Get There Before Everyone Else Does
The places on this list are extraordinary. They are also unknown enough that you will not be fighting for space to see them. That window does not stay open forever. The moment a place appears on a major travel list, it changes. Some of these places are close to that moment. Go now.
The Mediterranean coast that tourism forgot. Ottoman old towns, mountain roads, and prices that feel like a decade ago. Everyone who goes comes back and says the same thing: why did nobody tell me about this?
Eighteen islands in the North Atlantic that look like no place else on Earth. The hiking is extraordinary. The weather is unpredictable. The tourism industry has barely arrived. Go before it does.
The Silk Road without the crowds. Nomadic yurt camps, dramatic mountain passes, and a hospitality culture that will genuinely surprise you. Almost no infrastructure. Almost no other tourists.
A thousand kilometres of Indian Ocean coastline that the world has not discovered yet. Coral reefs, island archipelagos, and a Swahili culture that is unlike anywhere else in Africa.
Editor's Pick
The Albanian Riviera has been there the whole time, sitting just south of the Greek islands that everyone goes to. Pristine beaches, Ottoman old towns in the hills, and prices that feel like Europe twenty years ago. Everyone who goes says the same thing afterward: why did nobody tell me about this? Now you know.
Read Full GuideSoutheast Europe
The Mediterranean that tourism has not reached yet. Go now, before it does.
North Atlantic
Eighteen islands that look like nowhere else on Earth. The crowds have not found them yet.
Central Asia
Nomadic yurt camps, Silk Road mountain passes, almost no other tourists.
East Africa
A thousand kilometres of Indian Ocean coastline the world has not discovered.
Caribbean
The Nature Island. No mega-resorts. No cruise ship crowds. Real Caribbean jungle and volcanic hot springs.
Central Asia
The Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara, finally open to tourists, still empty of them.
South America
The most densely forested country in South America. Almost nobody goes. That is the reason to go.
Eastern Europe
Ancient ruins, Byzantine monasteries, and a lake so beautiful it should not exist.
"The most beautiful thing in travel is arriving somewhere that does not know it is beautiful yet."
— The Forgotten Atlas