Want to find new favorites? Check out ‘Explore nearby’ for shortcuts to places like the ones you love

Love your weekend BBQ outings but tired of doing the same stuff again and again? foursquare has a great way to find places like the ones you already know and love, plus a bunch of other fun things to do nearby.

 

When you land on a place’s page, check out the right-hand side for similar places, lists, and quick links to restaurants, shopping, nightlife spots, and other popular things to do that are close by. Take your friends someplace new this weekend! Head over to Explore and try it out.

Dune bashing and la lucha libre – presenting the first of the global badge winners! #4sqCities

With Doha Denizen to the east, and Santiaguino a full and Tenochtitlan to the west, we bring you the first batch of the non-U.S. #4sqCities contest winners!

Want to see these shiny new badges in your trophy case? Step 1: travel to the city (or just go outside if you live there already!) Step 2: check in to five spots on their lists at foursquare.com/4sqcities:

The winning lists were curated by local experts who put a ton of time and hard work into selecting only the best spots in their cities. If you’re heading out on a trip anytime soon, hit up the lists at foursquare.com/4sqcities for the best insider travel tips around. High fives to the folks who made these so great!

P.S. More #4sqCities badges are on their way!

foursquare tips, brought to life on campuses!

From the JayBowl at Kansas to the annual Fiesta event at UT-San Antonio, foursquare campus ambassadors have been making foursquare tips come to life by putting up hand-written versions around their schools, filled with fun tips about places and activities for students to check out. Here are a few of our favorites:

What are some favorite tips that you’ve seen on campus or ones you’ve left yourself? Share them with us in the comments! If you’re interested in getting some tip decals to put up yourself, request some here.

Oh, to be sipping Caipirinhas on the beaches of Ipanema… Rio, your city badge is here!

To unlock Carioca, check in to five spots on the foursquare.com/4sqcities list for Rio de Janeiro.

Starting next week, we’ll be rolling out the #4sqCities winning badges!

Hey Students! Make your #4sqBucketList and win a Super Swag Pack from @4sqOnCampus!

The semester may be speeding by, but it doesn’t have to be all cramming and coffee. What about finally catching that indie flick all the film students have been raving about, or climbing the campus hill with your roomie? We’ve got the perfect excuse to put your laundry off for one more weekend and make the most of your last few weeks.

By May 18, create an awesome #4sqBucketList with all the places you want to hit up before school’s out for summer. We’ll pick the best ones and send out Super Swag Packs with a dozen limited edition foursquare university shirts to the winners and their friends!

1. Make your list – and make it awesome!
Go to foursquare.com/lists and create one filled with at least 10 places you want try before you leave, from that cheesy duck boat tour to that milkshake place everyone’s always talking about. (If your semester’s already over, add places to go to once you’re back)! Don’t forget to spice it up by adding great tips and photos.

2. Spread the word
Get your friends to follow and share the list (or even help you make it) by sharing it on foursquare, Twitter, and Facebook with the #4sqBucketList tag.

3. Let us know about it
Email campus@foursquare.com or tweet @4sqOnCampus with a URL to your list and the #4sqBucketList tag. We’ll pick three winners based on the variety (and uniqueness) of places, quality of tips and photos, and the number of followers (and a tweet from your school wouldn’t hurt). You have until Friday, May 18 to enter, but why wait?

We’ll feature the winning students’ lists on our blog, and send out Super Swag Packs with a bunch stickers, buttons, and limited edition foursquare university shirts for you and your roommates (have them contribute to your list too!). Check out these bucket lists for inspiration, and start coming up with yours today!

The next best thing to a real time machine – search all your past check-ins with the new history page!

Want to remember all the places you went to on last summer’s trip to Mexico? Or relive all the adventures you’ve had with your best friend? With our all-new, fully-searchable history page, you can easily jump to all your past check-ins from any month or year, and even filter them by who you were with, what type of place you were at, or which neighborhood, city, or country you were in. We’ll show you your check-in photos, comments, and friends who were there.

Soon we’ll be adding more features, like filtering by venue, and adding tips or creating lists right from this history page. It’s all to help you get the most of your adventures, even when you’re back at home. Take it for a spin!

From Kota Tua to Khao San Road, Jakarta and Bangkok city badges have arrived!

To unlock Selamat Datang and Krung Thep, check in to five spots on the foursquare.com/4sqcities lists for Jakarta and Bangkok.

We’ll be launching Rio next week, with the city badge winners soon to follow!

Posted in Blog

See a friend check in somewhere awesome? Save it to your foursquare to-do list, right from Facebook!

Ever get food envy when you see your friend check in somewhere amazing for dinner? Now, when you see a friend’s foursquare check-in on Facebook and want to try that place too, you can click the new ‘Save this Place’ link and save it to your foursquare to-do list for later.

All it takes is one click, and you can do it right from Facebook (the save will appear on your Timeline, too, just like other apps you’ve connected to Facebook). It’s an easy way to get ideas for future outings, and foursquare can do the work remembering them for you when you’re looking for recommendations on Explore.

Find the perfect dinner spot, and make a reservation too

Need to figure out your date night plans? You can already use Explore to find great restaurants based on places you and your friends like and the dishes you’re craving. Plus, you can read tips from regulars and check out the menu and business hours to make sure it’s the perfect spot.

Now, when you’re using foursquare.com on your computer, you can make a one-click reservation, too. We’ve partnered with OpenTable to offer reservations at over 15,000 places in major cities across the US, with more to come. Just click ‘Make a Reservation’ and reserve a table for your party!

Find a great spot for this week! Search Explore for “romantic,” “date spot,” “French,” or whatever you’re in the mood for. Then reserve your table and enjoy the meal!

A faster way for businesses to start connecting with customers on foursquare

Update: The instant verification process is now available everywhere in the world!

Over 20,000,000 people use foursquare to discover and share new experiences. It’s also an incredibly powerful tool for businesses who want to connect with their customers, and over 750,000 of them have already signed up for our free merchant tools that help them attract new visitors and keep their most loyal ones coming back. Today, we’re rolling out an even faster way for businesses to get started.

Starting today, you’ll have an option to instantly verify your business on foursquare (we charge a one-time, $10 fee). You can still verify by mail at no cost (although it takes three to four weeks). Once you’re verified, you can start using foursquare’s free tools right away, like offering Specials, updating your listing, and getting stats about your visitors. If you’ve already verified your venue, there’s no charge; keep enjoying foursquare’s free tools!

We’ll be rolling this out across the U.S. starting today, and internationally soon after. Get started now!