Swap pricey, overcrowded vacation spots this summer for these expert-recommended travel dupes
Buh-bye, summer travel crowds — hello, calm and peaceful vacation.Experts at Travel Counsellors, a UK travel agency, and Skyscanner, a UK travel booking site, recommend lesser-known travel destinations that offer the same charm, beauty and cultural flair as popular hotspots — minus the masses.This list, reported by the Daily Mail, is especially helpful as places like Venice have begun charging tourists entry fees and residents in overrun cities like Barcelona are attacking visitors.One of the travel dupes experts recommend is the Faroe Islands — an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark — instead of Iceland.The islands are reportedly “more remote, dramatic and untouched” than Iceland.
Tourism to the Nordic island country has taken off in recent years due to its natural landscape and views of the Northern Lights.So if you’re looking for this type of vibe on your next trip, visiting the Faroe Islands is your best bet.“The Faroe Islands remain wild and uncrowded, offering true solitude and a chance to experience nature in near-total isolation with sheer sea cliffs, emerald-green mountains and fjords that plunge straight into the Atlantic.” For the last few summers, locals in Barcelona have had enough with the influx of tourists, as they’ve been spraying them down with water guns and officials are changing laws to ban short-term rentals in protest.
That’s why the experts at Skyscanner suggest skipping the fight and instead checking out the city of Girona in the northeastern corner of Spain.“If a city is defined by its landmarks, green spaces, museums, cultural offerings and food experiences, then Spain’s northeastern city of Girona has it in spades,” the experts noted.“It’s considerably cheaper and less crowded than Barcelona, which means you can splurge on lunch and dinner.” This stunning city is also known for its medieval architecture.Those wanting to frolic in French fields should ditch the idea of visiting Provence, Fran...