Tourism (travel for leisure, not for education, profit or professional reason) is a relatively new phenomenon. Most poor and middle-class people could afford to leave their home town or village only thanks to invention of steam engine. Thomas Cook is famous for chartering train trips for hundreds of people in the 19th century.

Before the invention of steam engine, most lower and middle class people tended to spend their free time in their home town/village. Some middle class city dwellers could try to visit their friends in the countryside for holidays (what we'd call a weekend), for instance. Similarly, peasants might visit larger settlements for fairs or other celebrations, but it rarely took longer than a couple of days.

Ancient Greeks (and Romans to a certain extent) visited the cities and temples to participate in festivals and games, most notably the Olympic games. it was not unheard of that the master allowed his home slaves to visit the local ones.

If you give the word 'vacation' a wide enough definition, religious pilgrimages were a popular entertainment. Far from being a rigorous excercise, pilgrimages were for many an opportunity to leave the village and see the world. The travel itself could be done on foot (some walked the last few miles on their knees but that was a visible minority), and on your road to the sanctuary you could visit other interesting places.

In the middle ages people also could wander off the beaten track to see the latest advances in technology or similar curiosities. If in Lyon there was a new tower clock or a calf with two heads, merchants or craftspeople might wander off their trail to go and see it.