As Overtourism Reaches a Tipping Point, Intrepid’s Not Hot List Highlights 10 Destinations that are Largely off Travelers’ Radar
Intrepid Travel has released its annual Not Hot List, featuring 10 lesser-known destinations that deserve the spotlight for travel in 2025. Intrepid’s annual Not Hot List seeks to address overtourism by inspiring travelers to discover different and unique experiences around the world, with communities that can truly benefit from more visitors.
The list includes alternative regions in popular countries like Morocco, where the Anti-Atlas Mountains are often missed by visitors, and emerging destinations like Pakistan and Greenland, where neighboring countries have commanded most of the spotlight.
This year marks Intrepid’s most comprehensive Not Hot List to date, including third-party stats, trends and local insight in regions that are seeking to encourage travel in 2025. In contrast to tourist taxes, crowded viewpoints, and frustrated locals, travelers to these Not Hot List destinations can expect trips that forge meaningful connections far beyond the typical tourist experience.
The full list includes:
- Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
- (Qeqertarsuaq) Disko Island, Greenland
- Cape York, Australia
- Adirondacks, New York
- Sainshand, Mongolia
- Rupununi Savannah, Guyana
- Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco
- Accra, Ghana
- Maldonado, Uruguay
- Oslo, Norway
“Our annual Not Hot List strives to bring travelers off the tourist track and inspire them to consider lesser-known destinations, while helping to spread the benefits of tourism to places where it can have an outsized positive impact on communities and local economies,” says Erica Kritikides General Manager of Global Product for Intrepid Travel. “We recognise the reality of overtourism in some destinations and continuously evolve our trips to help disperse travelers to new and exciting places and provide opportunities to travel at different times of the year.”
“While promoting alternative destinations is a small part of the solution to overtourism, we remain committed to addressing the bigger issues through our product design. Our group size is very small (average of 10 travelers), we only employ local leaders and almost exclusively use locally owned accommodation and suppliers.”
“Developing tourism in concert and consultation with host communities is the best way to combat the negative effects of overtourism,” Kritikides adds.
Disko Island, Greenland
- Disko Island, also known as Qeqertarsuaq showcases modern life above the polar circle. Qeqertarsuaq is one of Greenland’s oldest cities, founded in 1773. Today, the island has approximately 850 inhabitants, with the primary occupation being fishing and hunting.
- Travelers here can get a real look into the country’s local culture including supermarkets, cafes, and craft galleries run by local artists. It is a volcanic island with diverse landscapes including stunning black sand beaches, waterfalls and basalt columns, great hiking and its own glaciers.
Accra, Ghana
- Despite its rich culture and stunning scenery, less than one million people visit Ghana every year, less than half of that of South Africa. Ghana’s vibrant capital Accra offers a look into west-Africa’s beloved art scene, bustling markets like Osu’s night market, historic districts like Jamestown and relaxing beaches like Labadi.
Sainshand, Mongolia
- Tourist itineraries in Mongolia mainly go to the Southern and Middle Gobi provinces to visit just the touristy highlights. Eastern Gobi offers unique insight into true Mongolian Buddhism and nomadic life.
Cape York, Australia
- The journey to Cape York (Pajinka), at the tip of Australia’s northern frontier is widely undiscovered by domestic and international travelers alike, with untouched landscapes and endless outdoor adventures such as fishing and camping.
Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
- While Nepal attracts around two million trekkers each year, fewer than 20,000 people come to Pakistan for adventure tourism, despite having three of the world’s great mountain ranges – Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindu Kush – including the second-highest mountain, K.
- With the most extensive glacier range in a single area, this region has four distinct climate zones and five ethnic groups. The destination offers more than most well-trodden regions, yet remains a secret to even the most adventurous travelers. In 2024, Intrepid became the first global tour operator to bring travelers on these trails, as it aims to support responsible tourism in the region.
The Adirondacks, New York
- This six-million-acre natural playground in upstate New York is larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Canyon, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined. It is just four hours from Manhattan and largely off the traveler radar.
Anti-Atlas, Morocco
- More than 7 million tourists traveled to Morocco during the first half of 2024, a YOY increase of 14%, but unlike well known areas, the Anti-Atlas region remains one of the least-visited parts of the country.
- Home to picturesque villages and lush oasis valleys, its unique landscape features granite boulders, red-lava flows and stunning palm groves, making it a hidden treasure worth exploring. The area is inhabited by nomadic Amazigh people, who lead a traditional way of life centered around agriculture and herding.
Rupununi Savannah, Guyana
- Despite its natural attractions and unique cultural heritage, Guyana remains one of South America's least visited countries.
- A vast grassland region in the southwestern part of the country. The Rupununi Savannah in Guyana offers a combination of natural beauty, wildlife, cultural experiences, and adventure that is often overlooked by visitors to Guyana.
- Home to Kaieteur Falls which is the longest single-drop waterfall in the world, here travelers can also learn about Indigenous Macushi and Wapishana culture at community-run ecolodges.
Oslo, Norway
- Most travelers to the Nordics miss Oslo on their way to its famous Scandinavian siblings.
- Dubbed the ‘Newest Capital of Nordic Cool’, the quirky city offers unique character with floating saunas, artsy communities, diverse architecture, international cuisine, wild swimming spots, and a dynamic nightlife scene. Just 30 minutes from the city, travelers can reach the Nordmarka forest, offering opportunities for great hiking, biking, skiing and sailing.
Maldonado, Uruguay
- Artists, restaurateurs and winemakers are transforming the streets of Garzón, a once-forgotten village. Beyond the dunes toward Garzón, 30 minutes by car north of José Ignacio, lies a flourishing new wine region whose rolling hills are lined with olive groves and vineyards that hint at Tuscany. Wine tourism is becoming popular since a buzzy grape called tannat is helping tiny Uruguay become a big thing in the oenophile world.
- It offers art, gastronomy and culture, while also home to creative institute Campo, a residency programme for artists. Each December, the art institute invites international artists to Garzón to create site-specific installations, turning the village of 170 residents into a dynamic creative playground.
About Intrepid Travel
Intrepid Travel has been a world leader in responsible travel for 35 years. The company’s mission is to create positive change through the joy of travel, which comes to life on more than 900 trips all designed to truly experience local culture. With its own network of destination management companies in 27 countries, Intrepid has unique local expertise and perspectives.
Globally recognized for their commitment to transparency and ethical travel, they became a certified B-Corp in 2018. Intrepid Travel is also the first tour operator with near-term science-based climate targets through the Science Based Targets Initiative, and its not-for-profit, The Intrepid Foundation, has raised more than $15.5 million for more than 160 partners. For more information download the company’s 2023 Integrated Annual Report and follow Intrepid on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), TikTok or LinkedIn.