Intrepid Travel is launching day trips that introduce travelers to lesser-known parts of three European cities.
Starting June 1, the Uncommon Day Trips collection will be available in Barcelona, Paris and Venice, three of Europe's most visited cities. The tours will be created and led by locals and will bring visitors to parts of the city outside of the hot spots.
The itineraries were created to meet high demand for activities in these cities while promoting responsible tourism, the operator said.
Leigh Barnes, Intrepid's president for the Americas, said Uncommon Day Tours "is about helping people decide what kind of traveler they want to be in some of the most visited places on Earth, through smaller groups, locally led experiences and a more intentional approach to exploring destinations that see millions of visitors each year."
The tours will be capped at a dozen guests and last two to three hours. Prices start at $65 per person.
The Barcelona tour will bring travelers to a community garden in El Born, a protected green space. Guests will also visit the neighborhood of El Clot, including its local market.
Juan Sanchez, the Barcelona-based Intrepid leader who helped develop the tour, said the tour shows that there "is so much more to Barcelona than nightclubs, beaches and cruise ship stopovers."
While on the Venice tour, guests can expect to ditch the city's Grand Canal for the Pescheria di Rialto market, which dates back to the Middle Ages, and a chocolate-tasting workshop at a women-owned artisanal shop.
Intrepid tour leader Camilla Feiffe, who was born in Venice and helped create the tour, described the city as fragile due to tourism.
"Authentic Venice still exists, but you need to go deeper and be willing to look beyond the most crowded spots," she said.
And in the City of Love, travelers can still see the iconic Eiffel Tower -- just from a different vantage point. The tour features parks and pastries away from the busy parts of the city.
Benoit Collas, an Intrepid tour leader in the city, said the itinerary shows off a neighborhood "which has a real local feel, is charming and historic and offers travelers amazing views of the Eiffel Tower, far from the usual crowds."