11 Secret European Towns You Must Visit

The secret is out for Milan, London, Paris or Barcelona, but Europe has a plethora of destinations that you may not have considered visiting before. Here are 11 lesser-known European towns you should visit… like, right now.

The Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou

The town of Ait-Ben-Haddou, located on the southern slopes of the High Atlas Mountains, is one of the most spectacular manmade sights along the valley in Morocco’s rocky desert.

Citadelle Laferrière Fortress of Haiti

The Citadelle Laferrière, located on top of a mountain in northern Haiti, is one of the largest fortresses in the Americas. The Citadel was built by Henri Christophe, who played a key role in the Haitian Revolution that eventually led to the country gaining independence from France in 1804.

The Remarkable Story of St Kilda’s Residents

Photo credit: Colin Campbell/Flickr 

The remote archipelago of St Kilda, off the west coast of the Scottish mainland, is truly an isolated place. Located some 64 km west of the Outer Hebrides, it is the most remote part of the British Isles.

Tallinn: The Estonian Treasure of Europe

Perhaps there aren’t many travelers who would like to spend their holidays in Tallinn – and probably most of them are not even aware of its existence. However, the Estonian capital has much to offer to those who are passionate about history, art and architecture

The 870-Year Old Historic Sausage Kitchen of Regensburg

One hundred twenty five kilometers north of Munich lies the old medieval town of Regensburg, situated at the confluence of three rivers — the Danube, Naab and Regen. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Regensburg is famous for its historic medieval center containing as many as fifteen hundred listed buildings, the largest such collection north of the Alps.

Stromatolites of Hamelin Pool

What appear to be rocks submerged in the hyper-saline water of Hamelin Pool at the base of Shark Bay in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, are not quite rocks. They are living things called stromatolites, created by tiny, single-celled microbes called cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), which are some of the earliest forms of life on earth.

UNESCO World Heritage Abbey Lorsch, Germany

1st Prize in the German Landscape Architecture Award 2015

TOPOTEK 1 and hg merz’s design proposal began in 2010 with a landscape architectural competition (in conjunction with architectural, historic preservation and urban planning expertise) for the re-envisioning of the site.