What are the locations that have good reputation in your country but are overlooked elsewhere?

23 comments

1. Everything that isn’t eather Amsterdam or in the Holland provinces.

   The Wadden Sea islands, Frisian lakes, Drenthe, Veluwe, South Limburg and Zeeland are all typical tourist destinations for Dutch people but not for foreigners. Cities like Groningen, Nijmegen and Maastricht are popular for daytrips. German tourists are an exception to this rule tho.

2. The whole lake district in Finland is popular with the locals, especially with the summer cottages being located mostly in that area. But to tourists there’s really only the capital city and Lapland to visit.

3. Basically everything out of Mediterranean coast or Madrid, but the winner is Asturias.

4. We love our nature. Hiking an similar activities are our passion. It’s well reflected by probably the best network of marked hiking trails in the world. We have beautiful national parks and reserves, but foreign tourists mostly visit just Prague and few other cities and towns.

5. The southern coast is the vacation destination for most Norwegians and completely overlooked by foreigners. The weather is usually nice down there and the culture is very mellow. Most families have a summer house where they will stay for a few weeks during summer. The vacations down there are all about being as relaxed as possible while almost meditavely fishing, crabbing, boating and drinking.

   I can see why it’s overlooked by foreigners though, it’s a destination for recreational vacationing rather than sightseeing.

6. I find that most locations close to the Cinque Terre are equally beautiful, maybe even more. Lerici, Tellaro, Fiascherino, Portovenere (my personal favorite)… international tourists know only the Cinque Terre but there’s much more to the area.

7. I didnt know almost anything about Lyon until I lived there for 3 months. But its a great city, and should be included in more guides

8. Most foreigners who come to Germany on holiday travel to big cities, especially Berlin, or are cultural tourists, i.e. Neuschwanstein Castle, Cologne Cathedral, Hamburg Miniature World.

   The most popular destinations for Germans in Germany are the Baltic Sea in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the mountains in Bavaria.

   My favourite place in Germany, where you also meet almost only other German tourists, is the Spree Forest. I like cycling and there is beautiful nature and good cycle paths there, and at the end I lie down in the thermal baths in Bad Saarow.

9. Maybe the area around Rome (Castelli Romani) and Sardinia. When I go to Castelli Romani I am surprised to not see international tourists as in Apulia. I see also that Sardinia has almost no international resonance, whilst it is surely one of the favorite destinations by Italians.

10. There are tons of places here where Italian tourists go but few foreigners…. the vast majority of the coast of Italy, and a lot of the mountains too!

    Most foreigners concentrate on the major cities and the smaller historic cities and towns.

11. Mechelen, Namur, Gent (although it’s been getting more famous internationally) are some examples. They’re all beautiful cities that are often overlooked by tourists who prefer Brugge, Dinant, Brussel or Antwerpen.

12. You are right about Lyon, it is popular with french peoples but unpopular abroad.

    I would also add Brittany, Nantes and Bordeaux (Bordeaux is fairly well-known abroad though.)

13. I‘d say all of Austria which is not a tourism hotspot. Due to the countries rich history and it’s land reduction after the world wars, everything is cramped into this small country, so you can find a lot of awesome historical and natural sites all over the country, not just in Vienna, Salzburg and the Salzkammergut.

14. Manchester.

    Within the UK it has the reputation of being the city that is most devoted to nightlife and particularly live music.

    Yet tourists coming to the UK avoid it and go to London, Liverpool, Brighton and Edinburgh for the exact same thing, and consider Manchester simply to be a city that’s all about football.

15. Harz Mountains in Central Germany are pretty popular among Germans but hardly any people from abroad visit..

16. Bologna is with Naples the culinary capital of Italy – It’s also perhaps the city with most important university in Italy

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    Yet only Italians know it for both

17. Hmmm… perhaps the Gerês mountains and Serra da Estrela? Not too many people come to Portugal to see the mountains.

18. I’d say Italian Alps, people outside of Italy usually think that Italy is all sun and sea but we actually “own” 26% of the Alps, more than any other country, and we have some good spots there with snowy landscapes and picturesque villages.

    Edit:
    I mixed up shares, we own 27.2% and we follow closely Austria

19. I can‘t say a specific location, but it is severely underestimated how many forests Germany has. If you are a fan of hiking through them, Germany is your top country to go to

20. I have a friend who used to live in Lyon and I visited her some years ago. I agree, it’s a very beautiful place and it often gets overlooked.

21. Greece: Peloponnese peninsula. Everyone prefers the islands, and granted they are all stunning, but the Peloponnese has that plus history, cuisine, accessibility, uncommercialised beaches, natural beauty, and more.

22. The Haslital region, which starts after Lake Brienz. Most tourists who aren’t German or Dutch tend to stop at Interlaken and go to the Jungfrau/Grindelwald areas because it’s more famous. However, in my heavily biased opinion, the Haslital offers a more authentically Swiss alpine lifestyle/experience

23. Any small western administrative capital like Ternopil or Ivano-Frankivsk