The Editor's Atlas: 12 Places Worth the Detour

What a detour is for

A detour is often sold as a secret: turn away from the crowd and receive a place unsullied by everybody else. That story is flattering and usually false. The villages, islands, industrial towns and secondary cities on this list are known to the people who live, work and holiday there. They do not become valuable when an editor notices them.

Our definition is more practical. A worthwhile detour changes the scale of a journey. It may replace a flight with a ferry, interrupt a famous road with two nights, or give context to a nearby capital. It must support a stay rather than a photograph and remain possible to visit without pretending access has no cost.

Conditions, transport and community pressures change. Treat every entry as a direction for research, not a command. Check official access, season, weather and conservation guidance; choose local accommodation where it exists; and do not force a fragile place to absorb a trend. Sometimes the right detour is staying on the main route and travelling it better.

Atlantic edges and inland tables

Aveiro, Portugal, is too often compressed into a nickname about canals. Stay for the working lagoon, Art Nouveau details, salt landscapes and the rail journey that makes it an easy pause between larger cities. Boats are part of the place, not proof that it resembles somewhere else. Continue to the coast only after checking bus connections and wind.

Extremadura in western Spain rewards an inland route with monumental towns, migratory-bird landscapes and long food traditions. Merida, Caceres and smaller centres deserve separate time. Summer heat can be severe, distances are real and public transport requires planning. The detour works best as a deliberate regional stay, not a heroic day trip from Madrid.

Le Marche, Italy, sits between Adriatic shore and Apennine foothills with hill towns, farms and cities such as Urbino and Ascoli Piceno. Earthquake recovery remains part of life in sections of central Italy; follow current access, avoid disaster tourism and spend with businesses that are actually open. A rental car can help, but regional rail and bus routes can shape a slower version.

“A detour succeeds when it becomes a stay in its own right, not when it supplies a rarer pin on the map.”

Rivileo Journal

Asian routes between the capitals

Chettinad in Tamil Nadu, India, is known for mansion architecture and a cuisine with deep regional specificity. Heritage buildings vary from restored hotels to private or vulnerable structures. Enter only with permission, use a knowledgeable local guide and let Karaikudi serve as a base rather than treating villages as a facade trail.

Onomichi, Japan, slopes towards the Seto Inland Sea with temple paths, ferries, small businesses and rail access that makes staying easy. The famous cycling route begins nearby, but the city is more than a starting line. Walk quietly through residential hills, check bicycle rules and luggage forwarding, and ride only the distance conditions and fitness support.

Tainan, Taiwan, asks visitors to slow down around temples, lanes and food. Religious spaces are active; observe before entering, follow photography signs and keep offerings and processions unobstructed. Heat, rain and queues shape appetite, so organise the day around rest as much as dishes.

Water, wind and volcanic ground

Chiloe, Chile, is an archipelago of wooden churches, palafitos, farms, ferries and strong local identity. Weather changes crossings and road conditions. Stay long enough for a cancelled plan, use licensed marine operators and approach mythology as living culture rather than decorative folklore. UNESCO-listed churches are community and worship spaces first.

The Azores, Portugal, are no longer obscure, and some islands feel visitor pressure sharply. A detour here should mean fewer islands, not more flights. Choose one base, book regulated wildlife experiences, keep distance from cetaceans and use marked trails after checking weather and volcanic conditions. Hydrangeas are not an invitation to leave the path.

La Reunion, France, rises from the Indian Ocean into volcanic and cirque landscapes where road, trail and weather information matters. The island's Creole cultures cannot be reduced to scenery around a hike. Use official volcano and trail alerts, learn about slavery and indenture, and leave time for towns, markets and coast as well as the interior.

The southern map opens

Albania's Gjirokaster combines steep Ottoman-era urban fabric, living neighbourhoods and a UNESCO designation that has accelerated attention. Cobbles can be demanding and summer heat intense. Stay overnight, use licensed guides for historical complexity and avoid presenting inhabited houses as abandoned romance.

Mompox, Colombia, sits within the Magdalena river system and carries a distinctive urban history. Reaching it now may be easier than old accounts suggest, but river and road conditions still change. Travel by current official advice, support local guides and workshops, and understand that the celebrated quiet is somebody's everyday town.

Tasmania's west coast, Australia, turns distance, rain and mining history into a road journey with real edges. Queenstown, Strahan and protected landscapes require more than a scenic dash. Check road conditions, biosecurity and park rules; do not walk on fragile vegetation for an image; and give difficult industrial and Indigenous histories proper space.

Aoraki/Mount Cook's Tasman Lake, New Zealand, is the twelfth detour and our closing image. The lake is accessible by a Department of Conservation route whose status must be checked, while the changing glacier landscape makes climate visible without needing invented drama. Stay on the formed track, keep away from unstable edges and let the panorama remain larger than the proof you were there.

How to choose one

Select the detour that reduces movement rather than adding another destination. If Onomichi lies on the rail route you already need, stay. If reaching an Azorean island requires a chain of flights inside a short holiday, keep it for another journey. Geography should edit the list.

Then ask whether the place has room for your timing. Check festivals, closures, fire or cyclone seasons, water pressure and accommodation capacity. Travel outside a peak only when services and weather still make the visit responsible; off-season is not a magic phrase if workers have closed and trails are unsafe.

Finally, arrive without announcing discovery. Learn the name, read the history, book what is limited and leave enough time for the place to contradict this paragraph. A detour succeeds when it becomes a stay in its own right, not when it supplies a rarer pin on the map.