What little-known destination would you recommend visiting?

[Mattg]

What destination have you visited which isn't that well-known and isn't a popular holiday destination for Australians, but that you absolutely loved?

For me, it would have to be Almaty, Kazakhstan. It's my favourite city in Asia. It's hard to pinpoint just one reason I love that place, but a few reasons would be:

• The mix between Kazakh history, the Soviet influence and modern architecture as the city has developed over the last 3 decades
• It's beautiful, not just in terms of architecture but also the scenery and it's surrounded by mountains where you can easily go skiing in winter or hiking in summer
• It's a big city but doesn't really feel like one, and is easy to get around (it even has a modern subway system)
• Very friendly people
• Nice food
• It's a very affordable destination
• It has better internet than Australia and first-world facilities (e.g. hospitals etc.)
• It just feels very different to most other cities and countries I've been to
• It's a hub for central Asia, and you can easily get to other parts of the CIS from there

What's your favourite hidden gem?

 

[LostRedditor]

I’m going to recommend my hometown in Norway - Tønsberg. It is by many accounts considered to be the oldest city in Norway and it features some ruins that are still around from the city’s initial settlement. some reasons I’d recommend it are

• Very picturesque, especially from the top of the fortress
• Beautiful harbour with a bustling restaurant scene relative to its size (50k population)
• Whaling and Viking museums
• Nice opera house with great performances
• Nice beaches with decent water temps in summer (well, July)
• Friendly locals who love meeting Aussies
• Only an hour or so from Oslo by train

obviously it’s expensive as is all of Norway, but if you are spending time in or near Oslo I highly recommend heading south a bit for a visit

 

[clifford]

Well none, because I'd like to keep them little known...

 

[Captain Halliday]

Okay, I’ll say it:

Chairman’s Lounge.

 

[AIRwin]

Beach near Port Resolution on Tanna Island:

 

[ols]

Cocos & Keeling Islands

 

[stm1sydney]

Uzbekistan.

 

[AIRwin]

Beach near Port Resolution on Tanna Island:

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www.bne.com.au

 

[exceladdict]

Cocos & Keeling Islands

View attachment 328675

Quite interested!

 

[stm1sydney]

OK, I'll put up a Samarkand, Uzbekistan photo as well...

 

[drron]

Slovenia.

 

[dairyfloss]

We loved St Lucia, in the Caribbean, and our stay at the beautiful Viceroy Sugar Beach. Great place; great people (including the funniest young butler who would continually check in with me wherever I was in the resort that I had enough of their included local 'Piton' beers in our villa fridge!), great food, and grand views from where it is nestled between 'the Pitons' on the south-west coast, below a rainforest.

I can't find my own photos of it, from where I am, but here's some images of the place from the www:

Cheers,
Matt.

 

[luxury-lizard]

How about Visby on Gotland Island, Sweden - a short flight from from Stockholm and filled with interesting history, scenery and great food.

While not really off the beaten track - we found Cappadocia, Türkiye - truly amazing.

 

[flyingfan]

Lesotho, which I visited by truck as part of a southern/eastern African tour and was the highlight - stunning valley scenery, rock art and cherry blossoms.
Amazingly, the accommodation we stayed at took Amex - even my Melbourne cafe doesn't!

 

[Guvner]

Saipan, CNMI. Lovely people, beautiful beaches, interesting history. Plenty to do.

 

[Cossie]

Northern Laos, Nong Khiew in particular, thanks @Flashback!
Anywhere in Laos to be honest, Vat Phou cruise, thanks @RooFlyer!
Do it now, it’s changing so quickly..

 

[RooFlyer]

Been thinking about this over a few days and following Matt's criteria: isn't that well-known and isn't a popular holiday destination for Australians, but that you absolutely loved? and sort of put my own definition: What little known place have I visited, that, if I was dropped back there, I'd absolutely love the return visit?

Brasov, Romania (Transylvania). A small city; old medieval centre, open squares, lively markets and restaurants, fantastic wine bars, surrounded by lush green hills, just lovely. I'd link to my TR but somehow the pics have been deleted.

 

[Flashback]

Northern Laos, Nong Khiew in particular, thanks @Flashback!
Anywhere in Laos to be honest, Vat Phou cruise, thanks @RooFlyer!
Do it now, it’s changing so quickly..

Funnily enough when I saw I had been mentioned in this thread.. I was going to pop over and mention the same place

To add my own, Koprivshtitsa in Bulgaria and Bagan in Myanmar.

 

[henleybeach]

It’s a tie for me, with Baku and like @Mattg, Almaty
Both lovely places with super friendly people.

BAKU

ALMATY

 

[Matt_01]

@Mattg I like threads like these as it gets me thinking about places I may not have thought about, dismissed, and in some cases may have been to the country but not to a particular location. I tend to watch the Trip report threads to get ideas. I was in NZ a few weeks back and when planning back in Jan I remembered a TR @craven morehead had posted so I sent him a DM asking about accommodation I ended up staying at the same place and it was very nice. I would suggest it is most likely we stayed in similar room or maybe the same one as when I arrived the manager mentioned we had been already been upgraded to the highest class of room and closest to the main building.