Some of the best trips we run aren’t built around a single country at all – they’re built around the join. The ferry crossing that swaps one culture for another overnight. The mountain pass that takes you from one language to the next on foot. The short hop across a border that, for most travellers, simply isn’t on the map.
Off the beaten track doesn’t have to mean picking just one place. Some of our favourite Experiences exist precisely because two countries, side by side, tell a better story together than either does alone. Here are six of our go-to combinations, how we get you between them, and why we think they work so well.
Slovenia + Italy
by car or train
Slovenia is compact, polished and endlessly scenic – Lake Bled, the Julian Alps, the wine country of the Vipava Valley – all within a country you can comfortably cross in a day. Drive west, though, and within an hour or two you’re in Italy: the Friuli wine region, the faded grandeur of Trieste, or further on, the Dolomites themselves.
The two countries share a border, a fair amount of history, and a food culture that shifts gradually rather than abruptly, so the drive between them never feels jarring. It’s an easy, self-drive-friendly combination that pairs Slovenia’s alpine lakes and rivers with Italy’s cities and cuisine, without ever feeling like you’re doing two separate holidays stitched together.
Albania + Montenegro
by car, or on foot through the Accursed Mountains
This is the combination for people who want their trip to feel like an adventure story. Albania‘s rugged, still-quiet north and Montenegro‘s dramatic Bay of Kotor sit right next to each other, and you can cross between them however you like: a scenic drive along the coast, or – for the more adventurous – on foot, trekking over the border through the Accursed Mountains themselves.
That mountain crossing is one of our favourite border stories anywhere in the Balkans: remote valleys, shepherd huts, and a walk that takes you from one country into another with nothing but a mountain pass and your own legs. Combine that with Montenegro’s fjord-like bay and Albania’s Ottoman towns and untouched beaches, and you’ve got a trip that rewards genuinely curious travellers.
Montenegro + Bosnia & Herzegovina
by car
A short drive inland from Montenegro‘s coast and you’re in an entirely different Bosnia: the Ottoman bazaars of Sarajevo, the iconic Stari Most bridge in Mostar, and the turquoise waterfalls of Kravice. It’s one of the easiest border crossings we run, and one of the most rewarding, because the contrast between the two countries is so vivid.
Montenegro gives you the coast, the mountains and the drama of the Bay of Kotor. Bosnia gives you history, culture and a city where mosques, churches and synagogues sit side by side telling the story of a place that’s seen a great deal and rebuilt itself with real grace. Together, it’s coastal beauty and cultural depth in a single, easy loop.
Romania + Moldova
by car or train
Romania alone has more than enough to fill a trip – Transylvania’s castles, the Carpathian Mountains, Bucharest’s grand boulevards – but push on to Moldova and you’ll find one of Europe’s genuinely least-visited corners. Chișinău has a low-key, unhurried charm all its own, and the wine country around Cricova (yes, including underground cellars you can drive through) is unlike anything else on the continent.
We run this one by car or train, and either way it’s a proper journey rather than a border you barely notice – a reminder of just how much variety sits within a few hours of Bucharest, if you’re willing to keep going a little further than most people do.
Spain + Morocco
by boat
Few combinations change the scenery, the language and the entire atmosphere of a trip as quickly as this one. A short ferry crossing from southern Spain and you’re in an entirely different continent: Marrakech’s souks, the chaos and colour of Djemaa el-Fnaa, and the winding road up into the Atlas Mountains towards the Sahara.
It’s the combination that proves how much can change in the space of a single boat crossing – flamenco and tapas on one side, mint tea and market stalls on the other – and it’s precisely that contrast which makes it one of our most requested Experiences.
Montenegro + Italy
by boat from Bar or Dubrovnik
Montenegro is a small country, easily explored in a week, which makes it the perfect springboard for something else. Take the overnight ferry from Bar (or nearby Dubrovnik) across the Adriatic, and you’ll wake up in Italy, ready for the Amalfi Coast, Puglia’s sun-baked towns, or Rome itself.
It’s a wonderfully simple way to double a holiday: dramatic Adriatic scenery and rugged mountains on one side of the sea, La Dolce Vita on the other, with a night on the water in between to make the whole thing feel like a proper adventure rather than a connecting flight.
Why stop at one country?
Every one of these combinations exists because the join is as good as the destinations either side of it – the ferry deck at sunrise, the mountain pass on foot, the moment the language and the menu both change at once. That’s the sort of detail that turns a good trip into a story worth retelling.
If any of these have caught your eye, or you’ve got a combination of your own in mind that you haven’t seen anyone else offer, get in touch. We specialise in exactly this kind of joined-up, off the beaten track adventure – so tell us where you’d like to go, and we’ll help you work out how to get there.
Some places are worth visiting for their scenery. Others are worth visiting for a single day, or even a single hour, when a whole culture pours itself into the street, the stadium or the sea. These are the events that turn a good trip into a story you’ll still be telling twenty years from now.
We’ve put together a list of ten of the most extraordinary cultural and sporting events on the planet; some ancient, some barely a century old, all utterly unmissable. We’ve been fortunate enough to tick off a fair few of these ourselves, and we’ve got strong opinions about the rest.
But this isn’t really about our list. It’s about yours. Read on, keep count as you go, and let us know at the end: how many have you visited, and how many are still on the bucket list?
1. Day of the Dead, Mexico
Held on 1st and 2nd November, Día de los Muertos is one of the most misunderstood celebrations in the world to outsiders, and one of the most moving once you understand it properly. Far from being a morbid affair, it’s a joyful, technicolour celebration of lives once lived where families build ofrendas (altars) laden with marigolds, candles, sugar skulls and the favourite foods of those who’ve passed, inviting their spirits home for one night of the year. It’s recognised by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a nod to just how deeply rooted the tradition is.
The origins stretch back to Aztec and other Mesoamerican traditions, later blended with the Catholic observances of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Day brought by Spanish colonisers. Oaxaca and Mexico City put on the most elaborate displays, with cemeteries lit by candlelight and streets filled with painted skulls (calaveras), marigold petals and parades that feel more like carnivals than commemorations.
We may be looking at hosting this event next year alongside the wonder of the world Chichen Itza, keep your eyes pealed!
Best for: Anyone curious about a culture’s relationship with mortality, and travellers who like their history served with genuine colour and warmth.
2. Naadam Festival, Mongolia
Every July, from the 11th to the 13th, Mongolia turns its attention to the “Three Manly Games”; wrestling, horse racing and archery, in a festival with roots stretching back to the 13th century and the reign of Genghis Khan, and now inscribed by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage tradition in its own right. These weren’t simply sports; they were the training grounds that kept Mongol warriors battle-ready between campaigns, and something of that spirit survives in the ferocity of the competitions today.
Ulaanbaatar hosts the largest celebration, complete with an opening ceremony of extraordinary pageantry, but it’s worth seeking out a rural Naadam if you can; smaller, rawer, and a genuine window into nomadic life on the steppe. Women compete in the archery and horse racing (children as young as five ride in the latter), while wrestling remains a men-only affair, fought in eagle-inspired costumes to the sound of traditional chanting.
Best for: Anyone who wants to see a warrior culture very much alive, rather than confined to a museum.
3. Basking Shark Migration & The Highland Games, Scotland
Two very different spectacles, both worth building a Scottish summer around. From around June to September, the waters of the Sea of the Hebrides, particularly around the islands of Mull, Coll and Tiree, fill with basking sharks: the second-largest fish in the world, gentle plankton feeders that can grow beyond ten metres and glide along the surface with a fin that looks alarmingly like something out of a different film altogether.
Meanwhile, inland, the Highland Games carry on a tradition that’s said to date back to King Malcolm III, who once summoned the fastest runners in Scotland to compete for the role of royal messenger. What survives today; caber tossing, hammer throwing, tug o’war, and pipe bands in full regalia and is largely a 19th-century revival, given a considerable boost by Queen Victoria’s enthusiasm for all things Highland.
Best for: Wildlife lovers and lovers of a good, honest tug o’war in equal measure.
4. ANZAC Day, Gallipoli, Turkey
Every 25th April, thousands gather at Anzac Cove on Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula for a dawn service that commemorates the 1915 landing of Australian and New Zealand troops during the First World War. Of the 16,000 men who came ashore on that first day, more than 2,000 were killed or wounded by the following morning and the beginning of a gruelling, months-long campaign that shaped national identity on both sides of the world.
The dawn service is followed later in the day by an Australian ceremony at Lone Pine, named for the solitary tree that once stood on the battlefield, and a New Zealand service at Chunuk Bair. Standing on that quiet peninsula as the sun rises, surrounded by cemeteries and memorials, is a genuinely humbling experience and one that draws visitors back to Gallipoli year after year. Following the service, being able to visit the British memorials as well to pay respect to the troops that lost their life fighting for their country.
Best for: History lovers, and anyone wanting to understand how a single campaign can forge a nation’s sense of self.
5. San Fermín, Pamplona, Spain
Held from 6th to 14th July, San Fermín is best known worldwide for the encierro, the running of the bulls through Pamplona’s narrow streets each morning, a spectacle immortalised by Ernest Hemingway and now watched by crowds from balconies and barricades across the old town. But the bull run is only a small part of a nine-day festival that also includes fireworks, giant processional figures, brass bands and rather a lot of sangria.
The opening ceremony, the Chupinazo, sees the entire town crammed into the Plaza Consistorial in a sea of red and white, waiting for the rocket that signals the festival has officially begun. Whether or not you fancy outrunning a bull yourself (we’d suggest not), the atmosphere alone makes Pamplona worth the trip.
Best for: Adrenaline seekers, and anyone who enjoys a festival that doesn’t do things by halves.
6. Midsummer, Sweden
Midsommar falls on the Friday between 19th and 25th June each year, marking the longest day of the year with a celebration that predates Christianity by a considerable margin. Communities gather to raise a flower-bedecked maypole (majstång), dance around it to traditional songs, and weave crowns of wildflowers to wear for the rest of the evening.
Out in the archipelagos and countryside, where much of Sweden decamps for the occasion, the tables groan with pickled herring, new potatoes, soured cream and rather a lot of schnapps, all enjoyed under a sky that barely darkens at all. It’s a wonderfully unpretentious celebration, no elaborate costumes or ancient rites, just good company, simple food, and a genuine appreciation for a fleeting Nordic summer.
Best for: Anyone who wants to understand why Swedes take their summer so seriously.
7. Tour de France, France
Every July since 1903, the world’s greatest cycling race has wound its way across France (with the occasional foray into neighbouring countries) over three punishing weeks and roughly 3,500 kilometres. Full route details and stage-by-stage coverage are published each year on the official Tour de France site. The mountain stages through the Alps and Pyrenees are where the race is usually won or lost, riders grinding up switchback after switchback while roadside crowds press in from either side, but it’s the final procession down the Champs-Élysées in Paris that provides the great theatre.
You don’t need a ticket, a grandstand seat or even much cycling knowledge to enjoy it properly, just find a spot on a mountain stage, bring a picnic, and wait for the peloton to sweep past in a blur of colour, noise and unmistakable effort. The rider in the yellow jersey (maillot jaune) leads the overall standings, and the fight to wear it into Paris is one of sport’s great slow-building dramas.
Best for: Sports fans and anyone who fancies combining a proper Alpine holiday with a world-class spectator event.
8. The Great Migration, Kenya & Tanzania
Around two million wildebeest, along with several hundred thousand zebra, move in a continuous, roughly circular pattern between the Serengeti in Tanzania and the Masai Mara in Kenya, chasing the rains and fresh grazing across the plains. It’s less a single event than a year-round cycle, but the most dramatic chapter; the Mara River crossings, typically plays out from late July into September, as the herds fight their way through crocodile-filled water on the way north.
Nobody can predict the exact day a crossing will happen; the animals themselves don’t seem to know until the last moment, and that unpredictability is part of what makes witnessing one so thrilling. Whenever you go, and wherever in the cycle you catch it, the sheer scale of the migration, the noise, the dust, the sense of a landscape genuinely on the move, is unlike anything else on earth.
Best for: Wildlife enthusiasts prepared to be patient, and rewarded handsomely for it.
9. Carnival, Brazil
Held in the run-up to Lent each February or March, Rio’s Carnival is the largest and most famous of its kind anywhere in the world. The centrepiece is the Sambadrome parade, where the city’s top samba schools compete in a riot of sequins, feathers and percussion that’s rehearsed for the entire year beforehand, but the real party happens on the streets, at the blocos; free, informal gatherings that draw millions of revellers across the city.
Carnival’s roots stretch back to Portuguese colonial entrudo celebrations, later fused with African rhythms and traditions brought by enslaved communities, evolving over centuries into the spectacle it is today. Whether you watch from a grandstand seat in the Sambadrome or simply follow a bloco through the streets of Santa Teresa, Carnival is Brazil at its most unguarded and exuberant.
Best for: Anyone who wants their trip accompanied by a permanent soundtrack of drums.
We’d love to know your answer and if you’ve visited any of them, tell us about it in the comments below. And if this list has given you the curioisity to attend one, please reach out, we can’t promise wonders but we’ll do our best and you can expect something special in 2027, watch this space!
Explore the world differently with Untravelled Paths. Small groups, big experiences and places you won’t find in the brochures.
In 2007, over 100 million people around the world cast their votes to decide which human-made structures deserved a place on the most coveted list in travel. The result was the New Seven Wonders of the World — a roll call of the most breathtaking, historically significant and architecturally extraordinary places on the planet.
We’ve been lucky enough to visit several of them over the years, and we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about this question. But rather than give you our verdict and leave it there, we want to hear from you. More on that in a moment.
First, let’s take a tour of all seven — because each one has a story worth telling.
1. Machu Picchu, Peru
Perched at 2,430 metres above sea level in the Peruvian Andes, Machu Picchu is one of those places that genuinely defies expectation. You can read about it, see the photographs, watch the documentaries — and still nothing quite prepares you for the moment the clouds part and the full scale of this 15th-century Inca citadel reveals itself.
Built around 1450 and abandoned less than a century later during the Spanish conquest, Machu Picchu was unknown to the outside world until American historian Hiram Bingham stumbled upon it in 1911. The site covers roughly 80,000 acres of mountain terrain, with stone temples, agricultural terraces and residential quarters arranged with extraordinary precision — and without the use of mortar, wheels or iron tools.
The classic approach — a four-day trek along the Inca Trail — remains one of the great travel experiences in South America. But the train journey through the Sacred Valley from Cusco is a worthy alternative, and the Aguas Calientes hot springs at the base of the mountain make for a restorative end to the day.
Best for: Hikers, history lovers, and anyone who wants to feel genuinely small.
2. The Great Wall of China
Stretching over 21,000 kilometres across northern China — from the eastern shores of Bohai Bay to the Gobi Desert in the west — the Great Wall is less a single structure than a vast network of walls, towers and fortifications built across more than 2,000 years of Chinese history.
The most visited sections near Beijing (Badaling and Mutianyu) are spectacular but busy. For a more atmospheric experience, the unreconstructed sections at Jiankou or Jinshanling reward those willing to make a little more effort — crumbling watchtowers, wild vegetation reclaiming the stonework, and views that stretch to the horizon with barely another soul in sight.
The wall was never truly a single defensive line so much as a series of regional barriers, expanded and connected over centuries by successive dynasties. Walking a stretch of it, particularly on a clear autumn day, is to walk through layer upon layer of Chinese history.
Best for: Those who want scale — and lots of it.
3. The Colosseum, Rome, Italy
Few buildings in the world carry quite the same weight of history as the Colosseum. Completed in 80 AD under Emperor Titus, this elliptical amphitheatre once held up to 80,000 spectators who came to watch gladiatorial combat, animal hunts and public spectacles on a scale that wouldn’t be matched for over a millennium.
Standing in the arena itself — where the sand once covered a labyrinthine network of tunnels housing animals, gladiators and stage machinery — is genuinely stirring. The engineering is as impressive as anything the ancient world produced, and the fact that it survived two millennia of earthquakes, stone-robbing and neglect makes it all the more remarkable.
Rome, of course, offers considerably more than the Colosseum — the Forum, the Palatine Hill, the Pantheon, and more excellent food than you could eat in a month — but the Colosseum remains the city’s most iconic image for very good reason.
Best for: History enthusiasts, architecture lovers, and first-time visitors to Rome.
4. The Taj Mahal, India
Built between 1631 and 1648 by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, the Taj Mahal is perhaps the most recognisable building on earth — and one of the very few that lives up entirely to its reputation.
The symmetry is extraordinary. The white marble changes colour with the light — pale gold at dawn, brilliant white at midday, soft rose at sunset, silvery grey by moonlight. The inlaid semi-precious stonework, the calligraphy, the reflecting pool, the surrounding gardens — every element was conceived as part of a unified whole, an expression of grief and devotion rendered in stone.
It’s worth going early, before the crowds arrive, and taking time to walk the full gardens rather than heading straight for the mausoleum. The rear view of the Taj from the riverbank — less photographed and far quieter — is arguably the most beautiful perspective of all.
Best for: Romance, architecture, and a genuinely moving experience.
5. Chichén Itzá, Mexico
The great Maya city of Chichén Itzá, in the Yucatán Peninsula, is dominated by El Castillo — the step pyramid of Kukulcán, which rises 30 metres above the surrounding jungle and demonstrates a level of astronomical precision that continues to astonish researchers today. At the spring and autumn equinoxes, the angle of the sun creates the illusion of a serpent descending the staircase — a phenomenon that draws thousands of visitors twice a year.
Beyond El Castillo, the site encompasses the Great Ball Court (the largest in Mesoamerica, where the acoustic properties allow a whisper at one end to be heard clearly at the other), the Temple of the Warriors, and the Sacred Cenote — a natural sinkhole used for ritual offerings.
Chichén Itzá can feel busy during peak season, and visitors are no longer permitted to climb the pyramid. But the scale of the complex and the sophistication of Maya civilisation it represents make it one of the most fascinating archaeological sites in the Americas.
Best for: History, archaeology, and travellers with a genuine curiosity about pre-Columbian civilisations.
6. Christ the Redeemer, Brazil
At 38 metres tall, arms outstretched 28 metres wide atop the 700-metre Corcovado mountain, Christ the Redeemer has been watching over Rio de Janeiro since 1931. It is simultaneously a feat of Art Deco engineering, a deeply held religious symbol, and one of the most iconic images in the world.
The views from the summit — over the city, the bays, Sugarloaf Mountain, and the Atlantic beyond — are extraordinary on a clear day. The statue itself is impressive up close in a way that photographs don’t quite capture, and the engineering story behind its construction (the soapstone tiles were each individually shaped and shipped from Portugal) is remarkable.
It’s worth being honest, though: Christ the Redeemer is primarily a viewpoint with a monument attached. The experience is wonderful, but it lacks the historical depth of several others on this list.
Best for: First-time visitors to Rio, photographers, and those with a head for heights.
7. Petra, Jordan
Petra — the ancient Nabataean city carved directly into the rose-red sandstone cliffs of southern Jordan — is one of those very rare places that manages to exceed even the highest expectations. The approach through the Siq, a narrow 1.2-kilometre gorge with walls rising 80 metres on either side, builds the anticipation masterfully. Then, as the gorge narrows to its tightest point, the Treasury appears in a sliver of light — and the effect is nothing short of spectacular.
But the Treasury is just the beginning. Beyond it lies an entire city — the Street of Facades, the Royal Tombs, the Byzantine Church, the Great Temple, and at the far end of the valley, the monastery of Ad Deir, reached by 850 rock-cut steps and rewarding the effort with a façade even larger than the Treasury and views across the desert that stretch for miles.
Petra was the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom, a sophisticated civilisation of traders who controlled the incense routes between Arabia, Egypt and the Mediterranean. At its peak, the city was home to 30,000 people. Today, only around 15% of the site has been excavated — the rest remains buried under the desert.
Jordan itself is a gem — Wadi Rum, the Dead Sea, Aqaba, Jerash — and Petra is its crown.
Best for: Everyone. Genuinely. We haven’t met a person who came away disappointed.
So Which is the Greatest Wonder of Them All?
Every single one of these places deserves its place on the list, and choosing between them is genuinely difficult. Machu Picchu has the drama. The Great Wall has the scale. The Colosseum has the history. The Taj Mahal has the beauty. Chichén Itzá has the mystery. Christ the Redeemer has the view. And Petra has something that’s hard to put into words — a sense of discovery, of stepping into another world entirely.
We’ve shared our thoughts — now we’d love to hear yours. Which of the Seven New Wonders of the World do you think deserves the top spot? Cast your vote below.
We’d love to know your answer — and if you’ve visited any of them, tell us about it in the comments below. And if this list has given you itchy feet, take a look at our small group tours to some of the world’s most remarkable destinations. We can’t promise wonders — but we’ll do our best.
Explore the world differently with Untravelled Paths. Small groups, big experiences and places you won’t find in the brochures.
If you’ve been scrolling through holiday inspiration for the Adriatic, chances are Dubrovnik keeps popping up. Croatia’s “Pearl of the Adriatic” has had the marketing machine and a certain dragon-themed TV show behind it for the best part of a decade. But just an hour or so down the coast, tucked into one of the most dramatic bays in Europe, sits a town that does almost everything Dubrovnik does, and does it with a fraction of the crowds and none of the queues. We’re talking about Kotor.
At Untravelled Paths, we’ve built our reputation on finding the destinations that haven’t yet been flattened by mass tourism, and Kotor is a brilliant case in point. Here’s why we think it deserves a place on your itinerary ahead of its more famous Croatian neighbour and why, if you’re choosing between the two, Kotor should win.
1. The Setting Is, Genuinely, More Spectacular
Dubrovnik’s Old Town sits proudly on the coast, walls rising straight out of the Adriatic. It’s beautiful, no question. But Kotor has something Dubrovnik simply can’t offer: the Bay of Kotor itself.
Often (if slightly inaccurately) described as Europe’s southernmost fjord, the bay is a winding, fjord-like inlet flanked by sheer limestone mountains that plunge straight into the sea. Kotor’s Old Town sits at the very back of this bay, wrapped by medieval walls that climb 260 metres up the mountainside behind it. Nothing in Dubrovnik quite matches the sense of scale and drama you get sailing into Kotor, or hiking up to the Fortress of San Giovanni for a view over those famous terracotta rooftops and the bay beyond.
2. Fewer Crowds, More Charm
This is the big one. Dubrovnik has become something of a cautionary tale in overtourism circles. On a busy summer’s day, several enormous cruise ships can dock at once, sending thousands of day-trippers pouring through the Pile Gate all at the same time. The city has introduced visitor caps and crowd-control measures in recent years precisely because the Old Town, beautiful as it is, simply cannot cope with the volume of people trying to squeeze through its narrow marble streets.
Kotor gets cruise ships too, it’s not entirely undiscovered. But its Old Town is a fraction of the size, and outside of a few pinch-points around peak season, you can still wander its stone squares, sit at a café on Cathedral Square, or explore the backstreets without feeling like you’re in a queue. For a small-group escorted tour, that matters enormously, it’s the difference between genuinely experiencing a place and simply photographing it.
3. Better Value for Money
Montenegro hasn’t (yet) seen the price inflation that’s crept into Dubrovnik, where a coffee with a view can set you back the same as a full meal elsewhere in the Balkans. Accommodation, dining and guided experiences in and around Kotor tend to offer noticeably better value, without any compromise on quality. Your money simply goes further, which is why we’re able to build such rich, immersive itineraries around it.
4. A Gateway to So Much More
Here’s where Kotor really pulls ahead: what’s on its doorstep. From Kotor, you’re perfectly placed to explore some of Montenegro’s most breathtaking landscapes without ever getting back on a plane. Wind your way up the old Austro-Hungarian road for hairpin views back down over the bay. Head south along the coast to the photogenic islet of Our Lady of the Rocks near Perast, or the beach town of Budva. Venture inland to Lovćen National Park, further still to the turquoise waters of Lake Skadar or even the famous Durmitor National Park. Dubrovnik’s surroundings are lovely, but they don’t offer anywhere near this variety within such easy reach.
For anyone joining one of our small-group Balkans tours, this is exactly the kind of depth we build our itineraries around, not just ticking off a famous Old Town, but properly getting under the skin of a region.
5. It Still Feels Like a Discovery
Perhaps the biggest difference is intangible. Dubrovnik, for all its beauty, can feel like a place you’ve already seen a thousand times on Instagram before you arrive. Kotor still has that spark of discovery about it, the feeling of finding somewhere brilliant that most people haven’t got round to yet.
That won’t last forever. Montenegro is very much on the up, and Kotor is increasingly finding its way onto more travellers’ radars. But for now, it still offers that rare thing: a genuinely beautiful, historic, walkable Old Town that hasn’t lost its soul to tourism.
So, Which Should You Choose?
If you’ve only got a day and you’re already in Croatia, Dubrovnik is still absolutely worth a visit, it earns its reputation. But if you’re deciding where to actually base a trip, or which coastal gem deserves more of your time, we’d choose Kotor every time. Fewer crowds, better value, a more dramatic setting, and so much more to explore right on its doorstep.
It’s exactly the kind of destination we love building trips around at Untravelled Paths: somewhere with real history and beauty, that hasn’t yet been overrun. And as with all our trips, every booking helps plant trees through our partnership with the World Land Trust, so you can explore Montenegro’s landscapes while helping protect others too.
Fancy seeing the Bay of Kotor for yourself? Get in touch with our team to find out more about our small-group escorted tours and tailor-made trips to Montenegro and the wider Balkans.
We’ve been running small group trips to lesser-known corners of the world for nearly two decades. In that time, we’ve learnt something important: the experiences that stay with people aren’t always the obvious ones. They’re rarely the famous landmarks at midday in August. They’re the morning you woke early and had something magnificent entirely to yourself. The meal that went on for hours. The moment the landscape did something you simply hadn’t expected.
This list is our attempt to distil eighteen years of travel into thirty of the most extraordinary things we think a person can do. We’ve organised them into three categories: Great Outdoors, Local Flavour, Into the Wild and Once in a Lifetime – though in truth, the best experiences tend to be all three at once.
Every single one is bookable. Every single one is guaranteed to run. And every single one is waiting for you to stop putting it off.
🌿 Great Outdoors: where the world takes your breath away
1. Wild swimming in Lake Bled before the tour groups arrive, Slovenia
Yes, the photographs are everywhere. But they don’t capture what it feels like to be in the water, looking up at the island church, the castle-topped crag and the Julian Alps framing it all, in the silence of a summer morning before 8am. Slovenia rewards the early riser in ways most destinations simply cannot match and our itinerary is built around being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.
2. Zip-lining over the dramatic depths of Tara Canyon, Montenegro
Tara Canyon is the deepest river gorge in Europe, over 1,300 metres from rim to river in places, and crossing it by zip line is one of those experiences that makes you briefly forget everything else. The view is extraordinary; the rush is real. It’s the kind of activity that makes group travel genuinely bond people, and it sits perfectly within our Montenegro itinerary.
3. Walking the ancient walls of Kotor Old Town at golden hour, Montenegro
The fortification walls above Kotor climb almost vertically from the medieval old town to a hilltop fortress, with the Bay of Kotor spreading out below you as you rise. At golden hour, when the bay catches the last of the afternoon light and the mountains turn deep green, it’s one of the most beautiful views in Europe. And it costs nothing but the climb.
4. Gliding through the Albanian Alps on the spectacular Koman Ferry, Albania
The Koman Ferry crosses a vast reservoir carved between mountains so steep and so close together that the water below barely sees the sun. It’s one of the most jaw-dropping ferry journeys in Europe, largely unknown, completely unhyped, and a perfect metaphor for why Albania deserves to be on your radar before the rest of the world catches up.
5. Trekking across the border from Albania into Montenegro through the Accursed Mountains, Albania & Montenegro
The Prokletije range, known locally as the Accursed Mountains, straddles the border between Albania and Montenegro in one of the most remote and spectacular landscapes in the Balkans. Our crossing combines boat travel and on-foot trekking through terrain that genuinely feels like the end of the world. It’s adventure travel at its most elemental, and the sense of achievement at the other side is enormous.
6. Taking a refreshing dip in the emerald pools below Kravica Waterfalls, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Kravica is Bosnia’s open secret — a horseshoe of cascades dropping into a series of vivid green pools that look more Caribbean than Balkan. Swimming here, with the falls thundering around you and the sun coming through the trees, is one of those travel experiences that is simply and straightforwardly joyful. No backstory required. It features on our Bosnia itinerary for good reason.
7. Marvelling at Georgia’s extraordinary monastery settings in the Greater Caucasus, Georgia
Georgia has a habit of placing its ancient monasteries in locations of almost theatrical natural drama – perched on clifftops, tucked into gorges, or clinging to mountain ridges with the Caucasus rising behind them. Gergeti Trinity Church above Stepantsminda, with Mount Kazbek as its backdrop, is perhaps the most famous. But there are others, and our Georgia itinerary takes you to the ones that stop you in your tracks.
8. Standing at the edge of the Perito Moreno Glacier as it calves into the lake below, Argentina
Most glaciers in the world are retreating. Perito Moreno advances, grinding forward into Lago Argentino until it breaks under its own weight, sending vast chunks of ice crashing into the turquoise water below. You wait. You watch. You hear it groan and crack. Then the roar, and the wave. It is a spectacle of geological theatre unlike almost anything else on earth, and it is one of the highlights of our Argentina itinerary.
🍷 Local Flavour: where culture gets under your skin
9. Hunting for truffles in the Slovenian forest, then sitting down to a homestead meal, Slovenia
Slovenia is one of Europe’s great culinary secrets and the truffle forests of the country’s interior are among its best-kept. Our truffle hunting experience puts you in the woods with a local expert and a highly trained dog, followed by a meal back at the farmhouse using ingredients from the land around you. It’s the kind of experience that food writers queue up for. On our itinerary, it’s just Tuesday.
10. Walking across the Stari Most at dusk as the old city comes to life around you, Bosnia & Herzegovina
The rebuilt 16th-century Ottoman bridge arching over the Neretva in Mostar is beautiful at any hour but at dusk, when the stone glows amber and the call to prayer drifts across the water, it becomes something more. Bosnia is complex, layered and profoundly moving in ways that few European destinations manage. Our seven-day itinerary gives you the time to actually understand it, rather than merely pass through.
11. Celebrating Halloween inside the real Dracula’s Castle in Transylvania, Romania
Bran Castle, which inspired Bram Stoker’s gothic fortress, perches on a rocky bluff above the Transylvanian countryside with the kind of architectural menace that simply cannot be manufactured. Visiting on Halloween, when the castle leans into its legend with theatrical abandon, is one of those experiences that manages to be simultaneously ridiculous and genuinely memorable. And we mean that as the highest possible compliment.
12. Wandering the cobalt alleyways of the Blue Pearl of Chefchaouen, Morocco
The medina of Chefchaouen is painted almost entirely in shades of blue, a tradition that gives the mountain town an atmosphere of dreamlike calm that is unlike anywhere else in Morocco, or indeed the world. Every alleyway is a photograph. Every doorway a story. Getting genuinely lost here, without a map and without a plan, is one of travel’s purest pleasures, and it features on our Morocco itinerary.
13. Being stopped in your tracks by a flamenco performance in the heart of Seville, Spain
Flamenco in Seville isn’t a tourist attraction, it’s a living, breathing art form that emerged from the city’s soul. Watching it performed by serious artists in an intimate setting. The stomp of heels on a wooden floor, the extraordinary physical control, the emotional charge of the singing – is an experience that bypasses the rational brain entirely. You don’t need to understand it. You just feel it.
14. Spending time among the ancient tribes of the Omo Valley, Ethiopia
The lower Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia is home to some of the most culturally distinct peoples on earth — the Mursi, Hamar, Karo and Dassanech among them, many of whom continue to live according to traditions that have remained largely unchanged for centuries. Visiting with genuine respect, through guides with deep community relationships, is one of the most profound and humbling things we offer.
15. Arriving at the Chichicastenango market before the tour buses, Guatemala
Thursday and Sunday markets in Chichicastenango are among the most visually extraordinary in the world – handwoven Mayan textiles, copal incense smoke drifting up the church steps, traders who have been coming here for centuries. By mid-morning the tour groups have arrived and the spell changes. Arrive at dawn, as our Guatemala itinerary does, and it belongs entirely to you.
16. Rolling pasta dough with local nonnas in the backstreets of Bari, Italy
The women of Bari Vecchia have been making orecchiette by hand on their doorsteps for generations – a living culinary tradition in the middle of an ancient town. Learning from them directly, in their homes, with flour on the table and a glass of something local close at hand, is the kind of travel memory that sits completely outside the reach of any guidebook. Slow, joyful and entirely real.
17. A long, unhurried lunch in a vineyard with Mount Etna smouldering on the horizon, Italy
Sicily’s volcanic soils produce wines of extraordinary character, and the vineyards on Etna’s slopes, with the active volcano as a constant, magnificent presence – make for one of the most dramatic lunch settings on earth. Add the food, the wine, the light and the complete absence of any reason to hurry, and you have a very good afternoon indeed.
18. Drifting through the Danube Delta by boat as thousands of birds rise around you, Romania
The Danube Delta is one of Europe’s largest and best-preserved wetlands, a labyrinth of channels, reed beds and lakes that is home to over 300 species of birds and a way of life that has changed remarkably little in centuries. On a small boat in the early morning, with pelicans overhead and the sound of the water all around you, it’s one of the most quietly extraordinary places we visit.
19. Walking alongside elephants on the Garden Route, South Africa
Being on foot in the presence of elephants – really on foot, in their space, moving with them at their pace, is an entirely different experience to watching them from a vehicle. The scale, the intelligence and the extraordinary calm they project at close quarters is something you cannot prepare for. Our South Africa experience puts you here in the company of expert rangers who understand these animals deeply.
20. Meeting the penguin colony at Boulders Beach, South Africa
African penguins on a beach a few miles from Cape Town, entirely wild, entirely unbothered by the people who come to see them, waddling between the granite boulders and sunbathing on the sand. It is completely incongruous, completely charming, and one of those wildlife encounters that nobody who sees it ever quite gets over. It features on our South Africa itinerary, and it never gets old.
21. Sitting in a bear hide in the Carpathian forest, waiting for Europe’s largest predator to appear, Romania
Romania’s Carpathian Mountains are home to the largest brown bear population in Europe outside of Russia. Observing them from a purpose-built hide at dusk – patient, quiet, genuinely uncertain whether one will appear, and then it does, is one of those wildlife encounters that documentaries can suggest but never fully replicate. The silence of the forest beforehand is part of the experience.
22. Watching a green sea turtle come ashore to nest, by torchlight, on a Caribbean beach, Costa Rica
Tortuguero National Park, reachable only by boat or small plane, is one of the world’s most important green turtle nesting sites. Being guided to the beach after dark to watch a turtle weighing well over a hundred kilograms haul herself ashore, dig her nest and lay her eggs is an experience of almost primal quiet and wonder. It’s on our Costa Rica itinerary, and nothing quite prepares you for it.
✨ Once in a Lifetime: the experiences that change you
23. Floating silently above the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia in a hot air balloon at sunrise, Turkey
As the sun crests the horizon over Cappadocia’s surreal volcanic landscape, dozens of balloons rise from the valley floor and drift in near-silence above the fairy chimneys and ancient cave formations below. The scale is extraordinary; the quiet is unexpected; the light is everything. It belongs on every serious traveller’s list, and it features on ours for very good reason.
24. Following a mobile safari camp deep into the Okavango Delta on the trail of the Big Five, Botswana
A mobile safari in Botswana is as close as modern travel gets to genuine wilderness immersion. Your camp moves with the wildlife – no fences, no fixed infrastructure, no other guests visible on the horizon. Just you, your guide, and one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. Seeing a lion in the wild for the first time, properly in the wild, does something to your nervous system that you simply don’t expect.
25. Descending into the Danakil Depression, one of the most extreme landscapes on earth, Ethiopia
The Danakil Depression in northern Ethiopia is one of the hottest, lowest and most geologically active places on the planet. Acid lakes of vivid yellow and green, salt plains that stretch to the horizon, and lava lakes that glow orange in the dark. It looks like another world because, in almost every meaningful sense, it is. Visiting requires preparation, nerve, and a guide you trust absolutely. We know just the people.
26. Watching the sun set and rise over the Sahara from a private desert camp in the dunes, Morocco
The Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga reach 150 metres – tall enough to make you feel genuinely small. Arriving by camel at dusk, watching the light drain from the sand through gold to deep red to purple, then lying on your back in total silence as the Milky Way unfurls overhead, and waking before dawn to see the whole thing reverse in the morning light. Two moments, one desert, and no adequate words for either.
27. Watching the Northern Lights ripple across the sky from a heated glass-roofed cabin in Finnish Lapland, Finland
The Aurora Borealis is one of those sights that people consistently describe as making them cry – not from sadness, but from sheer overwhelm. Lying in a heated glass-roofed cabin in Finnish Lapland, warm and horizontal, watching green and violet light move across the sky directly above you, is about as close to a perfect travel experience as we know how to offer. Our Lapland itinerary puts you there.
28. Driving a dog sled through a silent Arctic forest as the sun comes up over the snow, Finland
The dogs are extraordinary – muscular, focused, trembling with energy before the run and completely transformed once moving. Through birch forest, across frozen lakes, in temperatures that somehow feel exhilarating rather than unpleasant. The silence between the sound of the runners on snow is total. It is one of the most alive feelings available to any traveller. It is also, it turns out, rather addictive.
29. Sleeping in open-sided accommodation deep in the Colombian Amazon, with the jungle all around you, Colombia
Wall-less sleeping platforms in the Amazon – open to the night sounds, the humidity and the extraordinary cacophony of the forest after dark, is one of those experiences that forces the nervous system to recalibrate entirely. It is not comfortable in any conventional sense as you’re protected by a tight industrial strength mosquito net. It is, however, one of the most immersive and memorable things we offer, and guests who do it rarely stop talking about it.
30. The one you’ve been meaning to book for two years
Every person who travels seriously has a list – the one they update quietly over the years, adding things overheard at dinner parties and read in the back pages of magazines. The experience that haunts them slightly. The one they keep meaning to book and never quite do. Consider this a gentle nudge. Every trip on this list is guaranteed to run the moment you book it. We never cancel. So the only thing standing between you and any of the above is the decision to go.
Every experience on this list is real, bookable and guaranteed to run once you’re confirmed. Our groups are small, our guides are local, and our itineraries are built around the kind of moments that make a trip worth remembering for the rest of your life. Drop us a line and let’s get started.
