Europe’s best-kept holiday secrets, according to our experts
Go off the beaten track in Pont-en-Royans, a highlight of France’s Vercors Regional Park - irakite/Getty Images
When it comes to choosing a holiday destination, it pays to be different. Where’s the fun in sharing your summer plans with friends only to find out they, too, will be joining the crowds on the very same stretch of Costa?
Admit it, there’s little joy in exploring the likes of Dubrovnik or Barcelona shoulder-to-shoulder with your fellow Britons or returning to the same hotel on Turkey’s Turquoise Coast to spend a week feasting on the same buffet as last year.
So, to help spark some ideas that are really worth sharing at the school gate, we’ve reached out to Telegraph Travel’s destination experts. As locals in Britain’s most loved holiday hotspots, they know where to go when the summer crowds descend.
Italy
Valle Maira, Piedmont
For those looking to get away to Italy’s countryside, Valle Maira offers stunning views
I first visited the Valle Maira – a long, Alpine valley in Italy’s northwest corner – to hike its old Occitan trails, now beautifully linked as a long-distance path called Percorsi Occitani.
What I found – beyond some of the best walking in Italy – was a not only a virtually untouched region (we saw no other walkers in 10 days) but an area, even by Italian standards, that was unbelievably rich and varied: sleepy medieval villages, distinguished by beautiful wooden houses; fresco-covered churches; excellent food and wine; delightful, romantic places to stay; and sublime pastoral scenery (as good as any Tuscany), along with breath-taking high, Alpine landscapes. Add time in nearby Turin, itself unsung, and you have a perfect Italian mix of town and country.
It’s hard to compare all of Tuscany – few places can match the artistic legacy of its towns and cities – but if you’re searching for an alternative to its more popular rural corners, Valle Maira is a hidden gem.
Insider tip
Be sure to visit Elva for the church of Santa Maria Assunta and its extraordinary frescoed interior. Two of my favourite places to stay, both fine bases, are Locanda del Silenzio (doubles from £87 per person, half board) and Ceaglio (from £95 per person, half board).
How to do it
Inntravel is almost alone in packaging a trip to the Valle Maira; a seven-day walking-based stay costs from £1,733 per person.
Tim Jepson
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Spain
Santiago de Compostela and the Rias Baixas
Combarro is a vibrant fishing village in Galicia - Rudolf Ernst/Getty
If you have a hankering for Spanish paths less trodden, for fresher air and cleaner beaches, for affordable seafood and locals not completely jaded by tourism, consider Galicia.
Its capital, Santiago de Compostela, is a quietly impressive city of monumental buildings and arcaded streets, with the spectacular cathedral at its core. As the final point on the Camino de Santiago pilgrims’ route, it has a head start of several centuries when it comes to receiving visitors, the legacy of which is a fine range of hotels and some superb restaurants in every price bracket.
Within an easy drive of the capital are colourful fishing villages such as Combarro and O Grove, endless beaches (most famously, perhaps, the pristine strips of the Cíes Islands) and the dramatic lighthouse at Fisterra.
Insider tip
To really get away from it all, take a boat from Sanxenxo to the vehicle-free Illa de Ons and its sandy beaches.
How to do it
The Parador de Santiago de Compostela has twin rooms from £274, including breakfast. You can fly from London Stansted to Santiago de Compostela with Ryanair from £110 return.
Sally Davies
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France
Vercors
The dramatic Bourne gorges are best admired from Pont-en-Royans - Ludwig Deguffroy/Getty Images
I’m lucky, I live 90 minutes from both Annecy and Vercors Regional Park. No matter the season, I’d pick Vercors. Sure, Annecy’s lake, often called Europe’s cleanest, is a major draw, but I would trade it for Vercors’ crowd-free rivers and waterfalls every time.
Swimming at Pont-en-Royans, where higgledy-piggledy houses cling to the cliffside above the Bourne River, or taking a power shower at Chute de la Druise, a 72m-high waterfall, feels wilder than paddling in its better-known counterpart.
For hikers, the trails are peaceful, even the most popular seven-mile route from Lans-en-Vercors, Le Moucherotte, up to a limestone plateau looking over Grenoble. And for those looking ahead to winter, Vercors’ ski resorts are dirt cheap – often under £30 for a ski pass if you go mid-week.
Insider tip
Hike to the burnt village of Valchevrière, a four-mile walk from Villard-de-Lans. Here lie the eerie, roofless shells of an entire village that fell foul of the Nazis. Only the little church remained intact.
How to do it
You can fly from London to Lyon-Saint-Exupéry, a 90-minute drive from Vercors, with easyJet from £73 return. Arcanson organises sport and accommodation packages at their chalet-style hotel in Autrans-Méaudre; seven-day hiking holidays cost from €715pp (£625), including half-board accommodation.
Anna Richards
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Greece
Sitia, Crete
Bask in some good food and the warm sea air in Sita - Nick Brundle Photography/Getty Images
With its picture-postcard Venetian architecture and cobbled streets lined with (often pricey) tavernas and souvenir shops, Crete’s erstwhile capital Chania is a magnet for summer tourists. By comparison, my go-to region on Greece’s biggest island is so secret that most people don’t even realise it has an airport.
At the heart of one of Greece’s most recently created Unesco Geoparks, the town of Sitia in eastern Crete has barely changed since I first visited 35 years ago. Descending in a welter of San-Francisco-steep streets from its Venetian kastro high above, Sitia centres on a sleepy harbour bobbing with kingfisher-bright kaiki fishing boats, and surrounded by budget-friendly tavernas.
A short stroll away from the town centre (or a quick pedal with the city’s electric bikes) Sitia’s blond-sand beaches are rarely crowded, even in the height of summer.
Insider tip
For a livelier vibe, the seaside resort of Palaikastro, with its boho cafes and sandy coves (popular with windsurfers), is a 15-minute drive from Sitia.
How to do it
Sitia Beach Resort & Spa has double rooms from £178 per night, half board. You can fly from London Heathrow to Sitia via Athens return with Aegean from £389 return.
Heidi Fuller-love
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Croatia
Dugi Otok
Intrepid travellers can stay steps from Sakarun Beach in back-to-nature “Robinson” abodes - iascic/Getty Images
With a population of just 1,746, the biggest and most remote island of the Zadar archipelago, Dugi Otok (meaning literally, “long island”) provides a true escape from the better-known Croatian islands.
Steep and rugged, and graced by pines and fragrant herbs, it’s superb for hiking and cycling – a single road traverses the length of the island, but there’s a network of marked trails, and bikes-for-hire in the fishing village of Sali. Behind Sali, Telascica Nature Park encompasses a deep, sheltered bay and plummeting rocky cliffs that are best explored by sea kayak. Then, there’s the nearby Kornati National Park, a dreamy seascape of uninhabited rocky islets, beloved by yachters and divers.
Dugi Otok’s top attraction, Sakarun Beach, does get busy with daytime excursion boats from Zadar in summer, but it’s easy to avoid. Adventurers stay in “Robinson” cottages (back-to-nature abodes, without mains electricity or water) or for something utterly unique, the eco-chic Villa Nai offers eight rooms, gourmet dining and bespoke spa treatments.
Insider tip
Don’t miss Grpascak Fortress from 1911, hosting the ultra-modern Telascica Nature Park interpretation centre, affording mesmerising views over the sea towards the Kornati islands.
How to do it
Villa Nai, awarded three Michelin Keys in 2025, has double rooms from €650 (£567) including breakfast. You can fly from Manchester to Zadar with Ryanair from £180 return.
Jane Foster
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Portugal
Arrábida
Arrábida boasts rolling hills and golden beaches - Americo Lopes/Getty Images
“Comporta is no longer the secret it once was,” whispered over chilled vinho verde between the cognoscenti. It has been discovered. Its powder-white beaches are now frequented by day-trippers and guests of the hotels that are opening at a fast and furious pace. The original celebrity villa owners – who put Comporta on the map – are being crowded out. So, where to go now?
My answer is to the unspoilt, green, rolling hills of Arrábida, just a little further north – an area of natural park, which encompasses the ancient towns of Setúbal and Azeitão. The former is famous for its oysters, the latter for its muscatel wines and its powerful, unguent, eponymous, sheep’s cheese. There are walking trails along the cliff tops and golden beaches tucked underneath them, such as Praia dos Galapinhos, fringed by crystal-clear waters.
In the many bays lie restaurants, like O Farol, which you can swim into from a boat, or drive down to, dreaming of the coriander-flecked, garlicky clams awaiting you. Bottlenose dolphins are resident in the Sado Estuary, and I have been lucky enough to witness their joyful frolicking.
Insider tip
This area was once one of the largest natural banks of oyster production in Europe. Head to the town market, Mercado de Livramento, in Setúbal to taste the goods. At the Exporsado stand, you can taste them on the spot, along with a glass of local sparkling wine, while they are shucking the oysters for you.
How to do it
Overlooking vineyards, framed by the Arrábida mountains, with a private path down to the sea, Hotel Casa Palmela, a still family-owned manor house, offers double rooms from £243 per night, including breakfast. You can fly from London Heathrow to Lisbon with British Airways from £247 return.
Mary Lussiana
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Turkey
Palamutbuku
Tranquil and unspoilt, Palamutbuku is a low-key Turquoise Coast jewel - daphnusia/Alamy Stock Photo
Just 55 miles west of the busy, full-English-breakfast-orientated resort of Marmaris, the picturesque village of Palamutbuku is my reminder that delightfully low-key breaks are still possible on Turkey’s increasingly popular Turquoise Coast.
Situated on the south shore of the narrow, limestone finger of the unspoilt Datca Peninsula, with views out to the nearby Greek islands of Symi, Tilos and Rhodes, Palamutbuku is as tranquil as can be.
There really is nothing here except the smallest of yacht harbours, a handful of simple but appealing places to eat and a score or so pensions and small hotels. Even in high season, when Marmaris is bursting at the seams, there’s plenty of room on the long, multi-coloured shingle and sand beach, which shelves into a remarkably clear blue sea.
Insider tip
Don’t miss the spectacularly situated ruins of ancient Knidos at the tip of the peninsula, just seven miles from Palamutbuku. It’s open daily (tickets £3).
How to do it
The beachfront Beyaz Inci, on the eastern fringes of the village, has 18 two- and three-bed rooms. Set in pleasant grounds shaded by pine, citrus and olive trees, it has its own private stretch of beach laid out with loungers and sunshades. Doubles from £114 per night. Return flights from Gatwick to Dalaman with Wizz Air cost from £74.
Terry Richardson
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This article was first published in April 2025, and has been revised and updated
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