Yes and no.
I research when I can, especially if it involves sunrise/sunset/moonrise or a particular city's viewpoints. Other times, when I do not have the luxury to plan, I do the above.
It starts with me being disappointed with the city or place not "announcing itself," which then turns into being disgusted with myself for being such a lousy photographer, unable to find something that "pops up." And then I start shooting, slowly, and things start popping up, announcing themselves, one by one, here and there, mediocre, lousy, acceptable. I keep shooting, every time getting a bit more of a feeling for the place and what it says to me. And every now and then, that results in some above-average, or even great images. A progress from "looking for pictures in general" to knowing "what you are looking for."
Either way, I keep shooting.
These are exactly my feelings on such a situation.
Some of my best shots ever were not planned at all, except the part of having been there. The elements put themselves together for the shots, I just press the button.
Two examples:
The first shot, I had just arrived to that seaside location to spend a week with my family and we were having dinner in a beach restaurant. As the sun set, the low tide revealed those rock formations that reflected the gorgeous light. I jumped to the beach and made several shots before the sun disappeared completely.
The second shot was done because my family and I were visiting this location for the first time and those cloud formations just appeared to us.
