Ditch the Crowds

Southwest Crete...rather than the Amalfi Coast 
 The Amalfi Coast has beguiled the rich and famous for decades. But rewind to an earlier era, to a string of cliff-clinging fishing villages untouched by tourism. What was Amalfi like then?

It was like rugged southwest Crete today. There are no roads, just dry-stone shepherds' tracks, the only traffic an occasional herd of sheep or goats. The air smells of oregano and thyme; mulberry and oleander add strokes of color. Cicadas keen in the summer heat, and winds dust everything red with Saharan sand.

Deep chasms in the Lefka Ori (White Mountains) make for legendary hiking. By day, trekkers swarm the port of Chora Sfakion (Sfakia), but after the last bus returns north to Chania, everything reverts to the sigha-sigha (slowly-slowly) attitude. Linger and you'll soon be knocking back ouzo with blue-eyed fishermen descended from ancient Dorian tribes.

From Sfakia follow the dizzying trail west, high above the Libyan Sea. The first stop is Sweetwater Beach, popular with nude sunbathers and bare-bottomed snorkelers. Farther on, light some frankincense at the whitewashed shrine commemorating Saint Peter's first Grecian landfall. Past laid-back Loutro, the hamlet of Finix boasts prehistoric ruins. Arrange with a boatman to drop you off for a few hours at Lissos, a ravine marked by a church cobbled from marble fragments, a hillside necropolis, a mosaic temple floor, and a frescoed Byzantine chapel.

At Paleochora, the land flattens to a broad beach--though prevailing westerlies make sunbathing a bit gritty. Feeling Homeric? Grab a ferry south to the even more isolated isle of Gavdos, where Odysseus dallied seven years with the nymph Calypso.

Restaurants serve the catch of the day, homegrown vegetables, and tree-ripened fruit. The family-run Old Phoenix restaurant and hotel in Finix has sea-view balconies, private bathrooms, and A/C ($15 meals, $40 doubles, 011-30/28250-91257, old-phoenix.com). The Daskalogiannis Hotel in Loutro is a white villa facing the pier ($60, 011-30/28250-91514, loutro.com). Andreas Fasoulakis and family cook up local dishes in Sfakia's Taverna Lefka Ori ($20, 011-30/28250-91209, chora-sfakion.com). Hotel Stavris is a shady choice in the heart of Sfakia, with fine views from the balconies ($28, 011-30/28250-91220, hotel-stavris-chora-sfakion.com). Vritomartis Hotel, less than a mile from Sfakia, is the region's premium accommodation, almost a resort, but the tone is anything but snooty; the pool and beach are clothing optional, and rates include dinner ($120, 011-30/28250-91112, naturism-crete.com).

Ljubljana...rather than Prague 
 Only a dozen years ago, Prague was "rediscovered" and crowned as eastern Europe's hip, cheap destination. Now simple hotel rooms cost $200 and the narrow, cobbled streets are mobbed with sightseers. Ride the next trend wave two countries to the south: the city of Ljubljana.

The walkable capital of Slovenia is filled with cozy, Viennese-style beer halls, wine cellars, and clubs. In nice weather locals fill the terrace cafes lining a maze of pedestrian-only streets.

The city's nickname, White Ljubljana, comes from such pale structures as St. Nicholas's Cathedral and the elaborate Fountain of Carniolan Rivers, inspired by Bernini's work in Rome's Piazza Navona. You'll also see Austrian influences and a dash of bold, folksy Slavic motifs--Ljubljana managed to avoid being disfigured by too many Communist-era concrete blocks. Take a nighttime walk by the Ljubljanica River and admire the lighted curlicues of the rococo facades.

This is a university city, so cultural life, art, and music thrive, with a centuries-old classical tradition that enticed composers like Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, and Mahler to visit. Forests surround the 1,000-year-old hilltop castle, where views stretch to the distant Alps. Greenery carpets nearby Tivoli Park.

Atmospheric lodgings are not the city's forte. Comfortable and reasonably priced modern establishments include the City Hotel ($120, Dalmatinova 15, 011-386/1-234-9130, hotelturist.si) and the Best Western Premier Hotel Slon ($125, Slovenska 34, 011-386/1-470-1100,bestwestern.com). The Pri Mraku guesthouse is a more personalized, though plain, alternative ($110, Rimska 4, 011-386/1-421-9600, daj-dam.si).

Expect a combination of Balkan, Italian, and central European cooking, with seafood from the Adriatic. Pleasantly old-fashioned As is one of the best restaurants for original fish and pasta creations ($15, Knafljev prehod, 011-386/1-425-8822). River-view seating makes Ljubjanski Dvor good for lunch ($15, Dvorni trg 1, 011-386/1-251-6555). On the road to the castle, candlelit Spajza is popular for Slovene cooking with French and Italian trimmings ($15, Gornji trg 28, 011-386/1-425-3094).

Le Marche...rather than Tuscany 
 Due east of Tuscany, over the Apennine Mountains, is the noticeably undervisited region of Le Marche. Stretched along the Adriatic coast, it's home to the ideal Renaissance city, splendid Urbino. In the 15th century, Urbino's ducal court patronized painters such as Piero della Francesca and local hero Raphael.

During an evening stroll in Ascoli Piceno--a town noted for its rowdy Carnival and deep-fried olive ascolane stuffed with minced meat--rub elbows with the gentry on Piazza del Popolo's polished travertine pavement lined with mismatched colonnades.

At the pilgrimage center of Loreto, pay homage to the Virgin Mary's modest home, airlifted from the Holy Land by angels in the 13th century. Outside the beach town of Cattolica--halfway between the resorts of Rimini and Pesaro (the latter is best for basking, with its soft, pearl-gray sands)--visit haunted Gradara Castle and learn the tale of its doomed lovers, Paolo and Francesca, condemned in Dante's Inferno to a whirlwind of insatiable lust.

Le Marche is also the site of some of the country's top natural attractions. The Monti Sibillini range is the star of the Apennines; climb to bizarrely blood-red Lake Pilate under Devil's Peak.

Urbino's unsurpassed accommodation is Hotel San Domenico, a former convent opposite the Ducal Palace ($126, 011-39/0722-26-26, viphotels.it). The airy, Bauhaus-style Hotel Pennile sits a mile from the center of Ascoli in a lush pine forest ($93, 011-39/0736-41-645, hotelpennile.com). Pesaro's luxurious Hotel Vittoria is right on the beach, with a pool ($126, 011-39/0721-34-343, viphotels.it).

The food of Le Marche is fantastic: seafood on the Adriatic side, and pasta and polenta accented with truffles, wild mushrooms, and game in the hillier interior. Urbino's Osteria l'Angolo Divino has a wood-beam ceiling and a rustic menu ($30, Via S. Andrea 14, 011-39/0722-32-7559). Right on Ascoli's main square, Ristorante Tornasacco manages to be traditional and elegant yet still charge modest prices ($40, Piazza del Popolo 36, 011-39/0736-254-151). At the beach, on Pesaro's Riviera Adriatica, the Bagni Gilberto has a cafe, a low-key ristorantino, and beach services ($15, Viale Trieste 32, 011-39/0721-32-887). For a real restaurant, try romantic Il Commodoro ($35, Viale Trieste 269, 011-39/0721-32-680).