I hope this is the right place to ask this question, but if it's not, feel free to remove it (but suggestions for where to ask would be appreciated). I'm currently an international student doing an MA in history and have the opportunity to travel to various places during my degree (won't mention where I am specifically).
When a lot of people travel, they stick to a few basic activities - wandering around a city, eating, getting drinks, outdoors stuff, shopping, the occasional museum visit... etc. I'm wondering if historians in general travel a different way - do you generally do a lot of research before visiting a certain place so that you don't miss out on truly interesting things that are related to the place's past? How would you go about finding interesting and less tourist-driven things to see or do before embarking on the trip? Are there any specific places that you like to visit (e.g. parliamentary buildings, sites where certain treaties are signed even if there's nothing special about the place today)? And how do I learn to travel smarter? I'm bored of getting recommendations from tripadvisor.
I’m a museum curator so not sure this counts. I don’t just rely on trip advisor reviews that say “this museum is great” etc, I go to the individual museums websites to see exactly what exhibitions are on at the moment. I plan my day around what specific exhibitions I want to see and not just what museums I want to visit. You might go to a museum with terrible terrible reviews but they just put on a new exhibition that is wonderful but that’s not being reflected in their online reviews.
As a historian most of the travel I do is work related; either to archives or conferences. So I don’t do a whole lot of research as to what is there, aside from logistics. Conference travel usually consists of a long weekend, most of which is spent in sessions, gushing over people you’ve spent years citing but never met, and then connecting over drinks. Many conferences actually do arrange tour/activities for attendees so that historians can get out and explore on at least one day.
Archival research travel can also be a bit constrained; after all you’re usually only at the archive for a set period of time. For example, last major archival trip I got to make lasted a month. I spent every weekday from 8am-530pm in the reading room going through material. After that, you’re not usually in the mood to do a whole lot of exploring or touristy activities. At least with the month long I had weekends to get out and at least walk around the city, but you’ve also got to make time to plan out the next day or next week in the archive.
Otherwise, I think travel depends on how much you already know about a place and why you are traveling there in the first place. When I visit places I research I often have a drive to go and see particular sights, buildings or even islands that don’t exist anymore. Just to see where they stood and get some feel for what it once looked like. A place where a treaty was signed can be fun to visit; but I think it greatly depends on your connection to the treaty— if it featured in research you did or lectures you give, then it will be far more meaningful. If it’s just a bit of trivia, then it’s not going to resonate. Personally, when given the chance I plan my itinerary as much on food as anything!
I’ll edit to add, that when you are visiting an entirely new place that you just don’t know a Guide is really the best way to get an intimate view of a place. They will usually know far more of the local history and significance of neighborhoods. This definitely isn’t the cheapest way to see a place— that’s why trip advisor and a plethora of other services exist— but it is the best way to get a deep dive into a new place.
When I travel, I prioritize being the places where history happened more than anything. And usually not in cities as I'm not big on the "big politics" side of history, but more sites of great discoveries, battles, out in remote places. I do also see a lot of buildings and historical places though.
Fellow M.A. Student here - I spent the majority of my trip (I’m on my return flight home so excuse my mobile formatting/spelling) in the archives but weekends I spent on food and the history of the country (museums, monuments, neighborhoods, etc). I bought a lonely planet. I like hitting touristy spots but where I recently visited locals let me know amazing places that I should see important to the country’s history. And as corny as it may sound - Facebook may have good groups of people that can give recommendations and meet up with you while you’re there.