https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/e...ces/index.html

I think I've only heard of the Loften Islands.

But it seems they went out of their way to choose less-famous places, like some other lake than Lake Bled in Slovenia and some village in the Berner Oberland which isn't as well known as Murren, Wengen, etc.

Actually, I've been to the Loire and Picos de Europa, which they don't even have a picture of.

OK the intro. text refers to "remote corners" known only to "locals and intrepid travelers."

Fine but are they still the "most beautiful" in Europe?

Well, these places certainly look beautiful enough but this seems to be another one of those lists that people compile in order to spoil what's left of the unspoiled places in the world. I know that I suddenly want to visit several of them.

I wouldn't say the Loire Valley is "unknown" but it certainly is beautiful. I did a bike tour there in the 90's - we rode from chateau to chateau and vineyard to vineyard. It was by far my favorite of about 5 bike trips.

Lucie, I visited Georgia the Country in 1987, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. In fact we were there for the 70th anniversary of the Revolution but we did not get to see Mt. Qazbegi. I thought the Caucasus was a very beautiful area. We also went to Armenia and Azerbaijian, as well as Moscow and Leningrad.
I recently learned on Ancestry that my DNA is 10 % Turkey and the Caucasus. Who knew?

Lofoten is hardly unknown anymore and is suffering from too many people like so many other places.
Hoge Veluwe is home to the Kroller Muller museum so pretty well visited in part.
Many of the places are known to Europeans who perhaps would prefer them to stay off the radar.

I think these lists sometimes mistake "not know to many visitors from further away" with "remote hidden gems with no tourism".
Some areas will have many tourists, but maybe only from the same or neighboring countries.
The Bavarian/ Bohemian forest, for example, has been a staple holiday destination for decades with a normal tourist infrastructure, but mostly visited by Germans and Czech.
Jutland/Denmark is also a pretty common place to go on vacation, mostly for Danes and Northern Germans - just because you can just drive there. There are dozens of beaches on the West coast of Jutland like the one CNN mentioned.
Other places may be a bit special interest. I mean, how often have you heard people discussing which impressive grasslands they need to visit next, regardless if those were in Hungary or Canada.
Białowieża National Park, Poland, is probably really one of those remote places. If only because it's at the edge of nowhere.

Having that said, Union Hall, Ireland, is indeed a very nice spot.

Moved to Europe board

Some places in the link look rather ugly, others look a bit better, but none of them can figure under "the most beautiful places of Europe".

The title of that article should have been "Nice enough places that most people don't get to in Europe". Although I thought the 'best/most beautiful" of the ones they mention are the ones that are more well know - Lofoten Islands, Loire Valley, etc. Many of the rest were just what I'd call 'pretty', no where close to the 'most beautiful in Europe'.

I agree with Isabel, except that no way do I think the Loire Valley is even all that pretty. OK, the castles are pretty, but the general scenery is pretty much a bore compared to quite a number of other places in France.

Too many "travel writers" - and I use the term extremely loosely - apparently get paid these days to put together lists of things they think are unique and revealing to readers, when 1) they're probably grossly undertraveled themselves, 2) have nothing to compare anything to, and 3) are just using the internet to "inform" their "research."

My husband has talked me into going to Laboe, Germany to see this Uboat. I rented an apartment on the Baltic Sea. The back and forth between the owner was interesting. They never get US tourists. I am brushing up on my German. But in planning, it looks to be beautiful and sort of interesting. I am out of my comfort zone, Berlin and this place but am researching and who knows, I may like it. I think the place they picked in Ireland is out of the tourist zone for sure. We stayed in Ballycotton for five nights and loved it. We were the only Americans there at that time of year. Our house was inexpensive and had four bedoroms and 4.5 baths overlooking the water. I would go again.

Laboe and neighboring state capital Kiel are a bit, ahem, dull once you've seen the Uboat stuff in Laboe. And the maritime museums in Kiel.
If you are staying in the area for several days, Lübeck would be the obvious first choice for a day trip. Picturesque old town, UNESCO world heritage, and the birthplace of marzipan. Well, not really the birthplace as it comes from the Middle East, but the "marzipan capital" of the whole country for centuries: https://www.niederegger.de/en/
A bit closer to Kiel or halfway between Kiel and Lübeck is the lake district around Plön, which is also nicknamed Holstein Switzerland.
Switzerland is really nothing more than a nickname in this context, as the area features the tallest elevation of the whole state of Schleswig-Holstein - a "peak" of 168 meters ;-)

Cowboy, thank you so much. We get a beach chair with our apartment! I was going to check out the big underground mall but had nothing else on my list. This helps us out. We are doing public transportation so will see how we can get around. I love marzipan so will go. Three or four nights here, hoping three now.

Can't comment on the list, haven't been to a lot of them. But I can't say I found the Apuseni mountain region in the top 20 most beautiful places even just in Romania, much less all of Europe. Pretty, yes... like most of rural Romania. The Fagaras range and the Bicaz areas were much more scenic though.

Which part of the Apuseni did you see?

I don't know if one could describe the Csodavár(=miracle castle) cave without words like magical, mysterious, awesome. It feels like entering some hidden, lost, underground world and if you are lucky to see it when few other tourists are around you can feel like you're in one of those fantasy novels like Lord of the Rings. This cave and the whole Pádis area of Apuseni mountains deserves it to be included in the top 20 if not in the top 10 most beautiful places in Transylvania and indeed in the whole Romania.

https://www.welcometoromania.eu/Apus...onorului_e.htm

https://www.welcometoromania.eu/Apus...onorului_e.htm