Places where the busiest sound is still the sea, the wind or a goat bell. Picked for the feeling of arrival.
Some destinations are quiet because they're remote, some because they're inconvenient, and some because the tour industry simply forgot to add them to its database. A few of our favourite quiet places, by the reason they stayed quiet.
Remote enough
Kastellorizo, Greece
Three kilometres off the Turkish coast and 570 km east of Athens. One pastel harbour, one Blue Grotto bigger than Capri's, almost no other visitors.
Faroe Islands
Grass-roofed villages, basalt cliffs and a national park that is in effect the whole archipelago. The remote village of Gjogv stayed almost unchanged because the boat in was the only way until the 1970s.
Inconvenient enough
Albania's Llogara pass and beyond
The Albanian Riviera south of the Llogara pass (Dhermi, Himarë, Ksamil before it got busy) is still a fraction of the price of Greece or Croatia.
North Macedonia, Galicica National Park
Between lakes Ohrid and Prespa. Trail running, vipers if you're not careful, and the village of Galicica that sits at 1,440 metres and feels like it belongs to a previous century.
Forgotten enough
Coastal Bulgaria, north of Varna
The Kamen Bryag and Tyulenovo coastline has limestone cliffs, sea caves and a population of around 200.
Latvia's Cape Kolka
Where the Gulf of Riga meets the Baltic. Pine forest, white sand, and ghost villages from the Soviet border zone.
Protected enough
Plitvice's lesser cousins - Krka and Una
Krka in Croatia (you can no longer swim under the falls but it's quieter than Plitvice) and Una in Bosnia, which most visitors skip altogether.
Triglav National Park's Vrsic side, Slovenia
Almost everyone heads to Bled. The Vrsic pass, with the Russian Orthodox chapel built by World War I prisoners, is the better drive.
