What little-known destination would you recommend visiting?

[RooFlyer]

Certainly Turkmenistan- I doubt many could say where it was on a map.

I would second the Davaza Crater as being “particularly incredible” as well as being extremely difficult to get to.

 

[Hvr]

I visited here a few years ago when I visited Mt Rushmore. Cray Horse memorial.

Well worth the extra few miles.

The historic snub that created the world’s largest mountain carving

After a push to include a Native American leader on Mount Rushmore was snubbed, Standing Bear decided to create one himself.

www.theage.com.au

 

[boxjelly5]

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.

Yes. Beautiful spot. Dropped in there for a day on our Carib cruise last month.

 

[leilajake]

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

Wow….where exactly is that in Uzbekistan. It looks beautiful.

 

[Norjet441]

Certainly Turkmenistan- I doubt many could say where it was on a map.

I would second the Davaza Crater as being “particularly incredible” as well as being extremely difficult to get to.

Agree 100%. I lived in Ashgabat (all fountains and marble) for 2 years and would go back at the drop of a hat. It's just so different. The Gateway to Hell is a great excursion to do, but so is the Caspian Sea coast at Turkmenbashy and the cable car into the mountains near the border with Iran. And don't forget the ruins at Mary.

A great trip for me would be Almaty & Ashgabat and then ending up in Baku. If not sponsored to visit for business, getting a visa for Turkmenistan might be a problem. An organised tour would be the only other option

 

[MooTime]

Cala Goloritze, Sardina (island) Italy.
The other island off Italy, not Sicily.

Eastern-Central on the island, decent decline of 500meters from carpark over 3.5km only way there or boat of course. Returning up the hill to your car on the return sure got the sweat going. Crystal clear water.

That tall rock had many people abseiling, amazing.

Note we visited / snorkelled close to 50 beaches in a week, extremely little fish, the Italians obviously fished them out over time.
Not a word of English we heard in the week in Sardinia. Beautiful.

 

[darcy]

Here's another one from me: The Atacama Desert (in Chile) - fly from Santiago to Calama (1h45m) - well worth the detour - the scenery is amazing.

Was going to be one of mine - amazing scenery and the closest I will ever get to being on the moon

 

[darcy]

Road trip for 10 days in the Salta Province and Juyuy in NW Argentina. Drove from Salta in our Avis Renault Logan (manual everything) up to Purmamarca and used this as a base to visit the Salinas Grandes salt flats at 4000m, Tilcara region and other remote places then back to Salta and south to Cafayate. The drive to Cafayate went through some amazing and unexpected landscapes and we used Cafayate as a base to explore the area (and taste a few of the local wines). From here we drove to Cachi on very basic gravel roads - stopped here for 1 night and then back to Salta via the high altitude Parque Nacional los Cardones.
Highlights:
- amazing low and high altitude landscapes
- culture and friendly locals (mostly)
- remote
- the road from Purmamarca upto the salt flats. Can drive all the way through to San Pedro de Atacama
- the road from Cachi through Parque Nacional and down to Salta
- food & wine particularly if you like meat (and wine)
- amazing and "relatively" safe road trip

So many wonderful areas in Chile & Argentina

 

[CaptJCool]

Thor has visited every country in the world without flying — it took him a decade

this seemed appropriate for this thread seeing he's been to 203 "countries" many which are little known destinations

 

[Ski Traveller]

Wharram Percy, an abandoned medieval village in North Yorkshire, UK.

 

[CaptJCool]

Wharram Percy, an abandoned medieval village in North Yorkshire, UK.

which reminded me of this The Great Knaresborough Bed Race - Knaresborough Bed Race

Wharram Percy Deserted Medieval Village

The most famous and intensively studied of Britain's 3,000 or so deserted medieval villages, Wharram Percy occupies a remote but attractive site in a beautiful Wolds valley.

www.english-heritage.org.uk

turns out they're about 40 miles apart

 

[Journeyman]

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?

Ascension Island. Hard to get to. Best diving in the world - bar none.

 

[jastel]

I visited here a few years ago when I visited Mt Rushmore. Cray Horse memorial.

Well worth the extra few miles.

The historic snub that created the world’s largest mountain carving

After a push to include a Native American leader on Mount Rushmore was snubbed, Standing Bear decided to create one himself.

www.theage.com.au

A nice spot I went about 10 years back...doesnt look like they have got much further.

I also went a few more extra miles to the next state and saw "Devils Tower" from Close Encounters of the Third Kind movie. It was impressive.

 

[stm1sydney]

Wow….where exactly is that in Uzbekistan. It looks beautiful.

The Registan in Samarkand.

 

[Foreigner]

London, Paris and Poland, on the one trip:

Kiritimati Island - Kiribati for Travellers

Welcome to KIRITIMATI ISLAND About Kiritimati Island (pronounced Christmas Island) the world’s largest coral atoll is main hub for the Line Islands group of the Republic of Kiribati situated within the northern Line Islands group of Kiribati 232 km (144 mi) north of the Equator and 2,160 km...

visitkiribati.travel

My planned trip would be to arrive in the morning (NAN-CXI-HNL), depart in the afternoon (HNL-CXI-NAN)

For a longer stay:

https://corporate.visitkiribati.travel/download/10things2do/?wpdmdl=600&_wpdmkey=647d362a98233&subscriber=BGI4PspfUpTGl7snE5ppSds4kqjbQgTz-7JpYP3mmA8lnQocd-J4eNo2PMxFYNW4JO1Sp9r4ncalIM9lm4WGUg

 

[Cessna 180]

Tinian.

 

[Mattg]

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

This has been on my bucket list for some time. I finally got to visit Samarkand today - and it was very special indeed!

 

[Tiki]

I think most people think of Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and Namibia for safaris. But the best safari I have ever been on was in South Luangwa NP. Zambia doesn't have to be expensive, we stayed in a pre-erected safari tent and went on game drives from the lodge. The secret to saving money on safaris is to avoid organized groups and just book accommodation. we took the bus from Lusaka to the small town nearby, then a taxi to the lodge which was not expensive iirc.

 

[BelindaJK101]

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

Hey @stm1sydney that looks amazing. Did you visit in winter? We are looking to go this December/Jan and it's hard to get much info about visiting then.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Dapto. Don't knock until you've tried it.