What are the best/most beautiful/most interesting places that you've visited that aren't well known tourist attractions?
New England (especially Maine and Massachsetts) England south coast Baja California Montreal But seriously, in any city in the world, there are places that are off the beaten path. Even in Paris, London, New York, etc. there are sights which tend to be glazed over by the touristy types. I like the Lonely Planet guides for finding some of those gems.
I take it you are not from a northeastern state because it seems odd to refer to Maine as being "off the beaten path". The state's nickname is Vactionland and it's one of the biggest summer vacation destinations for people living in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. The traffic on I-95 in Maine on a Friday night/Sunday afternoon during the summer is brutal due to its popularity. It's a beautiful and fun place to visit but I wouldn't consider it to be off the beaten path. Murf
Ah, I wasn't aware of that. In truth, I haven't been there since I was about 8, and you really don't notice traffic and such at that age I guess. That was back when I lived in Massachusetts.
On Maui, all of the guidebooks say to drive the road to Hana, and there are tour buses and everything which will take you on that road. But once you reach Hana, most of the tourists turn around. Some go on to the "Seven Sacred Pools" area which is a few miles past Hana. In between Hana and the "Seven Sacred Pools", there is a pool which is accessible by a short hike, which is a lot prettier than any of the "Seven Sacred Pools", and much much less crowded. I forget the name of the pool. It is in the "Maui Revealed" guidebook from Wizard Publications, and I didn't see it in any of the other guidebooks. I thought the whole road to Hana was overrated, but that pool was really cool, and way better than the "Seven Sacred Pools".
We did a 7 day yacht charter of the Virgin Islands a few months back. Virgin Gorda was unbelievable. Several other small island were way above average. St John was OK as well.
Buck Island National Park is also a good option in the US Virgin Islands. It's off the coast of St. Croix and is (I think) the only underwater US National Park. I went there as a kid and the snorkeling is amazing. Plus, it's kind of funny to see park rangers swimming around underwater. Murf
I thought Slovenia was incredible. It's cheaper than western Europe; Llubjana is a bustling, young and beautiful capital with a river snaking through it; many places are within a couple of hours drive from Llubjana (huge mountains, gorgeous vineyards, the beach); and people are genuinely still excited about having tourists visit.
Molokai' , Hawaii, this where the big waterfall from Jurasic Park can be found, it's called Halava Falls, and Molokai' is the most Hawaiian of all the Islands. If you go to Maui, you can take a boat to Molokai' for $50 round trip, from Lahaina harbor. I also recogmend the HWY to Heaven (Hana highway in Maui), my family on my Mom's side are from there, and i lived there for a couple of years too.You get waterfalls on the right, and clear blue ocean on the left.Hana also has a dope black sand beach, it's called Hamoa, i think, very nice, and has a good break for any kine surfin.You can also pick up some good Bud(Herbs) in Hana.
Big Bend National Park in South Texas is more awe-inspiring than Yellowstone and has about 2% of the visitors.
Calling it relatively unknown is a reach, but the Black Hills are phenomonal. Start with this link http://www.travelsd.com/, then select Destinations. From Rushmore, to Crazy Horse, to Harney Peak (easy climb too for those who aren't hikers), the sights are purely breathtaking. The Needles Highway may the most intriguing drive I've ever done too. Lots of odd rock formations, twists, turns, little log bridges. Custer State Park's cool too, you may see bison right in the middle of the road. Next time I go I'm staying for at least a week.
i have seen, i can agree..very cool. czech republic - although most people visit prague and then get out, my friend and i stopped at a bunch of little cities along the way to prague from munich. it was the best decision we ever made to stop at various points along the way. amazing little towns.
There was an article in the SF Chronicle Sunday travel section a week or two ago, identifying candidates for "the next Prague" -- the Eastern European city which is really cool and where stuff is still cheap because it hasn't been "discovered" yet. Among the candidates were St Petersburg Russia, Tallinn Estonia, Krakow Poland, Belgrade Serbia (!), and Ljubljana. So go now before it gets hip and more expensive.
If you're into nature & stuff... This one is right around the corner for me: Little River Canyon in northeast Alabama
Second.....sixteenth that. I was awestruck when I drove through there, night and day. Red rocks straight up on either side, and the highway engineers did a great job with the split, near double deck like highway stretch, to get traffic through without interrupting the scenery and the surrounding land. The scenery, never mind the topography, is enough to force a 45 mph? speed limit through the canyon on I-70.