Hidden Gem Holiday Destinations

Symi is perhaps the most photogenic island in Greece that most travellers haven't yet discovered. Its harbour is a jaw-dropping horseshoe of neoclassical townhouses in terracotta, ochre, and cream, tumbling down to a translucent sea. Reached by a short ferry from Rhodes, it has stayed beautifully authentic, with locally run tavernas, walking trails through wild hillside villages, and barely a car in sight. If you love the Aegean and want to find a quieter, more intimate corner of it, Symi is your answer. 

Tilos & Kalymnos also offer genuine, lived-in Greek island with excellent beaches and a warmly welcoming local community.

Montenegro's Bay of Kotor is a spectacular sight: a winding inland sea enclosed by dramatic mountain walls, dotted with medieval coastal towns that bear the fingerprints of Venetian, Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian history. Kotor's atmospheric walled old town is a delight to explore, and the beaches of the Budva Riviera offer crystalline water and good infrastructure at prices that feel refreshingly reasonable.

Albania is the bolder recommendation and the one our advisors are most excited about right now. The Ionian Coast, particularly around Sarandë and the Albanian Riviera stretching south, offers dramatic coastal scenery, extraordinary water clarity, and an emerging food scene drawing on Ottoman, Greek, and Italian influences. The country's developing tourism infrastructure makes it a genuinely exciting place to visit while it still feels undiscovered. 

Porto is a city earning devoted admirers at a rapid rate, and entirely deservedly. The Ribeira waterfront, the extraordinary tile-covered churches, the bookshops, the narrow hillside streets, the way the city's industrial past has been transformed into a dynamic cultural scene: Porto has a character and energy that is entirely its own. A day trip into the Douro Valley wine country, is worth the journey alone.

The Minho region to the north is green and lush in a way that surprises visitors who associate Portugal only with Mediterranean sunshine. The coastal towns of Viana do Castelo and Caminha are architecturally beautiful and genuinely off the beaten path.

Flights to Porto from most UK airports are short, frequent, and well-priced. It's a destination that feels like an insider tip, even though it absolutely shouldn't.