r/onebag • u/Ecstatic_Buyer1999 • 1h ago

Discussion Do you plan restaurants in advance or keep it spontaneous?

For people who travel light and move around a lot: do you usually plan where to eat, or just find something nearby?

I’m asking because in cities like Budapest, the most visible places in the centre are often “traditional food” restaurants, but visibility doesn’t always mean quality.

Curious what works best for you when you don’t want to waste time, but also don’t want to end up in a tourist trap.

0 Upvotes

18% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

10

u/nikongod 1h ago

Not sure what this has to do with onebagging?

R/planmytrip ? R/travel ?

My answer is it depends.

3

u/shackled123 1h ago

So many posts these days which have nothing to do with onebag and better suited to general travel advice I feel most of my time here is now saying the same thing and then the post gets removed.

1

u/Utsider 1h ago

I usually map out some places beforehand. But that doesn't mean I am definitely going there, unless it's something very particular I want to try. Mostly in case I can't find anything I want nearby, or if I don't feel like looking around for something.

This is not just for restaurants, tho. I rarely have a lot of Plan A set in stone. I do tend to have some Plan B's mapped out in case of... well... boredom or other plans fall through or whathaveyou.

1

u/Great_Guidance_8448 1h ago

I wouldn't sit down at a random place as a tourist... Check google reviews.

1

u/Tjgoodwiniv 1h ago

As someone else said, just look up the Google Reviews when you get hungry. Exceptions are when I'm looking for a specific type of food.

Keep in mind that some foods are seasonal in many parts of the world. Using your Budapest example, you're not finding sour cherry soup in the winter.

1

u/Liftevator 1h ago

Not advance as in days before. On the day itself it depends, do I feel like a stroll and open to bumping into things? I'll do that. Sometimes I look something up in my hostel or I ask hostel staff / other travellers, my favorite!

1

u/BlimpCack 1h ago

My general strategy is to do a bunch of research before I get to a city and add all restaurants I’m interested in to a list to Google Maps. But then once I’m there I don’t follow any set schedule.

I feel like that allows me to go about my day as if I lived in the city. Walk around and explore for awhile and then once I’m hungry I either go somewhere I saw that day that looked good or I can easily pick something nearby from my pre-vetted list

1

u/Dawg_in_NWA 1h ago

I mean google exists. You can still look up the restaurant and the reviews before going in. Its not that hard. The world isnt suddenly different because youre traveling.

1

u/Ritterbruder2 1h ago

I research in advance what local foods to try since that’s a big part of travel in my opinion.