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Learn a local skill on vacation with these top classes

The best education isn’t restricted to the school classroom; you can also learn a lot through the incredible experiences you have while traveling.

Note: All travel is subject to frequently changing governmental restrictions—please check federal, state, and local advisories before scheduling trips. Please also be advised that the availability of the following activities is subject to change due to COVID-19.

The best education isn’t restricted to the school classroom; you can also learn a lot through the incredible experiences you have while traveling. From learning how to whip up a new dish to learning basic language skills, these classes will help you experience local culture and take a tangible skill home with you. Best of all, you can easily book these fascinating classes and workshops from around the world ahead of time on trypguide. Here’s how:

  • Just click the “Things to Do” tab at trypguide.com
  • Enter your destination and dates of travel
  • Explore all kinds of educational offerings

Here are some of our favorites from across the USA to inspire your next learn-a-cation.

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Cooking and culinary

Fresh Pasta Making Session in Boston’s North End (Boston): Learn how to make spinach tagliatelle, a long noodle from the Emilia-Romagna region, and lorighittas, a rope-like noodle from the Island of Sardinia, from locals in Boston’s famous “Little Italy.” The experience ends with eating everything you’ve made!

Haitian Cooking Lessons (Miami): Miss Edith will teach you how to cook a three-course Haitian meal in her open-air kitchen in Miami’s “Little Haiti” neighborhood. Most of the dishes come from her family’s cookbook. The experience is topped off with a family-style meal complemented with papaya juice, limeade, beer, or wine.

Hands-On Cooking Class – Roux (New Orleans): Learn the secrets of authentic New Orleans Cajun cuisine at the Mardi Gras School of Cooking. After filling your glass with wine, beer, soda, or water, roll up your sleeves and prepare several iconic dishes like gumbo, shrimp étouffée, and bananas foster.

Dance

Learn to Line Dance (Nashville): Learn basic line-dancing skills that you can take into Nashville’s honky-tonks. The one-hour class even includes a take-home video of your dances to show family and friends back home.

Meditation Dance Class (Maui): Allow a Maui resident living the Aloha Spirit to teach you how to move and breathe in a way that relieves stress and anxiety. This can be a fun and memorable way to begin a Hawaiian vacation—with skills you can take into your daily life back home.

Hip Hop Dance Class with NYC Street & Subway Performers (NYC): Visit the South Bronx, the birthplace of hip hop, and learn some new moves from local dancers. The 2.5-hour lesson takes place near vibrant graffiti backdrops under the Third Avenue Bridge, providing great photo ops.

Burlesque 101 Class (Las Vegas): Flamingo X Burlesque dancers will be your “professors” in this class that schools you on the art of burlesque dancing. Channel your inner showgirl on the very stage where they perform nightly. Learn techniques to be seductive and sexy, you’ll even have the opportunity to add eyelash and lipstick application to really get into character.

Photography

Astrophotography Experience in the Colorado Rockies (Denver): Learn how to take optimal photos under a star-filled night sky in some of Colorado’s greatest parks. A local photography pro will be your guide during this four-hour experience. Bring your own DSLR camera or one will be provided for you.

Guided Photography Tour: Washington Monuments (Washington, D.C.): Washington Pro Safaris offers a variety of hands-on photography experiences around the nation’s capital, including this one that explores how to capture the best angles and lighting of iconic monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and Washington National Cathedral. All skill levels are welcome.

Times Square at Night Photography Lesson (NYC): Receive guidance on low-light photography from an experienced photographer during this excursion into New York City’s Times Square. Bring your own DSLR, point-and-shoot, or camera phone to capture the neon lights, bright billboards, and reflective skyscrapers of this energetic nighttime setting.

Music

illustration of music background in doodle style

Learn to Play Congas in 15 Minutes (Miami): Be your own Miami sound machine and learn basic rhythm patterns on a pro conga drum. This two-hour audience-interactive “show” includes a short history on how conga drums have influenced American music, followed by a 15-minute conga lesson, and concludes with a lively musical performance.

Arts

Polynesian Carving Class (Big Island of Hawaii): Create your own tiki masterpiece under the guidance of a 4th generation Master Carver from Tonga. In this class, learn about the history, legacy, and process of wood carving, as well as produce your own authentic wood carving to take home.

Private Brooklyn Graffiti Lesson (NYC): Create beautiful graffiti art in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Learn aerosol techniques from a local artist and work on a city mural collaboratively with other participants. You’ll also have the opportunity to take home your very own 5’x5′ canvas creation.

Intro to Glassblowing (Sedona): Draw inspiration from the Sedona landscape when creating your own glass masterpiece guided by on-site artists.

Theater & Broadcasting

Podcasting 101 (Chicago): Learn the nuts and bolts of podcasting from a broadcasting and podcasting veteran of two decades. The three-hour class will give you a hands-on podcasting experience that includes a recording and editing session. You’ll leave with the knowledge and confidence to launch your own podcast once back home.

Improvisational Screen Writing Class (Atlanta): Make a film in one day! This three-hour experience includes developing a script as a team, then going to a nearby location to shoot the story.

Survival skills

Wilderness Survival Skills Clinic (San Francisco): If you want to become the next Bear Grylls, or simply want to learn some new skills that might prove useful on your next camping trip, this experience is for you. You’ll meet your local outdoor expert/teacher in the woods for hands-on lessons in fire-building, emergency shelter construction, identifying edible plants, and more.

American Ninja Warrior Overnight Experience (Portland, OR): Get yourself ready to try out for “American Ninja Warrior” with this overnight experience (8 pm–8 am) that coaches you through 50 different obstacles. The experience takes place at Urban Warrior, the Pacific Northwest’s premier indoor adventure obstacle course training center. You’ll receive expert training in a safe and supportive environment the entire night; sleeping bags and pillows are available upon request.

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Written by Shivam H

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