This was published 1 year ago
Beyond the crowds: Europe's most underrated destinations
By Brian Johnston
Delft, the Netherlands.Credit: iStock
Moan away about the tourist hordes of Europe if you want. Visit Dubrovnik or Barcelona you'll find plenty of those said tourists. If you insist on seeing the Mona Lisa you'll have to queue, and jostling for photos is a given atop the Jungfrau.
Yet hundreds of fabulous Paris paintings require no wait, and plenty of Swiss mountains are gloriously tranquil. Bologna gets a quarter of Venice's visitors, Utretcht a quarter of Amsterdam's. Twenty times fewer tourists visit Romania as Germany. Europe isn't overcrowded: the tourist imagination is blinkered.
Europe is full of underrated but very rewarding cities, towns, landscapes and even entire countries which get scant media attention and none of the kudos they deserve. Make it your mission to seek out the underrated rather than the predictable in Europe. Here are 24 destinations that remain unclogged with tour groups and provide wonderful alternatives to the mainstream.
THE COUNTRY
ROMANIA
Credit: iStock
Don't let tales of vampires and dictators put you off: Romania is one of Europe's least-crowded, cheapest destinations, and its Roman-based alphabet and Latin-based language ease communication in otherwise Slavic Eastern Europe. Capital Bucharest has wide, Paris-inspired boulevards, fine belle epoque architecture and lively nightlife. Gorgeous towns such as Brasov, Sibiu, Timisoara and Sighisoara, begrimed over decades of Communism, have been spruced up to showcase lovely medieval, baroque and Art Nouveau architecture, yet remain little known. The Carpathian Mountains provide vertical views while the flat Danube Delta is rich in bird life. See romaniatourism.com
WHERE ELSE?
Neighbour Bulgaria has a charming Black Sea coast, stunning snow-covered mountains, churches shimmering with gold and icons, and a rich history. Plovdiv is one of Europe's oldest cities. See bulgariatravel.org
THE REGION
FLANDERS
. Credit: iStock
Flemish-speaking Belgium is known mainly for Bruges and World War I battlefields, yet is studded with under-the-radar towns such as Ghent, Mechelen and Leuven that combine great dollops of impressive history with a buzzing contemporary vibe. Add good food, excellent beer, upmarket chocolate, superlative art, kickback town squares and a refreshing lack of grandiose palaces – but plenty of magnificent town halls and merchant houses – and you'll want to linger and soak up the cosy, intimate ambiance. As an added bonus, distances are short and public transport excellent. See visitflanders.com
WHERE ELSE?
Suisse Romande, Switzerland's French-speaking west, is more than Geneva. The Alps are a distant smudge but the rolling green scenery gorgeous, and fortified old towns lovely. Watches and gruyere cheese are fabled products. See myswitzerland.com
THE CAPITAL
BELGRADE
Credit: iStock
Serbia's capital can't be called pretty, but the absence of gargoyles and geraniums keeps predictable visitors away, leaving the more discerning to enjoy Belgrade's lively, gritty, unexpected pleasures and encounters with chatty locals. The city sits at the meeting of the Danube and Sava rivers and blends Ottoman, Hapsburg and Soviet architecture, with pedestrian streets lined with shops, coffeehouses and live-music venues. Savamala district is the current art and nightlife hotspot in which to check out hip bars, beer gardens and galleries lurking in the basements of crumbling Art Nouveau mansions. See tob.rs
WHERE ELSE?
Warsaw has inconsequential sights but is elegant, cultured, architecturally graceful and pockmarked with parks. It offers a delightful sense of graceful local living beyond tourist-horde horizons. See warsawtour.pl
THE CITY
HELSINKI
Credit: iStock
Compact, sophisticated and easily explored, this Finnish city combines considerable cool and neoclassical architecture with a splendidly watery setting under pale northern skies. It tops the European Green City Index and is well on its way to carbon neutrality. Instead of dutiful sightseeing – there are no major attractions – you can simply enjoy the flower-lined boulevards, cafe terraces, Nordic cuisine and many nearby islands, of which Suomenlinna, with its mighty naval fortress and flower-filled fields, is the highlight. Helsinki also showcases Nordic design, with an entire Design District of more than 200 stores presenting chic fashion, home wares and furniture. See myhelsinki.fi
WHERE ELSE?
The southern French port of Marseille has a 2600-year history, renovated harbour and magnificent Museum of Mediterranean Civilizations, and is packed with lively restaurants and bars. See marseille-tourisme.com
THE TOWNS
NETHERLANDS
Credit: iStock
Europe's big cities might be magnets, but "unknown" mid-size towns are its real glory: culture-dense, relaxing, easy to get around, easy on the eye and ignored by tour groups. Nowhere does them better than the Netherlands, so swap scruffy, tourist-swamped Amsterdam for the delights of immaculate Delft, Leiden and Maastricht instead, and find yourself in Rembrandt paintings come to life. Handsome houses, canals and bridges, old forts and pleasure parks, waterside pubs and excellent small museums await. Utrecht is the best town of all, its age and charm enlivened by a big student population. See holland.com
WHERE ELSE?
Hungary is filled with graceful towns that attract a fraction of Budapest's tourists. Among the best are Szentendre, ancient capital Esztergom, Pecs, Sopron and art nouveau-era university town Szeged. See visithungary.com
THE MOUNTAINS
JULIAN ALPS
Credit: iStock
Lake Bled (above), with its backing of peaks and island chapel, is the tourist face of Slovenia's Julian Alps, but few get beyond into the ridiculously beautiful wilderness that plays second fiddle to Switzerland or Austria, which it greatly resembles. Expect white peaks, green meadows, gin-clear lakes and frothing green rivers. Get hiking in Triglav National Park, which has hundreds of kilometres of trails; you can ski in winter. The picturesque Soča River offers fly-fishing, white-water rafting and kayaking as well as hiking. Don't miss the magnificent clamber through Vintgar Gorge on wooden footbridges above foaming glacial waters. See slovenia.info
WHERE ELSE?
The jagged High Tatras that straddle Poland and Slovakia have magnificent landscapes studded with castles and churches, abundant hiking in summer, and 600 kilometres of bargain-priced ski runs. See slovakia.com
THE RIVER
ELBE
Credit: iStock
While everyone swarms to the Rhine, Germany's Elbe River, which starts in the Czech Republic and ends in the North Sea, is equally scenic and history-dense. The dramatic sandstone gorges, rock pillars and mountains of what's nicknamed Saxon Switzerland provide the scenery. Riverside cities include Bohemian town Litomerice, porcelain-manufacturing town Meissen, and Wittenberg where Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation. The jewel is Dresden, capital of Saxony, which has one of Europe's best 18th-century city centres, ornate palaces, great museums – don't miss the Green Vault royal treasury – and thriving arts and nightlife scenes. See visitsaxony.com
WHERE ELSE?
The Moselle, a Rhine tributary that flows through France and Luxembourg but is at its glorious best as it winds through steep vineyards in Germany, overlooked by castles and cosy villages. See zellerland.de
THE CUISINE
EMILIA-ROMAGNA
Credit: iStock
This northern Italian region is hardly underrated, since it famously produces parmesan, Parma ham, balsamic vinegar and luxury sports cars. Yet despite its location between Venice and Florence, relatively few visitors stop off here to enjoy farm doors, car factory visits and some of Italy's most sumptuous small cities. Parma, Ferrara and Modena are all Renaissance masterpieces crammed with swooning saints, sunny squares and slow-food markets. Capital Bologna is better known, though 80,000 students still outnumber visitors. This is Italy's top gastronomic destination, dense with restaurants, wine bars and delicatessens. See emiliaromagnaturismo.it
WHERE ELSE?
Galicia in the north-west corner of Spain produces great wines – some of the whites are superb – as well as prized beef, hearty stews and seafood such as oysters, clams, octopus and sardines. See turismo.gal
THE ISLAND
CYPRUS
Credit: iStock
Northern Europeans flop on Cyprus' beaches but, away from its fringes, this island provides a less-crowded version of Greece and the Turkish coast while providing the same rugged scenery, ancient ruins, Byzantine chapels, Venetian-era fortresses and remote monasteries. Kourion, Salamis and Paphos (which has superb Roman mosaics) are the best classical sites; neolithic stone houses at Choirokoitia (pictured above) are World Heritage listed. Cyprus is also making a name for hiking and agro-tourism, especially in the breathtaking southern Troodos region and the wild, empty Akamas Peninsula on the west coast. Springtime wildflowers and migrating birds are fabulous. See visitcyprus.com
WHERE ELSE?
Sicily is an immensely rewarding destination thanks to glorious landscapes and a dazzling cultural and culinary legacy that blends Greek, Roman, Arab, Norman, Byzantine and Spanish influences. See visitsicily.info
THE SKI RESORT
ANDERMATT
Credit: iStock
Zermatt and St Moritz might be famous, but Andermatt and linked Sedrun is the largest, most modern ski resort in Switzerland, with easy, sunny skiing for families on one side of the valley, and plunges (both on and off-piste) from the top of the 2969-metre Gemsstock on the other. The 120 kilometres of runs are complemented by a similar length of cross-country ski trails, and the scenery is magnificent. You'll enjoy an attractive alpine village of gnarly chalets, but nonetheless some swish accommodations such as the uber-chic Chedi Andermatt. See andermatt.ch
WHERE ELSE?
Kitzbuhel isn't as well-known as St Anton or Lech but has some of Austria's best skiing, with great variety and world-championship runs. Fashion boutiques and chic cafes cater to the apres-ski crowd. See kitzbuehel.com
THE MUSEUMS
FRANKFURT
Credit: AP
Seldom-visited Frankfurt devotes 10 per cent of its budget to culture and has an entire museum district along the Main River devoted to everything from Romantic art to religious icons, film to electronic music. You can see Impressionist sunflowers and lily ponds without the crowds at Stadel Museum. Hard to pick which venue is best, but Liebieghaus is stuffed with 5000 years of superb sculpture: Sumerian gods, Renaissance saints, abstract modern arrangements. In the old town, Goethe Museum, the birthplace of Germany's most famous writer, provides a look at middle-class living in the eighteenth century. See museumsufer.de
WHERE ELSE?
Basel in Switzerland makes the most of pharma profits to support outstanding museums such as Foundation Beyeler for contemporary art and Museum Jean Tinguely for quirky mechanised sculptures, among several others. See basel.com
THE LANDSCAPE
NORTHERN ICELAND
Credit: iStock
Though the Golden Circle near Reykjavik is a tourist hotspot, far fewer visitors get other parts of this European outpost of magnificently alien and truly unique landscapes. Northern Iceland is indented with fjords, glistening with glaciers, thundering with waterfalls and pockmarked by lava fields and bubbling mud that showcase nature's raw power. You can tunnel into glaciers, descend into lava tubes, white-water raft down frigid rivers and puffin-watch on cliffs. In winter, eerie northern lights add to the otherworldly feeling. Almost every Icelandic town has a dramatic coastal setting, yet world-class facilities and cosy Nordic chic. If you have time, tackle the entire 1300-kilometre Route 1, which circumnavigates the island. See visiticeland.com
WHERE ELSE?
Finnish Lapland provides similar wilderness, remoteness and adventure. You can cross-country ski, snowshoe, husky sledge and venture into the frozen forest by snowmobile. See lapland.fi
UNDERRATED EUROPE, AGREE OR DISAGREE?
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