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When the Olympic Games turn the world’s attention toward northern Italy this winter, Milan naturally takes centre stage. The city’s design, history, and cultural energy reward unhurried exploration, and for many travellers that time in Milan becomes a highlight in its own right.Once you’ve explored Milan, the surrounding region opens up in compelling ways. Within easy reach are lakes, historic towns, and cultural landmarks that deepen the story of the Lombardy region and place the city within a broader landscape shaped by historical trade, power, and daily life.Here are five rewarding day trips from Milan, each rich in perspective and well suited to travellers inspired by the Winter Games or drawn to the region beyond them. These destinations are often best experienced with a local guide, who adds context, ease, and insight that turns a day out into a more meaningful encounter.1. Lake Garda: A landscape shaped by water, villages, and vineyardsItaly’s largest lake stretches across several regions, blending alpine scenery with a distinctly Mediterranean rhythm. A day trip from Milan offers a chance to experience Lake Garda’s varied character—lakeside towns, open water views, and nearby wine country that reflects centuries of agricultural tradition.Exploring the area with a local guide lets you move easily between highlights while learning how geography, trade, and food culture have shaped life around the lake.Explore the experience with your own local guide: Private Day Trip to Lake Garda with Ferry Ride and Wine Tasting2. Lake Como: Elegant towns and layered historiesLake Como has long drawn writers, artists, and travellers curious about its distinctive blend of natural beauty and architectural ambition. Its shoreline towns, connected by ferries and narrow roads, offer a sense of continuity between past and present, where grand villas sit alongside working harbours.A guided day trip from Milan helps unlock these layers, weaving together local stories, historical context, and a more nuanced understanding of how the lake functions as a living place today.Discover Lake Como on a day out from Milan: Lake Como Day Trip from Milan3. Bergamo: A city shaped by elevation and timeBergamo’s dramatic layout tells its story at a glance. The medieval Città Alta, encircled by Venetian walls, rises above the modern lower city, offering a vivid example of how geography influences urban life. Inside the walls, churches, piazzas, and civic buildings reflect centuries of political and cultural change.With a local guide, Bergamo becomes a conversation between eras, helping you to understand not just what you're seeing today, but why the city developed as it did.Walk through Bergamo’s history: Bergamo Full-Day Tour from Milan4. Monza: Royal ambition just beyond MilanOften associated with modern motorsport, Monza’s deeper story lies in its role as a royal centre. The expansive Royal Villa and surrounding park speak to Lombardy’s 18th- and 19th-century political life, while the historic centre offers a quieter, distinctly local atmosphere.A guided visit places Monza within the broader narrative of Milanese power and influence, revealing why this small city played an outsized role in the region’s history.Step into Monza’s past: Monza Half-Day Trip from Milan5. Pavia & Vigevano: Renaissance vision and everyday lifeSouth of Milan, Pavia and Vigevano offer insight into Lombardy during the Renaissance. The Certosa di Pavia—both monumental and contemplative—reflects the ambitions of the Sforza dynasty, while Vigevano’s harmonious piazza reveals the hand of Renaissance urban planning and the influence of Leonardo da Vinci.A local guide helps connect these sites into a coherent story, linking art, power, and daily life across two closely connected towns.Explore with local insight: The Certosa di Pavia and Vigevano in the Time of Leonardo da VinciWhether you’re planning a journey inspired by this month’s Olympics or simply looking to explore Milan and beyond, these day trips from the city offer a more complete view of northern Italy. Experienced with a local guide, each destination becomes an opportunity to connect with the landscape and towns through story, perspective, and lived experience, providing moments that linger longest after the journey ends.

Considering a cruise through the British Isles this summer and wondering what you might experience once you step ashore?A British Isles cruise brings together a remarkable range of places in a relatively short time, from major cities to remote island communities. Each port reflects its own history, pace of life, and relationship to the surrounding landscape.While time ashore may be limited, it can be deeply rewarding. Exploring on shore with a local guide in England, Ireland or Scotland offers context that’s hard to access on your own, whether that’s understanding how history is felt in daily life, how traditions continue to evolve, or how a place sees itself today.Below is a quick overview of ports commonly included on a British Isles itinerary, with a link to discover shore excursions at each stop. Your local guide will have a wealth of ideas for how best you can spend your time in their part of the world.Southampton (Gateway to London & Southern England)Southampton’s long maritime history makes it a natural starting point for a British Isles cruise, but the real appeal lies just beyond the port. With your local guide, head inland to London’s diversity of neighbourhoods, the cathedral city of Winchester, or the ancient stone circle at Stonehenge. A guided experience helps connect these iconic places to the broader story of England—placing Roman roads, royal power, and modern life into meaningful context.Find your ideal tour in Southampton / LondonPortland or Weymouth, Dorset (Jurassic Coast)The Jurassic Coast is one of England’s most striking natural landscapes, where cliffs and rock formations reveal millions of years of geological history. With a local guide, you’ll see this coastline come to life, whether through scenic walks, fossil-rich beaches, or viewpoints overlooking the English Channel. Tours often balance natural history with insight into the coastal towns that have relied on fishing, shipbuilding, and trade for generations - and of course, a stop for fish and chips.Plan your day in DorsetFalmouth (Cornwall)Cornwall feels distinctly separate from much of England, shaped by its Celtic roots, rugged coastline, and strong local identity. Your local guide can take you to explore colourful fishing villages, historic estates, or dramatic coastal paths overlooking the crashing waves, while also shedding light on Cornwall’s mining past and creative present. You’ll get perspective on how geography, language, and tradition continue to influence everyday life in the region.Find the right tour for you in FalmouthLiverpoolBuilt on trade and migration, Liverpool has a strong sense of identity rooted in its waterfront and communities. A guided visit here highlights maritime history, cultural influence, and everyday life, showing how the city continues to evolve. And of course, it’s the legendary birthplace of the Beatles; fans can walk in the footsteps of the Fab Four with a local Beatles aficionado.Find your ideal tour in LiverpoolDublinDublin rewards travellers who look beyond its most familiar landmarks. With a local guide, visitors can explore literary neighbourhoods, historic districts, and quieter corners of the city, gaining insight into Ireland’s political history, cultural movements, and social change. Many tours also create space to understand modern Dublin—how the city has evolved, and how its past still shapes Irish public life today.Browse tours for your perfect Dublin experienceBelfastBelfast is often a highlight for travellers seeking both natural beauty and historical perspective. In addition to exploring the city itself, many guides will venture with you along the coast to the Giant’s Causeway, where striking basalt columns meet the sea. Local guides also provide thoughtful context around Northern Ireland’s complex recent history, helping visitors understand how Belfast has been shaped by industry, conflict, and renewal.Plan your time on shore in BelfastGreenock (Glasgow & the Clyde)Greenock offers access to both urban Scotland and some of its most evocative landscapes. With a local guide, you might choose to explore Glasgow’s architecture and cultural institutions, visit a whisky distillery, or venture into the Highlands or Loch Lomond. These guided experiences help connect Scotland’s industrial past with its rural traditions and enduring relationship to land and craft.Find your perfect day tour in Greenock / GlasgowInverness (Scottish Highlands)Inverness sits at the edge of the Highlands, where history, landscape, and legend intersect. Your guide can take you on a journey through glens, lochs, and historic battlefields, offering insight into clan history, the Jacobite uprisings, and Highland culture. They’ll provide clarity and balance, grounding the region’s dramatic scenery in lived history and tradition.Plan your day ashore in InvernessKirkwall (Orkney Islands)Orkney offers a rare sense of continuity between ancient and modern life. From Kirkwall, guided tours frequently visit Neolithic sites such as Skara Brae, standing stones, and windswept coastal landscapes. Local guides bring deep knowledge of Orkney’s Norse heritage and island culture, helping travellers understand how community life has adapted to isolation and environment over thousands of years.Link to tours in Kirkwall, OrkneyEdinburgh (Leith or Rosyth)Edinburgh’s appeal lies in its layers: medieval streets, Enlightenment thinking, and contemporary culture existing side by side in almost impossibly charming ways. With a local guide, travellers can explore historic neighbourhoods, political landmarks, or even venture to the surrounding countryside to visit filming locations from Outlander. You’ll gain insight into the city’s literary and intellectual traditions, and discover quieter streets and overlooked details that bring the city into sharper focus.Discover your perfect tour in EdinburghSeeing Each Port More ClearlyA cruise through the British Isles offers breadth; time with a local guide adds depth. By grounding each visit in local knowledge and perspective, shore days become more than brief stops; they become opportunities to understand a place on its own terms.Whether you’re planning your next journey or refining how you like to travel, we hope this offers a thoughtful way to approach the British Isles—one port, and one perspective at a time.

Cruising offers a distinctive way of seeing the world. Life on board is unhurried and seamless, while time in port arrives in concentrated moments: brief, anticipated, and full of possibility. Those hours ashore are where destinations come into focus, transforming a place on the map into something lived and felt.For many travellers, shore excursions become the most vivid part of the journey. They’re where you step into local streets, encounter history firsthand, and experience the daily rhythms of a place, often in just a few precious hours.Seasoned cruisers, however, know that how you spend that time matters as much as where you go. With experience comes perspective: an understanding of port logistics, the realities of crowd movement, and the limitations of large-group excursions. Over time, many cruisers refine their approach and seek experiences that feel calmer, more flexible, and more aligned with their personal interests.That discernment shapes everything that follows.For Seasoned Cruisers, the Difference Is in the DetailsAfter several cruises, many people arrive at the same conclusion: the most rewarding shore experiences are thoughtfully paced, intentionally small, and designed around curiosity rather than the logistics of crowd control.The takeaway? The smartest way to experience a port is to go private.Shore excursions remain one of the most meaningful parts of cruising, but how you spend those hours makes all the difference. With a local guide, time ashore becomes calmer, more focused, and far more memorable: designed around your interests, guided by a local, and free from the constraints of large groups.A More Thoughtful Way to Explore on ShoreWith the private guides you find on ToursByLocals, you’re not navigating a destination as part of a crowd; you’re engaging with it on your own terms.Private shore excursions allow you to move beyond rigid schedules and surface-level highlights. Whether you want to revisit a destination you’ve seen before or explore a specific interest in greater depth, your tour is shaped around what matters most to you.What seasoned cruisers appreciate most:A private, unrushed experience—no waiting for large groupsThe freedom to set the pace and linger when something captures your attentionAn itinerary that reflects your interests, not a standardized routeIt’s a more refined way to explore, one that rewards curiosity and respects your time.Trusted Local Guides Who Elevate the ExperienceAnother learning after multiple cruises? A great guide can change everything.ToursByLocals works with exceptional local guides, carefully selected for their expertise, professionalism, and ability to create engaging, well-paced experiences for discerning travellers.Each guide is thoroughly vetted and understands the realities of cruise travel - from port logistics to timing considerations - while offering insight that goes far beyond a rehearsed script.You’ll be guided by someone who:Lives in the destination and knows it intimatelyAdapts easily to your interests and preferencesValues conversation, context, and genuine connection over a scriptYou’re not just getting sightseeing; you’re getting perspective.Designed for Cruise Schedules, Backed by Peace of MindSeasoned cruisers also know that reliability matters.ToursByLocals shore excursions are designed with cruise schedules firmly in mind. Your guide’s priority is simple: ensuring you return to your ship comfortably and on time. And while disruptions are extremely rare, we believe peace of mind should never be optional:If a ToursByLocals tour should ever cause you to miss your ship, we cover the cost with our Return to Ship Guarantee to reach the next port, including accommodations and meals.If your ship’s itinerary changes and you’re unable to dock, you’ll receive a full refund, no questions asked.We aim to provide you with a level of reassurance that allows you to relax and enjoy the day fully.Support That Matches the Way You TravelTravel comes with surprises, delights, and sometimes challenges. It should always be easy to reach support. ToursByLocals offers 24/7 global customer support, from the early planning stage through to the end of your tour. Wherever your cruise takes you, help is always just a message or call away. Because thoughtful travel includes knowing someone’s looking out for you.When Time on Shore Matters MostFor seasoned cruisers, it’s often the quieter moments ashore that stand out most clearly: a conversation with a local, a deeper understanding of a familiar port, and the freedom to explore without feeling rushed, or to see as much as possible without being held back.A private shore excursion with a local guide turns limited port time into something more intentional, an experience that feels as considered and rewarding as the cruise itself.Whether you’re refining how you explore destinations or simply choosing to travel more deliberately, ToursByLocals offers a way to experience the world on shore with insight, ease, and a lively local perspective.

When was the last time a place revealed itself not through a landmark, but through a meal?Across South East Asia, food is rarely a solitary experience. Meals unfold at shared tables, where dishes arrive all at once, stories travel freely, and flavours reflect generations of migration, trade, and tradition. To eat well here is not simply to taste — it’s to connect.From steamy street stalls to family-run kitchens, South East Asia invites travellers to sit down together and learn a country’s rhythm through what’s served. Here’s what awaits at the table in five unforgettable destinations — and how exploring them with a local guide brings deeper perspective.Vietnam: Balance, Freshness, and Everyday RitualVietnamese cuisine is built on harmony — of texture, temperature, and taste. Meals often feature a careful interplay of fresh herbs, light broths, grilled meats, and rice or noodles, designed to be assembled and shared.At the table, you might enjoy:Phở, aromatic and nuanced, shaped by region and time of dayBún chả, grilled pork served with herbs and dipping sauceFresh spring rolls, wrapped to order and meant to be eaten communallyIn Hanoi especially, food reflects daily life: quick breakfasts at dawn, lingering lunches, and evening gatherings over low stools and conversation. Explore the city’s many unforgettable tastes with local guide Tai.Thailand: Layers of Flavour, Shared with IntentionThai meals are designed for the centre of the table. Sweet, sour, salty, spicy, and bitter notes appear together, inviting diners to explore contrast rather than hierarchy.A typical shared spread may include:Green papaya salad, bright and assertiveTom yum or tom kha gai, soups that balance heat with citrus and herbsRed, yellow and green curries, spooned over rice and passed from plate to plateIn Bangkok, food tells stories of royal kitchens, river trade, and neighbourhood traditions — best understood alongside someone who knows where those threads converge, like long time tour guide Peach, in her local neighbourhood of Bangkrak.Malaysia: A Meeting Point of CulturesMalaysia’s shared tables reflect its multicultural identity. Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Peranakan influences coexist, sometimes within a single meal, creating cuisine that is deeply layered and proudly communal.Look forward to dishes such as:Nasi lemak, rich with coconut rice and anchovy sambalChar kway teow, wok-fried noodles shaped by Chinese heritageRoti canai with dhal or curry, meant to be torn, dipped and sharedIn Penang, food is a living archive of migration and adaptation, best experienced slowly and with context. A tour with Hoo Peng is an unforgettable way to taste your way around this Malaysian foodie city.Singapore: Precision, Heritage, and the Hawker TableSingapore’s food culture thrives in its famed hawker centres: democratic spaces where strangers sit shoulder to shoulder, united by shared appetite and expectation.At the table, you may encounter:Hainanese chicken rice, deceptively simple and deeply exactingLaksa, where spice and coconut milk meetChilli crab, messy, generous, and unmistakably socialEating in Singapore is an act of cultural fluency, and a local guide like Michelle helps decode not just what to eat, but why it matters.Indonesia (the island of Bali): Ceremony, Community, and SpiceIn Indonesia, meals are entwined with ritual and hospitality. Food is often prepared collectively and eaten together, reinforcing bonds between family, neighbours, and guests.Shared dishes may include:Nasi campur, a composed plate of varied flavours and texturesSatay, grilled and served communally with saucesLawar or plecing kangkung, reflecting regional spice traditionsIn Bali and Lombok, food is inseparable from ceremony and belief — and learning this at the table in the company of locals offers insight no guidebook can provide.Sit Down, Share, and See More ClearlyShared meals slow us down. They encourage listening, curiosity, and openness — the very qualities that turn travel into understanding.Exploring South East Asia’s food culture with a local guide doesn’t just expand your palate. It offers a thoughtful, immersive perspective on how people live, celebrate, and connect.Whether you’re planning your next journey or simply imagining one, we hope this inspired a richer way of seeing the world, one shared table at a time.