Places

Júzcar Nestled in the hills of Andalusia is Júzcar, a quiet town in Spain, in the province of Málaga that was known for its famous whitewashed walls. In spring 2011, buildings in the village were painted smurf-blue to celebrate the premiere of the Smurfs movie. Even if the original agreement among Sony España and the mayor of Júzcar included painting the...

Big, bustling cities teeming with life and bright lights are fantastic places to visit, but small less-known villages often are even better ones. That said, here is one of the most beautiful villages on the world: the Austrian Hallstatt. Situated between “Hallstätter” and the “Dachstein mountains”, Hallstatt is Austria’s oldest and its most photographed village. This stunning town includes beautiful...

Ortahisar Ortahisar is a Turkey village that is becoming increasingly popular among tourists for its beauty and for its jugged castle. Even if surrounding towns became more touristic, Ortahisar managed to remain traditional, rustic, charming and most important: slow-paced. Donkey carts rattle down the lanes regularly, elderly men mooch all day outside teashops and if you visit the village in April...

Ait Ben-Haddou Ait-Ben-Haddou is a traditional southern Morocco fortified village made from clay bricks. The village lies in a valley near the Atlas Mountains, along with an important former trade route and thirty-two miles from the bustling capital of Morocco. Historically, merchant traversed the Sahara Trade Route and passed through the town carrying spices and gold on their way elsewhere. As...

Bibury Easily one of the most beautiful small towns in England: Bibury is a little town in Gloucestershire Cotswolds. The town consists of stone buildings all strung along the banks of the River Coln, which is a Thames tributary. The main tourist attraction here is the Arlington Row, a picturesque row of weavers’ cottages built around the 14th century, overlooking a...

Ischia The ultimate Italian summer vacation: roaming around the Italian coastline on a Vespa, learning how to make pasta properly, swimming in the light blue water of the Mediterranean sea, or drinking an “Apérol” at sunset. That would definitively be a great journey, but there’s a problem: you're not the only one who has the idea to travel to Italy and...

Small Traditional Village Oia in Greece Oia is a small traditional village located on the Santorini islands in Greece. The town was originally a harbour that reached the peak of its prosperity around the 19th century. Oia is being an important trade point for merchants. The 2 captains houses built on the lakes of the island are witnesses of these...

Shirakawa-go At the foot of the quiet “Haku-san” mountain is the Shirakawa-go village. A not long time ago, the region was considered wild and unexplored because of its high mountains and heavy snowfalls preventing every interaction with its neighbours and creating the perfect conditions for the development of unique cultural practices and lifestyles, that’s why the city was declared a...

Ping’an Ping’an Village rests atop the peak of Longsheng, along with the famous rice terraces, 1200 meters above sea-level. Here old traditions and local culture are still thriving for all of the 50 families living there. A famous example is that Yao women in the village only cut their hair once during their lifetime and that's when they become adults at...

Villages in Beautiful Mountains When deciding what village to feature in this article, we have been really in trouble. The fact is that there are too many beautiful and amazing villages to choose only one among all of them. That’s why we’ll feature 3 different places, from 3 different part of the world in this article, all of which is...