W hat’s the antithesis of 2024’s scenes of overtourism , where we found ourselves in crowds and queues at every turn? Well, how about a more niche holiday? These more unusual travel ideas give you a special focus, a more meaningful experience – and they are often better for the nature and communities you visit, too. Find your new niche for a new year , with seven unusual travel experiences for 2025..
. If, like me, you’re sad that most spa trips are expensive and solitary sanctuaries, consider hot spring tourism . Follow the lead of local people in geothermal hotspots, see a nation at leisure, and get a glimpse into its social history.
“The springs have been known for thousands of years in Bulgaria and local people use them a lot,” says Lyubomir Aleksandrov, from Sofia-based travel company Green Valleys . “Some people use it to recover from sickness; others use it for a good mood and maintaining a strong immune system.” Good for you; good for the environment, too, if the water heats itself.
Be a hot spring tourist...
from Japanese onsens to Icelandic lagoons, to the hot springs that fill the bath houses of Budapest and Eastern Europe – your cup runneth over. Read more: These destinations are giving visitors rewards for being ‘good tourists’ Slovenia has the most beekeepers per capita in Europe . In the 2010s, apitourism became a buzzword as Slovenia harnessed its famous honey power to draw tourists into the forests – visiting beekeepers and their beauti.
