TikTok isn’t just a hub for viral dances and trends, it’s also a burgeoning search engine for travellers, offering a dynamic and interactive way to discover travel tips, hidden destinations and insider hacks. Here’s how you can harness the power of TikTok for your next adventure.

Unearth hidden gems

TikTok’s algorithm excels at bringing lesser-known destinations to light, often shared by locals or brave explorers. Look up the country or city you’re planning to visit in the search bar, then comb through hashtags relating to your destination ahead of your trip. This gives you a chance to experience unique locations away from the typical tourist trails.

Pro tip: See what other popular searches the search bar suggests, such as “things to do” or “best food places”, so you can narrow down your search to find tourist attractions, activities or restaurants you’ll like.

Save and organise inspirations

Tap the bookmark icon to save videos, or even locations, that catch your eye. TikTok allows you to save these in collections you can revisit on your Profile tab, which is handy for keeping track of travel tips and ideas.

Pro tip: Planning a trip with your travel buddies? Send them a link to your saved collection. On the Profile tab the bookmark icon under your bio will lead you to your collection – tap the arrow icon in the top right corner of your collection to share it.

Join a travel video trend

Document your trip by trying popular travel challenges or trends, such as creative transitions (search: “travel transition”) or unpolished vlog-style videos (search: “travel vlog”). This not only adds fun to your travel planning, but also to the memories you share with your travel companions. Sharing your experiences on TikTok can also inspire others and help you discover new aspects of a destination.

Pro tip: Ahead of your trip, save the audio – or “sound” as TikTok calls it – of a trend you like by tapping a video’s music in the bottom right corner. Add the sound to your favourites on your profile to use it for your own videos.

Do your own research

While TikTok is a great place for discovery, it’s best to cross-reference information with other sources to ensure that your information is accurate. The brevity of user-generated videos may not do a recommendation justice, or tell the full story. Check travel blogs, official tourism websites and reviews for a well-rounded understanding of your destination.

Pro tip: Some things may be too good to be true. Read the comments of a video for helpful information shared by the creator or other users that may not be captured in the video.