One area of DMing I've yet to crack is how to remedy the asemmetry of information between the players and the DM when exploring a city.

How do you convey what a city can offer the characters w/o overwhelming them or reducing the city to a string of random encounters?
#dnd #ttrpg

I asked my players after session last night some questions about the campaign, whether Baldur's Gate felt different from Waterdeep (we just finished Dragon Heist), and if they were satisfied with the way traversing the city worked.

They agreed the city felt different... (cont)

but one quote that stood out to me was "It's hard to explore if you don't know what's there."

The Dilemma:
When you ask a character where they'd like to go, they'll default to a few places—taverns, shops, temples, etc. They don't think of some of those nuanced locales such as...