“Everyone knows Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, Ibiza, Majorca,” Abbamonte said. But not many Americans are familiar with the historic city of Ronda, perched atop a deep rocky gorge covered in lush greenery in the Andalucia region.
“If you’re in Marbella, or if you’re in Sevilla or Gibraltar, you can go out there and check out this awesome little town,” Abbamonte said.
He also can’t speak highly enough of Spain’s Basque region, home to seaside towns like A Coruña, which is close to the Camino de Santiago, a network of pilgrimage routes leading to a holy site in the city of Santiago de Compostela.
“I’ve done a lot of road trips around the north of Spain,” Abbamonte said. “It’s just an awesome little slice of Europe that nobody ever goes to.”
If you’re planning to island-hop in Greece, Abbamonte has recommendations that aren’t Mykonos or Santorini No cars are allowed on the Greek island of Hydra. Shutterstock/imagIN.gr photography
Mykonos and Santorini are two of the most well-known islands in Greece. Naturally, they’re also two of the most overcrowded.
People familiar with Greece, like Abbamonte, often advise against visiting Mykonos and Santorini in favor of smaller islands that are quieter but just as beautiful, such as Aegina, Poros, and Hydra.
Abbamonte said Hydra, in particular, is worth seeing.
“There are no cars, and it’s just goats and donkeys and walking. It’s a very cool place to go.”
On the mainland, he’d also advise stopping by Meteora in Thessaly, known for its “otherworldly” monasteries built atop towering rock formations.
In Italy, there are places just as beautiful as Lake Como and Florence that are far less crowded Small towns like San Gimignano in Tuscany are less touristy than Florence and Siena. Peter.Zelei
According to Abbamonte, “With Italy, you can just throw a dart at a map, and you’re in the coolest place you’ve ever been to.”
Even so, some of Abbamonte’s favorite spots in Italy don’t get the love he believes they deserve. In the region of Tuscany for example, he says people tend to prioritize Florence, Pisa, or Siena.
All three are definitely worth seeing at least once, Abbamonte said, but he’d also recommend exploring smaller villages nestled between Tuscany’s rolling hills, such as San Gimignano, Montalcino, and Montepulciano — all known for their endless vineyards and wines.
“Those are actually really awesome little villages and well worth checking out,” he said.
Up in the north, Abbamonte said he’d skip Lake Como for any of the other Italian lakes close to the Dolomite mountains.
“It’s my favorite place to road trip, probably, in all of Europe,” he said.
Vacation like a local in France and visit Biarritz instead of Paris or Nice Abbamonte said Biarritz has an old money, “Grace Kelly” feel to it. Tuul & Bruno Morandi/Getty Images
Paris, Nice, and Monte Carlo are the most well known vacation spots in France, in Abbamonte’s opinion.
However, he said they are mostly hot spots for tourists rather than French locals, who tend to vacation in places “completely overlooked” by outsiders.
One of his favorites is Biarritz, a seaside hub known for its surfing culture in the Basque region of France. It’s north of San Sebastian, a coastal Spanish city popular with tourists that is about a half-hour drive from the French border.
“Everyone knows San Sebastian now. Not a lot of people know Biarritz except for French people,” he said. “But that’s why I like it because it has a real, local kind of old money, Grace Kelly feel.”
Other spots in France that he recommends checking out are the medieval town of Saint Paul De Vence on the French Riviera, beloved by generations of artists and poets, and the riverside city of Avignon in the southeast, one of his “favorite towns in all of Europe.”
Source link : https://www.businessinsider.com/underrated-hidden-gems-to-visit-in-spain-greece-italy-france-2024-6?amp
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Publish date : 2024-06-04 13:56:00
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