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Underrated places/sights

appledrop

Following on from thread about overrated sights/places I thought we could have one on underrated places/sights.

I will start with Krakow. I was there about 10 years ago and it was unreal. While some tourists not overrun like Prague. Very beautiful city + surrounding countryside which I wasn't expecting. Thought there would be more high rise excommunist buildings. Very cheap we would have our dinner out every evening with wine for less than €20.

I hope it hasnt changed + is still charming.

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Spanish Eyes

selwyn froggitt wrote: »

I’d say Malaga, which is usually seen as an airport through which to access the mostly-dreadful Costa del Sol, but has fantastic outdoors life, food, museums, history and architecture.

Agree with you there, most people turn right coming out of the airport and miss a city that is easy enough to walk around with many hidden streets and a great vibe. City beach too and great shopping area + amazing Tapas. Such a nice place. Great for a long weekend.

Roadtoad

Sea Head on a bicycle, about 40 km, can take all day if lubrication is needed.

smilerf

murpho999 wrote: »

Turkey.

For some reason (mostly Midnight Express) has a poor reputation but I love it there.

Packed with historical sights (Loved Epheses). Natural places like Pamukale.

Istanbul is a beautiful city.

People are very friendly and the food is fantastic.

A very varied country to visit that many people in Ireland ignore or are fearful of for no valid reasons.

So agree. There is nothing like a Turkish sunset while looking out at samos

Esel

murpho999 wrote: »

Turkey.

For some reason (mostly Midnight Express) has a poor reputation but I love it there.

Packed with historical sights (Loved Epheses). Natural places like Pamukale.

Istanbul is a beautiful city.

People are very friendly and the food is fantastic.

A very varied country to visit that many people in Ireland ignore or are fearful of for no valid reasons.

Is Human Rights abuse a valid reason?

pawdee

The Cake District. Lot's of fat hill walkers there but it's lovely.

tupenny

murpho999 wrote: »

Turkey.

For some reason (mostly Midnight Express) has a poor reputation but I love it there.

Packed with historical sights (Loved Epheses). Natural places like Pamukale.

Istanbul is a beautiful city.

People are very friendly and the food is fantastic.

A very varied country to visit that many people in Ireland ignore or are fearful of for no valid reasons.

Agree it's an interesting and beautiful place. But there as a 16year old white girl was not fun, creeps touching you while your dad's back is turned. Wont be returning

Dick phelan

Busan in Korea is a fantastic city lovely near the beach as well. Haven't been but a mate studied in Slovenia said it was a stunning place. Also Xian in China is pretty well know but as a place to visit it beats Shanghai or Beijing hands down imo.

murpho999

Esel wrote: »

Is Human Rights abuse a valid reason?

No as it’s about locations and sights that are underrated not politics.
Not all great places to visit are in democracies.

tupenny wrote: »

Agree it's an interesting and beautiful place. But there as a 16year old white girl was not fun, creeps touching you while your dad's back is turned. Wont be returning

Yes, I have heard some stories like that which is a pity.

Hector Savage

Ahorseofaman wrote: »

I went to the the Natural History Museum for the first time recently and had a fascinating few hours there.Well worth a visit.

Have they still closed off the top sections ? they were the best part of that museum ... now safety nonsense means you can't go there...

Hector Savage

pawdee wrote: »

The Cake District. Lot's of fat hill walkers there but it's lovely.

Surely its a typo and you mean Lake District ?
or maybe not, Cake District could be a place too ....

questionmark?

selwyn froggitt wrote: »

I’d say Malaga, which is usually seen as an airport through which to access the mostly-dreadful Costa del Sol, but has fantastic outdoors life, food, museums, history and architecture.

Couldn't agree more. People think of the airport and not the city. Fantastic destination for a long weekend. A real spanish city with a great vibe unlike most the places on the costa del Sol.

MarkY91

I think most Irish attractions are a bit crap for international standards but the cliffs of mother in my opinion were impressive. We had a perfectly blue sky day with no wind thought. Our tour bus driver mentioned that the week before, it was so foggy and rainy etc that you couldn't even see the cliffs. So depending on weather.

I don't know if Budapest is underated or not but before going, I wasn't really aware how beautiful the waterfront is. We spent the day exploring the buda side of the river. It's probably one of my favourite days ever of exploring Europe.

Philippines in general. Never seen it advertised anywhere in travel agents. The hype is all for Thailand. Thailand is oversaturated with westerners. Philippines has no much natural beauty, it's like the Maldives in parts. A negative though(for me anyway) the cities are absolute ****holes. I know Bangkok is bad in parts but not as bad and Bangkok has culture and Buddhist temples why which I really missed out on in Philippines due to them being Catholic.

Closer to home again...howth. such a short ride from town to a wonderful cliffwalk and picturesque harbour/town. I always leave howth satisfied.

MarkY91

tupenny wrote: »

Agree it's an interesting and beautiful place. But there as a 16year old white girl was not fun, creeps touching you while your dad's back is turned. Wont be returning

Went to gumbet on a family holiday. Witnessed the typical Turkish creep chatting up my ma day and night, one even touched her arse.

My ma was like 65 at the time......

MarkY91

Hector Savage wrote: »

Have they still closed off the top sections ? they were the best part of that museum ... now safety nonsense means you can't go there...

Was closed off when I was there about 6 months ago and also about 2 years ago.

Pity as I remember it being open as a school kids on school tours and summer projects.

Hurrache

Hector Savage wrote: »

Have they still closed off the top sections ? they were the best part of that museum ... now safety nonsense means you can't go there...

Unfortunately still closed but works are due. They're building an external elevator to add wheelchair access and they also need to add fire escapes, which I don't think there are any at the moment. Reasonable requirements as opposed to nonsense I would say.

Hector Savage

Hurrache wrote: »

Unfortunately still closed but works are due. They're building an external elevator to add wheelchair access and they also need to add fire escapes, which I don't think there are any at the moment. Reasonable requirements as opposed to nonsense I would say.

Yes its the fire escape reason that its closed.

I can't imagine a scenario where people couldn't use the regular stairs from those 2 balconies and then use the regular fire escape.... it's checking boxes.

Birneybau

Can highly recommend Albania. Did the below tour a few months ago, bit of a lungbuster, but spectacular. Also, spent a day/night in Pogorica in Montenegro, flew home from there, and would have like to have spent more time there.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/albania/travel-tips-and-articles/hiking-in-albanias-accursed-mountains/40625c8c-8a11-5710-a052-1479d27619f0

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

I was amazed at the natural beauty of Corfu. It’s one those places where you just think ‘sun holiday’ when you hear the name but the mountain roads and their concomitant views, the old town of Corfu town and the views across to the mountains of Albania were all beautiful.

gerrybbadd wrote: »

The drive to Lough Easkey in Co. Sligo. You head up through the Ox Mountains. It's really stunning up there

Sligo county in general is criminally underrated. Mullaghmore, Lough Gill, numerous gorgeous beaches actually, the Ox mountains, Ben Bulben etc. For a small county, it really punches above its weight.

Alpha_zero

I was in Krakow 11 years ago and it was thronged with tourists, cool spot but even then with direct flights from Ireland was a big hotspot and with Auschwitz close by as a major tourist attraction.

Everyone wants this really amazing place just for themselves. Overrated/Underrated is merely one's opinion.

Alpha_zero

You can travel to an uninspiring destination and meet really cool people which makes it memorable. All everyone wants is the picture for their multitude of social media bragging.

mrsdewinter

MayoForSam wrote: »

+1 - Italy is fantastic, you can add Lucca, Lecce, Treviso, Bologna and Ferrara to your list. Hill towns in Puglia are also hidden gems - Matera, Locorotondo, Ostuni, Cisternino. Elba is also well worth a visit (we spent our honeymoon there many years ago).

If you're in Krakow, don't miss the salt mines.

Matera is amazing, truly spectacular.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts

Hector Savage wrote: »

Yes its the fire escape reason that its closed.

I can't imagine a scenario where people couldn't use the regular stairs from those 2 balconies and then use the regular fire escape.... it's checking boxes.

If it’s a safety requirement that they have to put them in, it’s hardly their fault. The railing on that level was also very low as I recall, very easy for someone to fall over. I’d imagine it’s a listed building too which probably slows down any work being done. And let’s not forget that a staircase collapsed in this museum a decade ago. It’s a rickety enough building that I’d imagine needs a lot of work done on it.

Muahahaha

Birneybau wrote: »

Can highly recommend Albania. Did the below tour a few months ago, bit of a lungbuster, but spectacular. Also, spent a day/night in Pogorica in Montenegro, flew home from there, and would have like to have spent more time there.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/albania/travel-tips-and-articles/hiking-in-albanias-accursed-mountains/40625c8c-8a11-5710-a052-1479d27619f0

Looks amazing. What was the hike like, pretty tough? Also what airline flys to Pogorica?

Rothko

Alpha_zero wrote: »

You can travel to an uninspiring destination and meet really cool people which makes it memorable. All everyone wants is the picture for their multitude of social media bragging.

Might be true for some people but certainly not for everyone.

Plumbthedepths

Romania, beautiful country and incredibly friendly people. Stayed in a village called Bran a few years back. The regional city was Brasov beautiful and unspoilt. Also incredible value once you get there.

Birneybau

Muahahaha wrote: »

Birneybau wrote: »

Can highly recommend Albania. Did the below tour a few months ago, bit of a lungbuster, but spectacular. Also, spent a day/night in Pogorica in Montenegro, flew home from there, and would have like to have spent more time there.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/albania/travel-tips-and-articles/hiking-in-albanias-accursed-mountains/40625c8c-8a11-5710-a052-1479d27619f0

Looks amazing. What was the hike like, pretty tough? Also what airline flys to Pogorica?

Flew into Tirana via Athens, spent a few days in Tirana, nice enough place. Had a hiking tour with my mate booked up, transfers etc. I'll post up the link when I get a chance.

Birneybau

First day hiking hard enough, 2nd day was actually to next hotel/hostel. Bags brought ahead by old man and donkey. 13km up and down. Bit of scrabbling involved at the very end, which was...not great. 9 hours-ish.

Muahahaha

So about 26km over the two days?

Sounds good I must research it a bit more. Have been meaning to do a jaunt to Albania for a while now

Birneybau

Muahahaha wrote: »

So about 26km over the two days?

Sounds good I must research it a bit more. Have been meaning to do a jaunt to Albania for a while now

Sorry for late reply. 1st day is up to yourself, various hikes, but yeah, reckon we did at least 13km each day.

Here's the actual site:

https://www.thenaturaladventure.com/activities/accursed-mountains-short-break/

snowstorm445

Valencia is a lovely city, definitely not as touristy as other places in Spain.

The downtown is very fancy, there’s some lovely churches, and the City of Arts and Sciences is very futuristic and well worth a visit (although getting into the building itself is a bit of a ripoff). They diverted the river that used to flow through the city and it’s now been turned into a giant park. It’s also the home of paella and horchata (a sort of milky drink that is very refreshing in the middle of summer).

Definitely worth a visit.