From the swivellin' chair...

Nice one. There is no definition of on or off the beaten track. Basically, people have gone (almost) everywhere and getting off the beaten track requires good physical condition, money and time. Some Indian tribes have been discovered only some years ago...you could call that off the beaten track. But also some routes/places that have been traveled before are still what I would call of the beaten track. The Canning Stock Route in Australia is not what I would call on the beaten track, but there have been adventurous people doing this for years. I also look at for example which people go where. I am sure the Ural Mountains are popular with Russian, but many other nationalities just travel straight south of the Ural by train towards Siberia.

25.07.2007 by Utrecht

I don't know about "destinations" that are off the beaten path, but I think it's easy enough to find pockets of "off-beaten-path-iness". I find just walking around in a city away from the tourist sites, and getting into the side streets of a city. Sure, there are lots of people around, but they live there. I think trying to meet locals is one of the best ways to get a "true" experience of a place.

25.07.2007 by GregW

Even at places that are square in the middle of the beaten highway you can still have an experience of the location that is incomparable to what most other people get. They key is often to remain behind when the tourbuses drive off again, to sit in the middle of the chaos and observe, to wake up at 3 am to hike for an hour and a half to that special vantage point on the one day that luck will have it that the clouds are arranged _just so_ for the sun to scatter its light around in the most amazing way ever...

Don't follow the tourguide or your brochure about the main highlights - instead, look around with your own eyes, follow your own instincts, and really SEE.

25.07.2007 by Sander

As my friend Jason would say; "The road less travelled is usually less travelled for a reason"

I agree with Sander on this one. Sometimes it is just a case of seeing the same thing at a different time or from a different vantage point.

In hindsight one of my fondest travel memories was wandering the streets of Paris at 6AM a few years ago thanks to jet lag. The streets were virtually empty, providing quite a nice taste of a city that is as on-the-beaten track as they come.

25.07.2007 by Peter

As a nature-lover who has grown roots in highly a highly touristy area (southern France - Provence Cote d'Azur), I'm always amazed to see gorgeous spots half-deserted when hordes of visitors trample their way to a well-known beach a couple of miles away.

To me, off-the-beaten-path exists everywhere. If we take the time to learn about the environments we visit and to talk to local folks, we're sure to find these gems.

What concerns me more right now is how do we best protect these unspoiled areas. In my neck of the woods, a public organization called "Conservatoire du Littoral" is doing a good job with land acquisition for protection (i'm not currently affiliated w/ this org, just appreciative).

I'm curious - what is happening your areas to preserve off-the-beaten-pathness?

27.07.2007 by AzurAlive