It’s About Time You Skipped The Obvious Destinations

The Great Barrier Reef is roughly the size of Germany, so we’re not about to declare it overrated. But Ningaloo has one fairly major trick up its sleeve: you can walk off the beach and straight onto the reef.

Stretching along WA’s Coral Coast, Ningaloo is one of the world’s largest fringing reefs, which puts coral gardens, turtles, rays and tropical fish within flippering distance of shore. Then there are the big fellas. Whale sharks arrive seasonally, humpback whales cruise through during their migration and manta rays can be found around Coral Bay.

Base yourself in Exmouth or Coral Bay, chuck on a snorkel and get wet.

This spot is a classic destination dupe, but we’d argue ‘dupe’ sells it pretty short.

Dubrovnik’s medieval walls are very good. Unfortunately, quite a few other people have noticed, too.

Malta’s old capital Mdina gives you honey-coloured stone, narrow laneways, enormous old doors and enough medieval atmosphere to make your Uber feel wildly outta place.

The fortified city has been around in various forms for thousands of years and sits high above the Maltese countryside. Better yet, only a few hundred people actually live inside its walls, earning it the nickname as the Silent City.

Come late afternoon, wander until you’re completely lost, then stick around after the day-trippers have buggered off.

Italy has enough blockbuster cities to fill an entire departure board, but Matera spent a surprisingly long time avoiding that club.

The southern Italian city is famous for its Sassi, ancient neighbourhoods where homes, churches and passageways were carved directly into limestone. People lived in these caves for thousands of years, and today many have been turned into restaurants, galleries and ridiculously atmospheric places to sleep.

It’s strange, beautiful and particularly good after dark, when the stone city lights up across the ravine. Matera is becoming less of a secret by the year, so consider this your warning rather than our discovery.

We’re not going to pretend Hoi An and Kyoto are twins separated at birth. One has Japanese temples and geishas; the other has bánh mì and approximately nine billion lanterns.

But if the bit you want is a beautiful old city where craftsmanship, food and centuries of history are still woven into everyday life, Hoi An deserves a look.

Its UNESCO-listed old town is packed with merchant houses, temples, tailor shops and buildings carrying Chinese, Japanese and European influences. Go early for the markets, spend the afternoon cycling through rice paddies towards the coast and come back when the lanterns switch on.

And you’ll still take too many photos. Some things can’t be duped away.

Marrakech has rooftop bars, riads and a medina that seems physically incapable of being boring. But Fes has a medina that seems physically incapable of letting you leave.

Fes el-Bali is a sprawling knot of lanes, souks, mosques, workshops and dead ends where cars don’t fit and Google Maps might occasionally give up on you entirely.

Tanneries have been operating here for centuries, artisans still hammer metal and carve wood by hand, and somewhere around the next corner there’s probably a donkey trying to get past. Getting lost is basically unavoidable. Which is convenient, really.

No, Philadelphia does not have the Empire State Building. It does, however, have cheesesteaks, one of America’s great art museums, heaps of history, excellent neighbourhoods and significantly fewer people asking you to pay US$400 a night for a room the dimensions of a cupboard.

The city rewards wandering. Eat your way around Reading Terminal Market, run up the Rocky steps because you’re legally required to (not actually, but you know what we mean), check out the murals plastered across town and spend a night hopping between bars in Fishtown.

And if you desperately need New York afterwards, it’s only a train ride away.

This one sounds bonkers until you consider why people fly halfway around the planet to Athens in the first place: to stand among the remains of a civilisation that makes their own lifespan feel embarrassingly insignificant.

Siem Reap can handle that.

Angkor Archaeological Park contains the remains of capitals of the Khmer Empire, including Angkor Wat, the many-faced Bayon and Ta Prohm, where enormous tree roots have spent centuries slowly swallowing the stonework.

Hire a bike or tuk-tuk and give it more than one day. Angkor Wat gets the fridge magnets, but some of the best bits lie further out.

Cobblestones? Yep. Colourful old buildings? Plenty. Mountains looming dramatically over the rooftops? Antigua raises you three volcanoes.

Guatemala’s former colonial capital is small enough to explore on foot, with ruined churches, markets, courtyards and cafés scattered beneath Volcán de Agua.

But the real fun starts when you leave town. The overnight hike up Acatenango puts you across from Volcán de Fuego, an extremely active volcano that regularly spits glowing lava into the night sky.

We bet your hotel room in Antigua will feel particularly lovely afterwards.

Hear us out.

Medellín isn’t pretending to be Barcelona. But travellers chasing warm weather, excellent food, big nights, interesting neighbourhoods and a city you could happily spend a week poking around should have it on the list.

Colombia’s second-largest city sits in the Aburrá Valley with mountains rising around it, while cable cars climb into neighbourhoods high above the centre. Comuna 13 has become famous for its street art and outdoor escalators, El Poblado handles the nightlife and day trips can take you hiking, paragliding or out to the colourful town of Guatapé.

Dw, Barcelona will survive without you.