There was a time when a well-thumbed copy of a Rough Guide was the key to a city’s secrets – the cafés to linger in, the promenades to walk along, the country pubs where one could be assured of a warm welcome. But today’s explorers are busy thumbing through their mobile phones instead, as a wealth of smartphone apps and websites guides tech-savvy, authenticity- seeking travellers into the heart of a city or country, using crowdsourcing and social media to offer reviews of hotspots from likeminded tourists, make introductions to local residents, and even provide real-time updates about the most popular places to be in. Unfasten your seatbelts – we’ve touched down in the era of the ‘silent’ tourist, who shows up in a new place and quietly melts into the crowd, smartphone in hand, ready to live life like the locals do.

Travellers’ motivation to unearth an authentic experience isn’t new, of course. From the bustling Kyoto izakaya full of grilled squid and late-night local revellers to the Sicilian butcher frequented only by Italian grandmammas, such unmarked, undocumented gems of the local experience often make for the best travel anecdotes.

“Travellers want to immerse themselves into a culture,”says Tom Marchant, co-founder of luxury tour operator Black Tomato. “And if you want to see the soul of a place, or get a sense of what makes a city tick, it’s about finding local experiences – where to hang out and what time to be there.”

As people increasingly depend on their smartphones for everyday needs, whether to order groceries, hail a taxi or keep track of their health, it follows that – once equipped with a good data-roaming plan or with the Wi-Fi Finder app activated – they also look to their gadgets when wanderlust strikes.

More than four in five (87%) global travellers use their smartphone while on holiday, according to 2013 research by TripAdvisor, and more than one in two (61%) use social media while on vacation. Meanwhile, nearly half (44%) of all travellers use their smartphone to research travel while they’re travelling, according to a NinthDecimal report last year.

If you want to see the soul of a place, or get a sense of what makes a city tick, it’s about finding local experiences