Up-and-Coming Corners of Europe
So where to next?
For culture vultures
If your travel style is culture and history combined, you thrive in locations where the stories leave you wide-eyed.
Malta
A country 7,000 years in the making, Malta bears the stamp of the Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs, and Normans before the Knights of St. John, who ruled from 1530 to 1798, finally left the most lasting mark.
Malta's past, specifically in its capital, Valletta, will astound, as it quite literally heaves with livable, breathable history. Moulded by centuries of savage warfare, including invasions as recent as World War II, Valletta is defined by its great fortress and a network of secret underground tunnels. Some of these housed British spies and Maltese allies as they plotted against Germany, deciphering enemy code from within Lascaris War Rooms.
Malta's artifacts are seemingly endless, from Valletta to the back-in-time villages that seep with fascinating stories. You can't help but fall over its antiques.
For active relaxers
If your travel style is a seeker of cultural highlights – from the local food and drink to history and to traditions.
Sicily
Geography and history have blessed Sicily with both astounding beauty and mouth-watering cuisine. The architecture dappled with Greek and Arabian influence, its food sweetened by North African flavors.
But it's the relatively undiscovered Aeolian archipelago that's really stirring the interest of travellers. Comprising seven slow-paced islands, Aeolian life still swings to the pendulum of the 1940s.
Step onto Lipari and you'll be greeted by the lingering scent of sage. The dusty streets warm beneath your feet, deserted save for fishermen and local Sicilians retrieving laundry from their balcony.
Come nightfall, the European night glows. Stone houses and cobbled pavements still emanate with heat. The smell of sun-baked terracotta almost as seductive as home-cooked Sicilian cuisine.
For adventurers
Your travel style: always in pursuit of the unique, you crave to get off the beaten track and to fill your passport with multiple stamps.
Slovenia
Your eyes won't adjust. One hundred metres below ground and it's pitch black. This is Bled, Slovenia. You're kayaking the abandoned chambers so quiet only the stalactites murmur.
Defined by soaring alpine peaks and pine-green valleys, townships flecked with toy townhouses and glacial lakes, Slovenia's landscape is startling.
The rolling pastures, so steep you'll strain your neck, are freckled with farmers tending to their land, the air so pure it cleanses the soul.
Yes, Slovenia is beautiful, but it's the boom in adventure tourism that sets you up. From underground kayaking to skiing in the Slovenian Alps and lengthy treks across the mountains – if it's a high-octane pursuit you seek, it's an adventurist’s dream you'll find.
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