EUROQUEST SideTracks

In yet another edition of BEYOND THE BEACH, we would like to discover outdoor and hiking opportunities in and around Alicante. Several non-profit groups are dedicated to organizing and executing hiking excursions in the area on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, including Fartets Senderismo Montaña ( https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000862676792&sk=info ). The regional government of the Comunitat Valenciana and local tourist authorities have even launched another website dedicated to the increasingly popular hiking acivitiy in the Levante region with more information available on www.senderosdealicante.com . Within barely 30 minutes inland from the coast, plentiful hiking routes become available to visitors, many of which yet undiscovered or barely frequented by area locals. It almost seems like leaving the overdeveloped coastal areas around Santa Pola or Benidorm is the safest and most scenic way to avoid mass tourism, seek solitude and soak up the local culture and...

As the single most important tourist destination in Poland, Krakow attracts millions of visitors annually and as such may hardly count as a well-kept secret. Yet tourism to Malopolskie (Lesser Poland), which is the area in Southern Poland around Krakow, tends to follow set patterns with visitors covering the castle area of Wawel, the Old Town (Stare Miasto) around Rynek Glowny (the Cloth Hall) and the Jewish Quarter of Kazimiersz in Krakow itself as well as the famous saltmines in nearby Wieliczka and of course the memorial site of the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. Very few visitors venture beyond those boundaries, yet it is precisely the many hidden treasures beyond those highlights that allow Krakow lovers to savor true local culture & appreciate the city from an emic, local perspective. Local Krakow also centers around Stare Miasto and Rynek Glowny, but moreover includes adjacent newer neighborhoods with locals bypassing the tourist attractions such as the...