You are a cultural explorer

You travel for that sense of otherness and absorb the sights, sounds and smells of the place around you. Morning finds you sipping coffee and trying out the local language as you watch the town go about its business. Eschewing tourist hotspots in favour of hidden historic gems, you love the sense of discovery that comes from diving down a back street on a whim, eating where the locals eat and people-watching the day away.

You know you’re on holiday when: you’re surrounded by a babble of accents and dialects, quietly making yourself part of the scene.

Your perfect destinations

Collioure, France

This cobbled fishing village is known as the jewel of the Mediterranean and is most famous as a meeting place of les Fauves, the loose group of artists including Matisse and Derain who gathered there in the early 20th century. It also has an extensive collection in the Museum of Modern Art and a thriving music scene, thanks largely to the Electrobeach festival held a few minutes up the coast. Collioure’s cluster of terracotta roofs almost tumbles into the sea on the curve of the bay, separated from the water only by the thin strip of the Plage de Collioure.

Places to stay in Collioure >

Cuenca, Spain

Cuenca is an astonishing, surreal town that takes root in the memory, just as the buildings have in its steep cliffs. Perched on the rim of a gorge, Cuenca is famous for its Casas Colgadas – vertiginous “hanging houses”, two of which have been transformed into modern art galleries. The UNESCO-listed site is one of the most remarkable places to visit in Spain and can be reached in just a couple of hours from Madrid, yet remains almost undiscovered by mainstream tourism.

View our places in Cuenca >

Porto, Portugal

Towers, churches, museums and a wonderful cathedral, the cobbled streets of Ribeira has colourful houses and lines of laundry, buzzing bars, restaurants and shops. The tourist trail of this UNESCO city may be well worn, but rightly so. Porto is also blessed with surrounding delights – visit the organic farms that fringe the city, hop aboard a boat to explore the Douro valley from the water, take a short drive to great surfing beaches and sample the incredible variety of delicious port.

Places to stay in Porto >