Have you ever considered the "Not So Popular" destination?

Hi everyone,

Hope you have a good day. Just wondering and maybe some of you would like to share if you ever considered to travel to the "Not So Popular" tourist destinations? I just prefer the word Not So Popular rather than "Underrated" as I observe some destinations could be popular for the people who live in certain region however not the rest of the world. In so many discussion and social media platforms I often see how some places are so popular, while there are lots of countries in the world which maybe not that familiar for the people in general but yet so amazing. They are even less tourists and more enjoyable to visit somehow.

For example of my experience, I would mention Oman, a country just across the border of United Arab Emirates, just 5 hours drive from the city where I live, Dubai and 30 minutes flight from here. Its a famous place to unwind for people who live in middle east due to its nature and calm ambiance, however not the rest of the world. Here we called Oman as a hidden gem, it has a beautiful nature, quiet place, and they still value traditional Arabic culture in their day to day lives.

Another example, I could not ever forget my experience while exploring Petra and Dead Sea in Jordan, or walking through the Egyptian history and seeing a mummy for the first time in Luxor, Egypt.

Please share your experience and thoughts, would be nice hearing from you all

Hey!

Always nice to "see" new faces!

To be honest, I always consider NSP (not so popular) destinations, and somehow I always end up somewhere more popular than I would have liked I am working on that and started to stray away from the near proximity of the airports to find places away from most of the tourists Oman sounds place just like that!

I have discovered that I don't enjoy the touristy destinations, places where there is booth after booth selling the same exact things, nor the places where there is huge crowds of people.

We visited Alanya one summer and we had a perfect timing (or rather we had a perfect timing for me). The country had just started to recover from the agitations in the borders so the tourist were scarce, scenery were great and our hotel was awesome! We had the place almost to our selfes

In Malta last year I liked the island of Gozo, there weren't too many tourists either but the place still felt lively, just not too crowded!

Quoting stephaniefcw

Another example, I could not ever forget my experience while exploring Petra and Dead Sea in Jordan, or walking through the Egyptian history and seeing a mummy for the first time in Luxor, Egypt.

I can't see how Petra is NSP destination with over 1 million annual visitor but maybe the crowd doesn't seem that big over there..?

[ Edit: Edited on 26-Jul-2020, 05:58 GMT by hennaonthetrek ]

A country : Norway if you can afford it.

A region : The Rioja Valley in Spain

Have you visited all of he UAE yet? I've known people who lived and worked in Dubai for 2 years and never visited the Bastakiya or eaten at one of the Indian Thali restaurants nearby.

I agree about Oman - we were there last year and loved it. The south in particular, around Salalah, I would consider NSP. But Petra is one of the most famous sights on the planet I reckon and can't be counted in that group!

We like to do a mix. Often places are popular for a reason so we might still want to go (Petra falls into that category, also Paris, Victoria Falls and very many other places). But in addition to Oman we've also recently been to North Korea - definitely NSP And when visiting Rajasthan we went not only to Udaipur and Jodhpur, of course, but also Narlai and Bundi, much less visited and just as special in their way.

@hennaonthetrek, Hello nice to know you too wow you had really amazing experiences on those places! Good to know more on a place that I rarely heard, evoking more curiosity. Yes, Jordan is quite famous I would say, it just came to my mind coz I often heard of Thailand, or Maldives or some countries in West Europe etc way more often as a dream travel destinations rather than Jordan. I would consider Malta next time I will be back in Europe

@PHOTOBOB, Hello there, yup Norway is in my list! Well, I have been living and working in Dubai for the last 4 years, tried to explore the emirates as much as I can however I was working long hours in shifts and 6 days in a week so I would rather to go outside the UAE when I could take more than a week of even several days of my leaves. Again, this is like my own home so the curiosity is more to the countries around the UAE. In regards to Indian food, I eat some Indian foods but to be honest not really a fan of it (it depends on the personal preference I guess ) so yep I'm not that exploring the Indian cuisine in UAE, coz its a Arabic country so I would be more curious on Arabic cuisine and culture. Furthermore a lot of cases you will find lots of people are working here for ages but never explore UAE coz of their workload and schedule.

@ToonSarah, Hi there... wow! you had been visited Oman? That's great, and glad to hear you enjoyed your visit and.... North Korea??? hey, tell us more about North Korea! Its definitely NSP destination or even a rare destination I like to do Mix too, well about Jordan as I explained in the beginning based on my experience it is mentioned way less than most of other countries. I actually want to mention Georgia (the former of Uni Soviet) as one of my favourite NSP destination but I had spoken about it in another forum but really, since you are up to the challenge so you may consider Georgia. Tbilisi is the capital and its amazing, has one of the best wine and very very cheap destination. You will be surprise.

Quoting stephaniefcw

@ToonSarah, Hi there... wow! you had been visited Oman? That's great, and glad to hear you enjoyed your visit and.... North Korea??? hey, tell us more about North Korea! Its definitely NSP destination or even a rare destination I like to do Mix too, well about Jordan as I explained in the beginning based on my experience it is mentioned way less than most of other countries. I actually want to mention Georgia (the former of Uni Soviet) as one of my favourite NSP destination but I had spoken about it in another forum but really, since you are up to the challenge so you may consider Georgia. Tbilisi is the capital and its amazing, has one of the best wine and very very cheap destination. You will be surprise.

I have a whole series of blog entries here on North Korea if you are interested to read more - starting with this one: https://toonsarah.travellerspoint.com/340/

As for Georgia, it's high on our wish-list and we were considering going there this autumn (there or Armenia or both) before the pandemic put a stop to that, for the time being at least

Quoting ToonSarah

And when visiting Rajasthan we went not only to Udaipur and Jodhpur, of course, but also Narlai and Bundi, much less visited and just as special in their way.

We visited a place called Khuri in the desert. When we went we needed a police permit to visit as its so near the border. It has now become very popular but is still very off the beaten track.

Warning: A man who won fame for growing the world's second-longest mustache was found beheaded, and police say he was killed to avenge a slaying committed during his younger days as a desert bandit.
Karna Ram Bheel was found with his head cut off, lying in a wooden cart pulled by a camel in the town of Jaisalmer, 400 miles southwest of New Delhi.

@ToonSarah, I read your blog and really like it! What an amazing experience and thank you for sharing it with us. The NSP destination could have a challenge at times but then you find its worth it. I love the pictures, they are lovely and for sure from many not so positive comments about North Korea you really see it in a very positive way!

Autumn must be so beautiful in Georgia, I went there September 2019 when I could get some days off from work. I'm pretty sure just in a while they will allow tourists to come again, now Georgia has been one of most tourist destination for people in middle east region since its only 3 hours flight, they start to give VOA to UAE residents, also for the very cheap living cost and awesome place to visit. You must try their superb wine which cost less than 1 USD and their famous dumpling, Khinkali

We make an effort to find out of the way places. We usually rent a (cottage / gite /agriturismo) in the country and explore regional parks and small villages in the area for a month at a time. We do the tourist spots too if they are near enough, but we have enough time to go places for no reason at all and usually discover they are very interesting for any of several reasons. Often our hosts tell us about local sites they enjoy and we have found lots of fun places that way. I don't mind tourists but I don't like crowds so timing can be important if it's a popular place.

Quoting Beausoleil

but we have enough time to go places for no reason at all and usually discover they are very interesting for any of several reasons. Often our hosts tell us about local sites they enjoy and we have found lots of fun places that way. I don't mind tourists but I don't like crowds so timing can be important if it's a popular place.

These are so true and at times we just found out that what we heard about those places aren't true and we discovered so much more than that. I believe that's the art of traveling