Tourist traps
Lesson plan overview
This ESL lesson is dedicated to the topic of tourist traps and destinations that are overrated. Students will learn advanced vocabulary to talk about tourist traps and to give warnings, will watch a short video about tourist traps in London, and will discuss their own experiences. You can combine this lesson with “Travel destinations”, “Accessible tourism“, “Dark tourism”, “Phrasal verbs: travel”, “Idioms: holidays”, and “Idioms: summer”.
Speaking: Students are given photos of 9 popular places people like to visit and they share their knowledge and experiences about each place.
Vocabulary: Students read 10 reviews of different places and match the words in bold (overpriced, overrated, tourist trap, live up to, rip-off) to their definitions. Then they go back to the previous activity and discuss why these places might be considered tourist traps. To practise, students write 5 short reviews about different places they’ve been to and discuss 3 questions given.
Listening: Students watch a video “The worst tourist traps in London” and fill a table with the required information. Then they discuss whether or not they agree with the speaker and how tourist traps can be avoided.
Vocabulary: Students learn verbs and expressions used to give cautions and warnings. First, they complete the sentences given with the correct preposition. To practise, they complete 8 sentences with the correct verb.
Speaking: Finally, students use all the vocabulary seen in this lesson to create a brochure warning travellers about tourist traps in their city.
For more speaking practice, use the conversation cards.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
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In-class activities
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Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
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