Its easy to fall into a tourist trap while traveling. After all, tourist traps are designed for the tourists. You can follow these simple steps to detect and avoid tourist traps.

• Do you research
  This one is a given, but many people forget to do it. You know what you want to see, but also research about what it will cost you exactly including getting there and and coming back from there.
• Spending recommended by a guide
  If you have a guide, and he or she is taking you to a place that they recommend, then its most likely a tourist trap. A hotel lobby folks will generally give you better options. However, they can also be rigged.
• Avoid long cab or taxi rides
  If you are going to take a cab for more than half an hour, the cab ride itself can be a trap. Negotiate a lump sum to your location before you sit in the cab or a taxi
• Avoid a shop/market with lot of tourists
  If you see a lot of tourists at a market or a shop, its a trap. If your guide has brought you there, its for sure a trap. If merchandise there is marketed as "exclusive" its for sure a trap. No merchandise in this world is exclusive.
• Shop where locals shop
  You can generally buy whatever you need at much cheaper prices where the locals shop.
• If it sounds ridiculous, it probably is
  If something sounds ridiculous to you, in terms of price or some amount, it most likely is.

Keywords : saving money tourist traps