Use these rainy day travel ideas when the weather is messing up your trip. You’ve made it to your destination. You’re so excited. Then the forecast shows rain for two whole days of your trip. What now?

Museums / Palaces

Museums and royal residences are great for rainy days because most of them are indoors. Learn about the history of your destination in a unique way. Here I am (below) visiting the Schönbrunn Palace, in Vienna, Austria, in the rain.

One thing about visiting a museum on a rainy day is that it doesn’t feel like the day is wasted. Most times we visit museums when we travel anyway. Don’t waste a sunny day on a museum when you’ll be inside most of the day anyway. So schedule all your museum trips for rainy days!

Shopping Malls/In-door Markets

Shopping malls are great for rainy days too. They allow you to get out of the rain and explore the type of items that are for sale in your destination. The COEX Mall in Seoul, South Korea is underground. This mall is absolutely ginormous. Just check out the library inside the mall, in the photo at the very top.

Indoor markets do the same thing. However, they offer a bit more of your destination’s culture. Shop for things not found in your typical shopping mall. The Pyounghwa Fashion Plaza (above) in Seoul, South Korea is an indoor wholesale market. It’s been selling items for over 50 years. It started at the end of the Korean War when North Korean refugees started selling clothes made from US army uniforms right in that very market. The market goes on forever and there is so much to see. I talk more about this neighborhood in my post about Dongdaemun.

Escape Rooms

Think of solving a mystery or puzzle with a group of your friends locked in a room trying to beat the clock. (Don’t worry about the room being actually locked. In most places, legally it shouldn’t be.) This is a great activity that I have done while traveling.

Restaurants

Sample the local cuisine at a restaurant. Avoid local chain restaurants and have a nice long sit down meal. Order all the local delicacies and sample each one by one. The rain will have no effect on how good your food tastes. I know I definitely enjoyed my tamale with mole sauce (below) while I was in San Antonio, Texas.

These are my ideas for the best Rainy Day Travel Ideas. Rain does not have to ruin your trip. Just transition your indoor activities to the days when the weather will be unpleasant. Drop your own ideas in the comments.