Whenever friends mention places they've been or places they're going, I find they often talk about cities or countries. I rarely hear stories of amazing small towns or villages people visit, but I'm sure there are lots of hidden gems that are worth spending many days, weeks, or months visiting.
So I have a few questions:
- What are your favorite small towns in the world?
- What specifically makes them better than other small towns?
- What small towns are on your bucket list?
Personally, I'd like to visit the Cotswolds region in England one day. I haven't been, but the photos look amazing and the style of architecture and landscaping looks so different from all other small towns I've visited.
Besides where I live, probably Del Mar California.
Fancy
I used to work for a travel agency ... Auberge Del Mar is a popular boutique hotel but expensive
I got the name wrong lol
I always forget the L
https://www.laubergedelmar.com/
In French L’ is used in place of Le or La when the subsequent word starts with a vowel.
Essentially means the inn.
sounds so much better in French
The Residence Auberge by Marriott lol
edit: I have never been to Quebec, are you surprised lol
Sounds fancier at least.
It’s kind of funny that the hotel’s name is French and Del Mar is Spanish.
So it means the Inn of the sea but in two separate languages.
You should visit Montreal and Quebec City. Wouldn’t want to live there but they are nice to visit.
Both are on my to do list.
excellent linguistic/etymological analysis
I lived in Montreal for a year, in the mid 90s. It was a nice place, I loved it...
Canmore, Alberta has my heart. It used to where the Banff working class called home. Now it’s as expensive but still more beautiful.
Nice try, Fed.
Can’t out it into a single town but I LOVE a lot of the small towns in the Rockies just outside of Denver.
Idaho Springs all the way to Rifle, Telluride, Aspen, and many more.
They all feel such a quaint and picturesque memory of my home state.
I will always love them.
Cambria, California is just gorgeous. It sits on the Central Coast away from crowds. Think bungalow rooms steps from the sand. And, you're about a 40.minite drive to Paso Robles and all that great wine and food.
Loved Capri and Sorrento Italy.
Hoi An, Vietnam is historic and beautiful. But skip towns all together and cruise Ha Long Bay in a junk.
Tennessee is full of beautiful small towns.
Paris, Tennessee. Just always got a kick out of that name
If you say Paris properly it rhymes too. Nice.
Podunk or Springfield
Yatsushiro, Japan
It’s my wife’s hometown - sentimental reasons.
It’s also Japan’s top producer of tomatoes. Quite fun taking a stroll and watching the tomato farmers in action
Besides my own town, I love Quebec City, Canada.
Český Krumlov, Czech Republic
I like Shimla and Nainital very much here in India. Not because there aren't many other beautiful towns in the lap of the Himalayas but besides beauty these towns have almost everything necessary. Other than these, I like Kashmir, Manali, Rekong Peo, Darjeeling, Pithoragarh, Manali and many more.
Outside India, I've country specific favourite towns everywhere. I'll visiting them all in the next 10 years or so.
In USA my favourites are Bar Harbour, Sedona, Portsmouth, Catchicken, Carmela by the sea, Snowmass, Avalon and Lake Placid.
Annecy, the "Pearl of the French Alps", in France, it's a small/medium size town with beautiful channels and a delightful architecture. It's an incredible pleasure to walk around, so relaxing... It's similar to Venice, but it smells good. 😂
Cedarburg Wisconsin. Its a small town but somehow they kept their downtown alive. It's population is only 12,000 but the downtown is so busy that 2 of the several coffee shops that are literally side by side are both always full.
For me, probably Konstanz, am Bodensee in Germany.
Mullumbimby, NSW, Australia. Proper small town vibes, but features a small park, an awesome local pub with a great and affordable steak, a wonderful Indian food restaurant, a spa, etc. But also sufficiently close to former hippie and modern day hipster/tourist hotspot Byron Bay as well as beaches both north and south (including Brunswick Heads and the awesome drum circles happening there every Sunday)
Suure-Jaani, Estonia. Probably mostly because it's my hometown, but it's also very beautiful (in the summer) and it's close enough to places like the Soomaa bog (one of the most peaceful places on planet Earth IMO), Viljandi (hosting some great cultural events) and Tartu (the student capital of Estonia).
Kampot, Cambodia. Civilized / built up enough to have a good time and enjoy life, while still being quite rural and uninterrupted by large hordes of tourists. Great place to ease yourself into the Khmer culture.
I don't have a proper bucket list of small towns to visit, but I generally do prefer them over big cities. In New Zealand, where I'm at right now, Kerikeri seems like a pretty cool place (haven't stayed in town though) and I've heard good things about Raglan (supposedly the New Zealand equivalent to Byron Bay)
Ayampe - Ecuador.
This is a dream place, a place of peace and tranquility. Small town, beach for surfing, and an incredible vibe. Honestly, a place worth mentioning.
I think all cities definitely have their own special features, but if you have never visited a city but have seen it, you definitely want to go there, as long as you have the money to go there.
So, I can only say my own city is the best, but that's my opinion, welcome to Europe.
Ah nice try fed. Where my wife is from….
Pietrapertosa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-QZYXJ2Grs
Collioure - commune in the southern france. HIghly reco
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