Every traveler has a list of places they’ve been meaning to get to — the ones that don’t appear on magazine covers or airline route maps but keep surfacing in conversations with people whose opinions you trust. These are twelve of them: genuinely extraordinary destinations that reward the extra flight, the longer drive, or the willingness to figure out a logistics puzzle. Each one is accessible with reasonable planning. None of them will feel like everyone else’s trip.
1. The Faroe Islands
Eighteen islands in the North Atlantic, halfway between Norway and Iceland, where the grass grows on the rooftops of turf houses and puffins nest in cliff faces above fishing villages. Atlantic Airways and Icelandair connect the Faroes to Europe; the flight from Copenhagen takes two hours. Rent a car — the infrastructure of tunnels and bridges between islands is remarkable — and drive. There are no crowds. There is exceptional lamb, surprising restaurants in Tórshavn (the world’s smallest capital), and a landscape that looks like it belongs in a different century.
2. Socotra Island, Yemen
The “Galápagos of the Indian Ocean” — an island so isolated that a third of its plant life exists nowhere else on Earth. The Dragon Blood Tree, with its umbrella canopy of upward-pointing branches, is one of the most alien-looking organisms on the planet. Access is via flights from Abu Dhabi or Cairo; the security situation in mainland Yemen doesn’t extend to Socotra, which has remained largely stable. Organized tours are the most practical approach; a week-long trip runs approximately $1,500–2,000 including flights from the UAE.
3. Svalbard, Norway
At 78°N, Svalbard is the northernmost permanently inhabited place on Earth — and it requires no visa for any nationality to visit. Longyearbyen, the main settlement, has direct flights from Oslo (3 hours) and a surprisingly good hotel and restaurant scene for a place surrounded by polar bears and permafrost. In summer: midnight sun, boat trips among glaciers and walrus colonies, and Arctic hiking. In winter: dog sledding, snowmobiling across frozen fjords, and the most reliable northern lights in the Arctic. Budget $250–400/day for accommodation and guided activities.
4. Matera, Italy
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Matera’s sassi — cave dwellings carved into a limestone ravine in Basilicata — were considered Italy’s national shame in the 1950s and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. Many of the caves have since been converted into extraordinary boutique hotels and restaurants. The city was a European Capital of Culture in 2019 and still hasn’t been overrun. Getting there requires effort: fly to Bari or Naples and drive two hours, or take a regional train. The effort is the point.
5. The Lofoten Islands, Norway
A chain of islands above the Arctic Circle with mountains that plunge directly into fjords, red fishermen’s cabins on stilts, and one of Norway’s most celebrated surf breaks at Unstad. The light in summer — golden at midnight — and the northern lights in winter make it a destination for photographers above almost any other. Fly to Svolvær from Oslo (2 hours) or drive the E10 from the mainland for a route that crosses a series of increasingly dramatic islands. Accommodation in the traditional rorbuer (fishermen’s cabins) runs $100–250/night.
6. Luang Prabang, Laos
A UNESCO-listed city at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, where French colonial architecture meets Theravada Buddhist monasteries and the pace of life operates on an entirely different clock from the rest of Southeast Asia. At 5am, saffron-robed monks conduct the tak bat — a silent alms-giving procession along the main street — that is one of the most moving sights in Asia. The city has excellent restaurants (the fusion of French and Lao cuisines is genuinely distinctive), waterfalls at Kuang Si within easy reach, and an afternoon market that runs along the peninsula’s riverside path. Fly from Bangkok (1h 15min) or arrive by slow boat from the Thai border.
7. Puglia, Italy
The heel of Italy’s boot has been discovered — but not yet overrun. The trulli of Alberobello (conical stone houses with whitewashed walls and grey stone roofs), the baroque gold of Lecce’s churches, the Adriatic coast near Otranto, the masserie (fortified farm estates) converted into exceptional agriturismos — this is one of Europe’s most interesting culinary and architectural regions. Fly direct to Bari or Brindisi from most European hubs. Late spring (May–June) or early autumn (September–October) for ideal weather and manageable crowds.
8. The Azores, Portugal
Nine volcanic islands in the mid-Atlantic, accessible by short flights from Lisbon and increasingly connected to North America via SATA and Azores Airlines. São Miguel, the largest island, has volcanic crater lakes (Sete Cidades), hot springs you can cook in, and a whale-watching industry built on year-round cetacean sightings. Flores, to the west, is so remote it feels like the edge of the world — it is, nearly. The Azores are legitimately uncrowded, genuinely affordable (meals run €8–15 for a full dinner), and scenically extraordinary.
9. Chefchaouen, Morocco
The “Blue City” in the Rif Mountains — where the medina’s alleys, walls, and staircases are painted in dozens of shades of blue — has become more visited in the Instagram era but retains a genuinely meditative quality that Marrakech lost years ago. Getting there requires a bus from Tangier (3 hours) or Fès (4 hours); there’s no train. Stay in a riad in the medina, eat at the simple restaurants on Plaza Uta el-Hammam, and hike the Spanish Mosque path above the city at sunset. Two nights is enough; three is better.
10. Oaxaca, Mexico
Mexico’s most compelling food city is also a center for indigenous Zapotec culture, mezcal production, and contemporary art. The markets — Mercado Benito Juárez, Mercado 20 de Noviembre — are among the best in Latin America: tlayudas, chapulines (toasted grasshoppers), chocolate mole paste sold by the kilo, and the most complex array of chili peppers you’ll find under one roof. Monte Albán, the hilltop Zapotec city above Oaxaca, is one of the great pre-Columbian sites in Mexico. The city’s arts scene, centered on the textile and craft traditions of the surrounding villages, supports galleries and cooperatives of genuine quality. Fly from Mexico City (45 minutes) or direct from several US cities.
11. Kyushu, Japan
Japan’s southernmost main island is unknown to most international visitors, who confine themselves to the Tokyo-Kyoto axis. Kyushu has its own distinct character: the active volcano of Sakurajima looming over Kagoshima Bay, the onsen town of Beppu with its “hells” of boiling colored pools, the castle town of Kumamoto, and the rural Aso caldera — one of the largest on Earth — where cattle graze on volcanic grasslands. Fly to Fukuoka (excellent ramen, excellent city) and rent a car. A week loops the island comfortably.
12. The Peloponnese, Greece
While the Greek islands fill with summer crowds, the Peloponnese peninsula on the Greek mainland remains comparatively quiet and offers what may be the greatest concentration of ancient sites in Europe. Olympia (where the Games began), Mycenae (the Bronze Age citadel of Agamemnon), Epidaurus (the ancient theater with perfect acoustics), and the Byzantine ghost town of Mystras — all within a day’s drive of each other. The Mani peninsula in the south is a landscape of stone tower houses and wild coastline that feels entirely apart from contemporary tourism. Rent a car from Athens (2 hours to Corinth) or fly to Kalamata.
The common thread through all twelve of these destinations is that they require you to exercise your own curiosity rather than follow a well-worn groove. That extra effort — the less direct flight, the car rental, the advance research — is precisely what makes the experience yours. The best trips are always the ones that took some figuring out.
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