Underrated / pleasantly surprising travel destinations

[buncenbunny]

Inspired by another thread about disappointing destinations.

What places dramatically exceeded your expectations? I ended up in Aix-en-Provence for a few days last summer as some plans changed last minute. I’d never heard of it. I now won’t stop raving on about it to anyone who will listen. I had such a special time there.

And now I want to hear about all of yours, so I can try to visit some myself!

Jordan.

Went there to use up a week's holiday and loved the country, the people and the food

I would absolutely love to visit Jordan

oh lovely. Did you nor drive? I need a France trip soon, did nice in April and loved that coastline

We were getting buses and trains around but I’d love to drive through that region.

I really enjoyed Nice when I went. We went out of season in the winter as it was ridiculously cheap and still had a great time. Can imagine it’s even better in April.

I don't know if it's underrated but I hadn't really heard of it till I went there...
Cordoba in Spain. It's a really beautiful city with loads of cultural history and the restaurants at all price ranges were beautiful. This was about 25 years ago mind. But it felt like a lovely place to live.

I'd love to go there again.

We have just returned from Provence, our first trip to the region since 2003 - the year of the ‘canicule’ or heatwave. This year is definitely shaping up to be the same - it was 38 to 39 degrees but we had a beautiful pool and excellent AC in the villa.
So we mostly flopped with the result that i really want to go back again soon as we didn’t get to Aix, or Avignon, or half a dozen other places - it was just too hot. Did some wine tasting, though!
It was a lot prettier than I remembered, beautiful oleander in full bloom everywhere.
Glad you enjoyed Aix. Ah well, à la prochaine, as they say.

Omg it looks incredible!!! Thank you never heard of it

China. Safe, convenient, people are helpful, easy to travel around. Wonderful place.

Ghent, much better than Bruges. And more space.

Urtrect in the Netherlands- better than Amsterdam.

Nuremberg - history, cuteness and great Christmas markets.

Jersey, probably our most successful family holiday even though the weather wasn’t that great.

What made it so great please? I really fancy it. In my mind it’s chilled and old fashioned like the Isle of Wight but with (sometimes) better weather and nice French ish bread and pastries?

Madeira - thought would be OAP paradise and limiting but was great for kids.

A friend recommends Cordoba.
We spent an unexpectedly lovely weekend in Nancy, France.
(Jersey was one of our disappointments, but it was a very long time ago, to be fair!).

We loved the beaches and there are lots of things we could do as a family like visit castles and the zoo. The main benefit for us was having a car (neither of us fancies driving abroad). Loads of good restaurants too. Just seemed like a really lovely pleasant place and a short flight to get there.

I thought Istanbul was amazing - I wouldn’t say underrated but am suprised how few have been

Vilnius was amazing.

years ago I went to Beirut and it blew me away. Sadly don’t think I’d be able to go again any time soon

Butlins. Did not have high hopes as thought it was going to be like pontins, but it's bloody brilliant for my ND kids who love swimming.

Slovenia - beautiful, just absolutely lovely. So undervalued and unappreciated and undiscovered.

Not just the amazing Lake Bled, but all of it!

Oh and Luxembourg. Stunning in Schengen by the river. Rich kids place to live, but as a short break it's idyllic.

Watching with interest. I’m not sure I can add to the list though… all the places I like are quite well known !

Wow, thank you for this hidden gem. It looks stunning, definitely going on my list. It reminds of Seville which is a brilliant city.

I only have fond memories of Butlins!

I will definitely try to make it to Istanbul at some point!