🌆 City Traveler Types — Part Six
Different reasons, different ways to experience a city
Not everyone comes to a city for the same reason.
Some arrive to learn something specific. Others return again and again. Some choose a city because the train stops right in the centre. Others come because family lives there.
In the City Traveler Types series, I describe different ways people move through cities. Not to label travelers, but to show how motivation shapes the experience.
Most travelers don’t fit into just one type.
You might recognise yourself in one style on your first visit — and in a completely different one the next time you return. Or you may see parts of yourself in several types at once.
So as you read this part, ask yourself:
Which city traveler type feels familiar?
And which one surprises you?
Jump to a city traveler type
🧠 Learning-Driven City Traveler
🚆 Train-First City Traveler
🌿 Seasonal City Traveler
🔁 Repeat City Visitor
🏠 Visiting-Family City Traveler
🧠 The Learning-Driven City Traveler
Travels to understand a city, not just to see it.
The Learning-Driven City Traveler chooses a city because there is something to learn. This can be history, architecture, language, art, or a specific topic that connects to personal interests. The city is a classroom — informal, open, and lived-in.
This traveler looks for context. They enjoy explanations, background stories, and places where knowledge is shared. Museums matter, but so do lectures, workshops, small exhibitions, and places where locals exchange ideas.
Learning-Driven travelers often move slower. They pause to read, listen, and connect information. A good explanation can be more memorable than a long list of sights.
🧭 Travel ideas for the Learning-Driven City Traveler:
- Visit city museums with strong local focus, not only famous highlights
- Look for lectures, talks, or workshops at universities, cultural centres, or libraries
- Join architecture walks, history walks, or themed neighbourhood tours
- Spend time in bookshops, museum cafés, or cultural hubs where people read, study, or discuss
- Allow time to sit, read, and reflect — learning needs space
🎒 Travelglaze Tip
If learning is your main reason to travel, look at organisations that specialise in educational travel for adults. Platforms like Road Scholar focus on city trips built around lectures, expert-led walks, and cultural context — often designed for experienced, curious travelers rather than students.
Even if you don’t book with them, their itineraries are useful inspiration for structuring a learning-driven city trip on your own.
🚆 The Train-First City Traveler
Chooses cities that work well by rail.
The Train-First City Traveler starts planning with the rail network. Cities are chosen because they are easy to reach by train, well connected to other places, or located on a logical route.
This traveler experiences cities from the moment they arrive. Stations often sit close to everyday neighbourhoods, public transport, and walkable streets. The city unfolds naturally, without the need to “enter” it first.
Train-first travel also encourages flexibility. A good connection can turn an unexpected stop into a longer stay. Smaller cities become realistic options, simply because they fit well into the route.
For this traveler, the journey and the city are linked. Planning focuses on flow, timing, and continuity — not on ticking off destinations.
🧭 Travel ideas for the Train-First City Traveler:
Choose accommodation within walking distance of a main or secondary station
Use well-connected cities as bases for regional day trips
Explore neighbourhoods around stations, not only historic centres
Travel during daytime to experience the landscape along the route
Plan fewer moves and stay longer in each place
🎒 Travelglaze Tip:
To understand how cities connect by train worldwide, start with route-based planners instead of national rail sites. Platforms like Rome2Rio and Omio show how cities link together by rail, often combined with buses or ferries.
They are especially useful for Train-First travelers because they focus on connections, travel time, and arrival points — not on countries or operators.
🧠 Fun fact:
Rail travel became a form of tourism in the 19th century, starting in the United Kingdom. Early train excursions allowed people to visit cities for a day or weekend — something that was impossible before railways connected urban centres. Train tourism shaped the idea of the city trip long before modern travel existed.
🌿 The Seasonal City Traveler
Chooses when to visit before choosing where.
The Seasonal City Traveler plans a city trip around timing. Not to avoid crowds at all costs, but to experience a city in a specific phase of the year. Light, temperature, local rhythm, and seasonal events shape the decision.
This traveler knows that cities change with the seasons. A place that feels busy or overwhelming in summer can feel calm and personal in winter. Parks, cafés, neighbourhoods, and even museums behave differently depending on the month.
🧭 Travel ideas for the Seasonal City Traveler:
Visit cities in shoulder seasons for quieter streets and easier access
Choose winter trips for museums, theatre, and slower daily rhythm
Travel in spring or autumn for markets, local festivals, and outdoor life
Return to the same city in different seasons to notice change
Plan days around daylight hours, not opening times
🎒 Travelglaze Tip:
Seasonal travel works best when you look beyond averages. Instead of searching for “best time to visit”, check what actually changes month by month — light, crowds, events, and daily rhythm.
I use this approach in my guide When to visit Amsterdam, where timing matters more than temperature. The same method works for any city.
🧠 Fun fact — did you know?
Spring doesn’t happen everywhere at the same time. While March to May is spring in Europe and North America, those same months are autumn south of the equator. For city travelers, this means that “spring cities” appear in different parts of the world at different times— from café terraces in Paris to autumn street life in Buenos Aires.
🔁 The Repeat City Visitor
Returns to the same city — but never the same trip.
The Repeat City Visitor comes back to a city more than once. Not because there is nothing new to see, but because the city allows for return. Familiar streets, favourite cafés, and known routes create ease — and space to go deeper.
This traveler doesn’t feel pressure to “do it all”. Highlights are already known, skipped, or revisited on purpose. Attention shifts to neighbourhoods, routines, and small changes since the last visit. A new café. A different season. A street that suddenly feels familiar.
Repeat visits change how you use a city. You already know the basics — how public transport works, where areas begin and end, what distances feel like. That frees up time and attention. You move more directly and waste less energy on decisions.
🧭 Travel ideas for the Repeat City Visitor:
Stay in a different neighbourhood each time to change perspective
Travel in a different season than before
Build days around routines instead of sights
Use the city as a base, not a checklist
🎒 Travelglaze Tip:
Before a repeat visit, open Google Maps and look at places you already saved from earlier trips. Remove what no longer interests you and add new areas you’ve never explored.
🧠 Fun fact:
Repeat city visitors often start recognising — and being recognised by — local café or shop owners. Coming back to the same places turns quick stops into small conversations, and sometimes into real friendships.
🏠 The Visiting-Family City Traveler
Visits family in another city.
The Visiting-Family City Traveler doesn’t choose a city for highlights or atmosphere. The reason is personal: family lives there. The city becomes the setting, not the goal.
This traveler experiences cities differently. Days are shaped by routines, visits, and shared time. Supermarkets, neighbourhood cafés, playgrounds, local bakeries, and everyday streets matter more than museums or landmarks.
Sightseeing happens in between. Sometimes with family, sometimes alone. Often in places tourists rarely go — residential areas, local markets, short walks close to home. The city feels less curated and more lived-in.
These visits are often repeated over years. Each stay adds another layer. The city grows alongside personal life.
Travel ideas for the Visiting-Family City Traveler:
Stay close to family instead of the city centre
Explore the neighbourhood on foot to understand daily life
Visit local markets, bakeries, and cafés together
Plan short solo walks to balance social time
Let family decide the pace of the day
🎒 Travelglaze Tip:
Family life continues as usual, even when you visit. Plan one or two short activities on your own — a walk, a café, a museum nearby — so everyone has space. These small breaks often make shared time more relaxed and enjoyable.
🧠 Fun fact — did you know?
In travel research, this type of trip is often called VFR travel, short for Visiting Friends and Relatives. It describes travel where seeing family or friends is the main reason for going — not sightseeing or holidays.
VFR travel is one of the most common reasons people travel internationally, and often leads to repeated visits to the same city over many years.
in some studies, over 60 % of air travelers report going overseas mainly to see family or friends, often once or twice a year.
Final Thoughts
There isn’t one right way to experience a city.
Some trips start with curiosity, others with convenience, routine, or personal ties. You might arrive to learn, return because a place feels familiar, travel by train because it makes sense, or visit simply because family lives there.
These city traveler types don’t replace each other. They sit next to each other — and often overlap. The same city can feel completely different.
Across the City Traveler Types series, each part adds another lens. Not to define how you should travel, but to help you recognise what works for you.
If you want to explore all city traveler types in one place, you’ll find them gathered on the main City Traveler Types page.
Because cities stay the same.
But how we experience them does not.
And as you read through them, ask yourself:
Which type fits your next city trip best — and which one surprised you?
