What are the best hobby and interest sites for learning a new hobby as a beginner?

Here are some of the best beginner-friendly sites for learning a new hobby, grouped by interest. I picked sites that are easy to start with, have good beginner guidance, and usually offer free or low-cost learning.

General hobby discovery

• Instructables — Great for DIY, crafts, electronics, cooking, and maker projects. Very beginner-oriented.
• WikiHow — Broad “how to” guides for almost anything, including hobbies.
• Reddit — Great for finding hobby communities like r/woodworking, r/knitting, r/photography, etc. Best for asking questions and seeing real beginner experiences.
• YouTube — Not a single site, but one of the best places to learn any hobby visually.

Creative hobbies

• Skillshare — Good for beginner-friendly classes in art, design, photography, writing, and more.
• Domestika — Strong for creative hobbies like illustration, crafts, animation, and design.
• Creativebug — Excellent for sewing, quilting, drawing, knitting, and crafts.
• The Spruce Crafts — Easy beginner tutorials for crafts, home projects, and DIY.

Art and design

• Proko — Great for drawing fundamentals, anatomy, and illustration.
• Drawabox — Excellent structured practice for learning to draw from scratch.
• Canva Design School — Good for learning basic graphic design.

Music

• JustinGuitar — One of the best free beginner guitar learning sites.
• Pianote — Helpful for piano beginners.
• Yousician — Interactive app/site for guitar, piano, bass, ukulele, and singing.

Photography and video

• Photography Life — Clear beginner guides for photography concepts and gear.
• Digital Photography School — Very beginner-friendly tutorials.
• Mango Street — Great YouTube-based learning for photo/video basics.

Coding and tech hobbies

• freeCodeCamp — Excellent for learning web development and programming from scratch.
• Codecademy — Interactive and beginner-friendly for coding.
• The Odin Project — Great for people who want a structured path into web development.
• Scratch — Very beginner-friendly for learning programming logic.

Writing

• Reedsy Learning — Short, practical lessons for writers.
• NaNoWriMo resources — Helpful if you want to start creative writing.
• MasterClass — More premium, but has classes from well-known writers.

Cooking and baking

• BBC Good Food — Easy recipes and beginner cooking basics.
• Allrecipes — Huge collection of user-friendly recipes.
• Serious Eats — Better for learning technique, though slightly more advanced.

Gardening

• The Old Farmer’s Almanac — Good beginner gardening advice.
• Epic Gardening — Very approachable guides for new gardeners.
• Gardener’s World — Helpful for practical gardening tips.

Crafts, sewing, knitting

• Makers Gonna Learn — Good for Cricut/craft projects.
• LoveCrafts — Great for knitting, crochet, and sewing patterns.
• SewCanShe — Beginner sewing tutorials.

Fitness and outdoor hobbies

• Couch to 5K — Great for starting running from zero.
• AllTrails — Excellent for hiking discovery and trail info.
• REI Expert Advice — Great beginner guides for camping, hiking, and outdoor skills.

How to choose the best site for you

A good beginner site should have:

• Step-by-step beginner lessons
• Clear photos or videos
• A community or comments for questions
• A low-cost or free starting point
• A structured path, not just random tips

Best all-around picks

If you want just a few to start with:

• YouTube for almost any hobby
• Instructables for hands-on hobbies
• Reddit for communities and advice
• Skillshare for creative skills
• freeCodeCamp for coding
• JustinGuitar for guitar
• Allrecipes for cooking

If you want, I can also make you a top 10 list by hobby type or recommend the best sites for a specific hobby you’re interested in.