Whenever I go somewhere new—or whenever I go somewhere not-new, but don’t want to do the same old thing I’ve done a million times—I wish I’d had the foresight to figure out my plans in advance: you know, researched a local place to get a cup of coffee so that I didn’t have to join the masses at Starbucks, for instance. Emailed a friend to nail down, once and for all, where I might find that slice of pizza that’ll change my life. Investigated the likelihood of finding a kilt on short notice in a city I’m unfamiliar with, perhaps. (Don’t ask questions about that last one. Sometimes you just need an emergency kilt.) 

That’s why, at Gowalla, we’re working on putting together some carefully curated lists in some of our top cities, packed with ideas and suggestions from us to you. Right now, we’ve got over 60 City Guides, with specially-curated Gowalla content in San Francisco, Austin, New York, Chicago, Portland, London, and Stockholm. (Just look for the Featured Lists created by yours truly.) In the next few weeks, we’ll have curated Gowalla content up and running in Paris, Amsterdam, and Washington, D.C. too. 

But what’s in these Guides, you ask? Well, we’ve tried to do the dirty work for you. We’ve narrowed down, in each city, some of the best things to do in a specific category. So if you’re in San Francisco and you’re suddenly struck with the urge to pretend you’re British, we’ve got you covered with the best places to stock up on Marmite and dance to Blur. When you want to hang with the Williamsburg hipsters in New York, we’ll show you where to get your ironic mustache on.  And no-one’s going to judge if you want to embrace your English major roots in London with a tour of literary landmarks. A+ for effort! Your Chaucer professor would be proud. 

So start exploring! The best barbecue in Austin, the best comedy clubs in Chicago, the best food carts in Portland, and the best museums in Stockholm are all waiting for you to discover them.

And tell us: which city would you like to see curated Gowalla Guides in next?