the holiest shrines in Islam, that of the standard bearer of the Prophet, Ayub Ansar, in Eyup.

“Sundays see Istanbulites in their droves boarding ferries sailing south to picnic on the Princes' Isles in the Sea of Marmara, or ploughing north up the Bosphorus for a fish lunch in the Asian shore fishing village of Anadolu Hisar. Life aboard an Istanbul ferry, no matter how short the trip, is a microcosm of the city itself. Vendors hawk the ubiquitous tulip-shaped glasses of tea, the sesame coated 'simit' bread ring and, in winter, the milky powdered orchid root drink 'sahlep'. A wake of greedy gulls is inevitable, the sight of dolphins breaking the surface not uncommon. Just keep your wits about you - miss your stop and you just might end up in Asia by mistake.”

London

As a (mostly) lifelong resident, for yours truly, it has to be pubs. No-one where else in the world do they exist in their proper form. We did invent them, after all, and they’ve long been woven deeply into the culture of Britain and Ireland. 17th-century diarist Samuel Pepys once described the pub (or ‘public house’, from which the term derives) as being “the heart of England”, and London boasts among the most historic. Our Travel News Editor Hugh Morris recently partook in the London Literary Pub Crawl, and concluded that it would indeed be a great way for a first-timer to get under the skin of our city.

Oliver Smith, despite his penchant for writing about London’s history (its pubs included), would instead suggest a picnic at one of our many parks; London Fields, Regent’s Park and Green Park being three of his go-tos. Hate picnics? You’re are not alone.

Los Angeles

You won’t be having a genuine LA experience traipsing the Hollywood Boulevard - locals hate that place. Your best bet is to join the legions of overtly-healthy natives, grab yourself a green juice at any Beverly Hills lunch spot, then go for a hike up Runyon Canyon, where you’re more than likely to bump into a movie star or two - jogging aggressively, not walking, of course.

Alternatively, as our expert Luciana Bellini suggests: “I would probably recommend discovering the city and the locals through its weird and wonderful exercise classes, from the urban sweat lodge that is Shape House, favoured by the Kardashians; to the butt-focused Bunda classes; meditation studio at Unplugged; or Studio Lagree, the Duchess of Sussex's workout temple of choice in the times when she was plain old Meghan Markle.”

Basically, find yourself some exercise. If boozing is more your thing, you’ll find a selection of Hollywood’s finest characters lingering at Chateau Marmont most nights - the only catch being that it’s nigh impossible to get your name on list unless you know someone of high importance. Which is why it’s probably the most un-touristy spot you’ll find anywhere in LA.

Melbourne

Now here’s a place that likes its caffeine. “Melbournites have become somewhat snobby about their coffee - and they're not afraid to admit it,” says former native and Telegraph writer Penny Walker. “Away from the block streets of the CBD, in cafés all over Richmond, South Yarra, Carlton and Fitzroy, you'll find locals judging coffee and arguing about where to find the city's finest.

“At weekends, by around 11am you’ll find these little places packed with people decked out in their athletic wear (having done approximately zero exercise) tucking into avocado on sourdough with a healthy smoothie to wash it all down.”

Oliver Smith concurs. “Coffee and brunch in the laneways,” he says. And Telegraph Travel’s Ben Parker adds: “For Melbourne, my old stomping ground, I'd suggest dining at long communal tables; after 9pm, at non-reservation restaurants in the CBD; or generally at the ever-increasing hipster burger joints. Oh, and find yourself a 'hotel' (by which Australians mean ‘pub’) and order a chicken parmi.”

Mumbai

“The best way to get under the skin of Mumbai, in my view, is with a specialist tour called Mumbai by Dawn,” proposes Pippa de Bruyn. “The guides, like many of the Mumbaikers you encounter on this tour, are mostly moonlighting - everyone has to hustle here with two or three jobs - my guide was actually an engineer and would be arriving a bit late for work!

“You start at the docks at 5/5.30am - a teeming fish market that is just surreal, with tall beautiful women balancing baskets on their heads (they head off to their respective hoods to sell), men with wheelbarrows barrelling between boats and various auctions happening on the spot. Then move on to the pavements where all the newspaper-wallahs are cutting and sorting the papers they will be delivering, then it’s off to the chicken market, the fruit and veg market, the herb market and the flower market. Finish by having a late breakfast at a traditional cafe eating the dishes that you will only find in Mumbai.”

New York

You’ll get a different answer on this one from almost every New Yorker to whom you pose the question. Our cruise editor Teresa Machan suggests a stroll along the High Line. Having lived there myself for five years, I’d argue this one of the city’s more overrated attractions, and would instead suggest spending the day criss-crossing the length of Central Park, amid locals (and their dogs) galore.

You won’t find many cities in the world with such a giant slab of green at its heart, and as a result, you’ll be passing the many neighbourhood pockets at its borders to dip in and out of as you please. Go at any time of year - each season casts its own spell over this park.

Paris

I was looking for something less obvious for this one, but got the same answer from everyone I asked: cafés.

“Nowhere is better for soaking up Parisian atmosphere,” insists our expert Hannah Meltzer. “Order a café crème or a glass of house red and settle in for some people-watching. Try the Place de la Contrescarpe in the Latin Quarter, Place des Vosges in the Marais or pull up a chair at one of the many pavement-side terraces that line Canal Saint-Martin.”

That’s that then. And true, cafés are a great way to meet locals anywhere you go. Here’s our guide to the best 50 in the world.

Porto

“Porto isn’t big on honey-pot, sightseeing must-sees. It’s a city for pottering, a place for placidly passing the time,” writes our expert Oliver Balch in his city guide. Yes, there are the numerous port wine cellars which encapsulate Porto by its very name, but when pressed on the one single best sort of venue to tour, drinking holes didn’t win out.

“I’d argue that the bookshops - and books in general - provide a great way into understanding more about the city, its history and what makes Portuenses tick,” he surmises.

Rio de Janeiro

“In Rio it really has to be the beaches, and the different tribal groups who pack the sands from Copacabana to Ipanema and beyond,” reckons our expert Doug Gray. “All of Rio life is here, like-minded souls loosely grouped together but equally where retired footballers and soap stars will park up a deck chair next to students and office workers. People flock from the suburbs and favelas just as they do from the chic penthouses of Leblon, mixing it thanks to their shared love of this idyllic public space and the sun that blesses it.

“Every kilometre or so the lifeguard towers (postos) now unwittingly denote cultural landmarks; the space just ahead of posto 8 is decorated with the LGBT crowd’s rainbow flags, around posto 9 the young and beautiful mingle, while up nearer posto 12 is family time.

“Wherever you find yourself, however, you will bear witness to the incredible cross section of society and the epitome of the Rio lifestyle, where people ask you to watch their bag while they swim and hawkers sell everything from caipirinhas and grilled cheese to newspapers and sarongs.” You can read more of Gray’s suggestions here.

Seville

If you want a thorough tour of Seville, Fiona Flores-Watson’s guide has stacks of options. But if you really want to entrench yourself with the locals, she advises looking for a certain type of drinking hole.

“Bars with strip lighting, metal beer barrels, tiled floors covered in small scrumpled-up paper napkins, with a TV on the wall showing a football match, with its clientele a cross-section of generations, from kids and teens to adults and the elderly,” she states.

“That’s the soul of any Spanish town or city, including Seville. Not remotely aimed at, or interested in tourists, but probably stocked with really ice-cold beer and fabulous home-cooked stews; and specials on a blackboard, with an outside terrace scattered with tables and chairs. Unpretentious, not remotely chic, good food, friendly service. That’s the heart of its community, where life happens.”

Singapore

“The sparkling streets of Singapore city centre may be clean enough to eat your dinner off, but this leads to an atmosphere that comes off as fairly sterile. Here, it’s all suited business types, while nearby Sentosa Island just feels a theme park,” says Penny Walker.

“If you really want to get under the skin of this city, head to the areas that offer a touch more diversity - and less mainstream amenities. Little India is a great example of this. Here, an eclectic mix of cultures mingles to produce some fascinating street life. Just walking around here will teach you more in five minutes than three days spent in the CBD.”

Sydney

Yes, the Opera House is worthy of admiration, but once you’ve ticked that off, according to Penny Walker, head for the shore. “If there's one thing that the people of Sydney love, it’s a day at the beach,” she says. “With plenty to choose from, this is where most Sydney-siders do their bonding - whether that’s catching a wave, soaking in some rays or tucking into a snack cooked on one of the many free BBQs.

“It’s worth staying away from popular Bondi and Manly if you want to mingle with locals. Instead head to Nielsen Park, Bronte (home to one of the city’s finest sea pools) or Shelly beach.”

Vienna

Our Vienna expert Barbara Cacao is torn between brunch, or a visit to a winery as being the best way to absorb the local culture, so we just let her have both.

“The Viennese love to brunch,” she says. “In order to catch them in their natural habitat, seek out a popular neighbourhood café, such as Café Hummel in Josefstadt, Café Ansari in Leopoldstadt, or Salettl pavillon in Doebling, on a weekend. Favourite feed times for this cultural happening are between 10am and noon. Do join in with a traditional butter and honey roll, soft egg and Melange coffee.

“Alternatively, to uncork the Viennese soul, head for a Heuriger (winery). Since Vienna has been growing its own wine for centuries, grape juice matters in local culture. A Heuriger, for example, is a popular lunch destination for locals hiking or biking through the Vienna Woods. To get off the beaten tourist path, take the tramway out to Stammersdorf and Jedlersdorf, or the train to Renaissance vintner village of Gumpoldskirchen in the South.”

Any other tips?

Generally speaking, wherever you go, we’ve got a few more words of wisdom from our well-travelled, very opinionated aficionado, Anthony Peregrine, currently France-based.

“If you want to get under the skin of a city, I’m all in favour of visiting a pub or a cafe,” he reasons. “But I wonder if that’s enough. You’ll still be the visitor, the locals will be locals – and they’ll not necessarily want to speak to you, any more than locals in York want to speak to Austrian tourists. Locals will likely be with their own friends and have their own concerns.

“My thing is to try to get involved in an activity. This may be a village festival, an opera festival or soccer match – anything which indicates a shared interest beyond the fact that you’re a tourist. Theatre shows or culture fests give you an opening subject of conversation when you’re in the bar afterwards.

“And failing that – if there’s nothing much scheduled in the locality - then go to the local church – not simply for a visit but for a service. Whether you’re a believer or not (I’m not) this is invariably tranquil and relaxing and, when the service is done and congregation flows out, you hang around and there’s always someone who will have spotted you and who comes across to talk. That’s the great thing about the faithful; they’re very often  kind and open. It’s worked for me on many occasions – and led to one or two... well, not quite friendships, but good acquaintanceships.”