There are few things better in the travel world than realising you’re getting the best of a place few other people know about.
You probably know the excitement, even if you don’t realise what has provoked it. It’s the feeling of discovery, the realisation that this place you’re visiting is giving you so much more than you expected.
Spain’s capital always lags Barcelona and even Seville when it comes to tourists’ attention, but the truth is this arty, cosmopolitan city might just be the best of the bunch. The restaurant scene in Madrid is world-class; the art galleries feature some of history’s most famous works; plus you have sprawling parks, heaving tapas bars, and a sense that you’re escaping the bulk of the tourist hordes.
This part of Europe is cheap, cheerful and as yet – apart from some key cities – un-tramped by tourist hordes, although that’s changing, especially in Albania, the latest go-to Mediterranean beach destination. You’ll find terrific mountain, gorge and coastal scenery, ancient Greek ruins, castles, cultured towns and a heady blend of east-west influences and cuisines.
Decades of violence have given Belfast associations that are difficult to shake off. But the Troubles have gone, the city’s grand Victorian-era centre has been buffed up, shops and pubs are thriving and the excellent Titanic Belfast has become a major attraction on the revamped waterfront. Belfast is arty, optimistic and worth a visit.
From saguaro-strewn plains to red rock canyons, pine forests to isolated mountain ranges known as “sky islands”, Arizona is a geological wonderland, with the Grand Canyon the jewel in its striated crown. Add to that a rich Western heritage, ancient pueblo ruins and the nostalgia of Route 66, and Arizona becomes the perfect road trip destination, punctuated by cool cities to round out the experience.
Perpetually overshadowed by its more famous neighbour, the Lake District, Northumberland is England’s least-visited and least-populated national park. Wedged between Newcastle and the Scottish Borders, it’s a gentle landscape of rolling hills, forests and moorland. What it lacks in geological drama, it makes up for with historical clout, boasting numerous Iron Age hill forts and the snaking 117-kilometre-long Hadrian’s Wall.
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