Would travelling in a city for sightseeing be called "roaming".

Would travelling in a city for sightseeing be called "roaming".

Not a teacher only a native speaker.

I was going to answer with a short one line answer, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised it wasn't as simple as I first thought.

It could be used in this circumstance, however, I would associate 'roaming' to be more like drifting aimlessly, not knowing where you might end up.

If you have a set agenda and know where you are going eg. If you were walking in London and wanted to see Big Ben, the London Eye and Buckingham palace, then I wouldn't say you were roaming.

Although, I would say roaming would be acceptable if you were in London sightseeing, but didn't mind what you saw or had no particular agenda, you were just wandering around hoping to see something interesting.

I hope this helps, please let me know if you don't understand.

Thanks SHROOB for replying. It was my mistake that I did not make it clear that I understand what roaming means.I am new to this forum or any other forum for that matter. Actually I was trying to find the precise word for it. Thanks again and please reply.

Ah, I think I understand now (you are looking for a word to describe the action of 'sightseeing').

In that case, perhaps just 'sightseeing' would be appropriate?

Person 1: What are you doing in London?
Person 2: Oh, just sightseeing.

Thanks. May be that is right.But seems odd to me saying " We went to london and did sightseeing there'' or " We went to london and went for sightseeing'' And here i want to describe both actions "going" and "sightseeing" not ''We went to london for sightseeing''

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Originally Posted by sweetan

Thanks. May be that is right.But seems odd to me saying " We went to london and did sightseeing there'' or " We went to london and went for sightseeing'' And here i want to describe both actions "going" and "sightseeing" not ''We went to london for sightseeing''

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In those instances, I would say, 'We went to London to do some sightseeing.' Or perhaps, 'We went to London to visit/see the attractions'.

'We went to London for the sightseeing' may also work.

Edit: Just to say again I'm not a teacher only a native speaker.

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Originally Posted by sweetan

Would travelling in a city for sightseeing be called "roaming".

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********** NOT A TEACHER ***********

Hello, Sweetan.

(1) You asked a great question.

(2) I think there is a difference between sightsee and roam.

(3) Sometimes that word has a negative meaning:

After the riot, gangs of young people were roaming ( = wandering

with no purpose) through the city looking for trouble.

(4) According to my dictionaries, roam is often fine for large areas:

"What did you guys do last month in Europe? Oh, we just roamed

about." ( = We had no particular plans. We went here and there.)

(5) Tom: What did you guys do on your vacations?

Martha: I went to London and got in a lot of sightseeing. Before I left the

United States, I had made a list of places to see.

George: I went to Kyoto and saw all the beautiful temples, gardens, and

temples that I had heard about all my life.

Mona: I went to Buenos Aires and just roamed about for a week. I went

here and there. I had some interesting experiences. Saw a lot of

interesting places. Met a lot of nice people.

(6) Maybe (maybe!) sightsee more strongly suggests a sense of purpose

on your part.

Thank you