Some places look invented. Usually it is a combination of unusual geology, isolation that preserved old architecture, and a climate that produces mist or snow at the right moments. These are the destinations that genuinely look like illustrations from a storybook rather than the ones marketed that way.

Hallstatt, Austria

A village wedged between a lake and a near-vertical mountain, with pastel houses on a strip of land barely wide enough for them. Extremely crowded by day. Stay overnight and it empties completely.

Colmar, France

Half-timbered Alsatian houses in improbable colours along canals. Winter, with the Christmas markets and no leaves on the trees, is when it looks most unreal.

Bled, Slovenia

An island church in the middle of an alpine lake with a castle on the cliff above it. It is as close to a set piece as real geography gets.

Cappadocia, Turkey

Volcanic rock eroded into cones and spires, hollowed out into dwellings and churches over centuries, with hundreds of balloons above it at dawn. Nothing else looks like this.

The Faroe Islands

Turf-roofed houses, sea cliffs, and waterfalls that fall directly into the Atlantic. The village of Saksun and the Mulafossur waterfall at Gasadalur are the images that circulate.

Giethoorn, Netherlands

A village with canals instead of roads, reached by boat or footbridge. Cars cannot enter the old centre at all.

Shirakawa-go, Japan

Steep thatched gassho-zukuri farmhouses built to shed heavy snow. In deep winter, lit at night, it is the single most storybook place in Asia.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

An intact walled medieval town. You can walk the full circuit of the ramparts, which is what separates it from other pretty German towns.

Sintra, Portugal

A hillside of romantic palaces in mist, including the bright yellow and red Pena Palace. Half an hour from Lisbon by train.

Reine, Lofoten Islands

Red fishing cabins on stilts beneath granite peaks, above the Arctic Circle. Midnight sun in summer, northern lights in winter.

Plitvice Lakes, Croatia

Sixteen terraced lakes connected by waterfalls, with boardwalks running directly over the water.

Bibury, England

A row of 17th century weavers cottages along a stream in the Cotswolds, still lived in.

Visiting without ruining it

  • Stay the night. Every place on this list is a day trip destination, which means they empty out after 5pm and before 9am.
  • Go in shoulder season or winter. Several of these look better in mist and snow anyway.
  • Remember people live there. Hallstatt and Giethoorn have both introduced measures in response to visitor pressure.

When each one looks its best

Several of these are genuinely seasonal, and visiting at the wrong time means seeing a fairly ordinary town.

  • Hallstatt. Winter, with snow on the roofs, or early autumn mornings when mist sits on the lake.
  • Colmar and Rothenburg. December for Christmas markets. Both are attractive year round and transformed in winter.
  • Shirakawa-go. January and February, when the houses are lit against deep snow on selected evenings. These require advance booking.
  • Cappadocia. April to June and September to November. Balloons are weather-dependent and cancelled often in winter.
  • Faroe Islands. May to August for daylight and passable roads.
  • Plitvice. Spring for full waterfalls, autumn for colour. Summer is crowded and the boardwalks bottleneck.
  • Sintra. Morning mist in autumn, which is exactly the atmosphere the palaces were built for.
  • Lofoten. June and July for midnight sun, or February for aurora over snow-covered peaks.

How to get to the harder ones

  • Hallstatt. Train from Salzburg with a short ferry across the lake, which is the best possible arrival.
  • Shirakawa-go. Bus from Takayama or Kanazawa. No train.
  • Faroe Islands. Flights via Copenhagen or Edinburgh. A hire car is essential.
  • Giethoorn. Train to Steenwijk then a local bus, roughly two hours from Amsterdam.
  • Reine. Fly to Leknes or Bodø then drive. The drive itself is the attraction.
  • Bibury. No station. Drive or take a tour from Oxford or Cirencester.

The overtourism problem

Worth being direct about, because several of these places are struggling.

Hallstatt receives a very large number of day visitors relative to its permanent population, and has installed barriers at one viewpoint and restricted coach access in response. Giethoorn and Bibury have both had similar tensions. These are working villages where people live, not open-air attractions.

  • Stay overnight, which spreads spending and reduces peak pressure.
  • Visit outside July and August.
  • Do not photograph into windows or private gardens.
  • Spend money locally rather than arriving and leaving on a coach.
  • Keep noise down early and late.

Less-visited alternatives

If the famous ones feel too busy, these deliver comparable atmosphere with a fraction of the crowd:

  • Alberobello and Locorotondo, Italy. Conical trulli houses in Puglia.
  • Český Krumlov, Czech Republic. A castle town in a river bend, quieter than Rothenburg.
  • Monsanto, Portugal. A village built among and under enormous boulders.
  • Gásadalur alternatives in the Faroes, such as Tjørnuvík and Elduvík.
  • Bled’s lesser neighbour, Lake Bohinj, larger, wilder and far emptier.
  • Sighișoara, Romania. An intact medieval citadel with genuine atmosphere.

See also the hidden gems around the world.