Forget about the best places to visit in Europe, those are way too crowded! The standard holiday destinations in Europe are overrun by tourists between June and September and therefore I urge you to go off the beaten path in Europe. Here is my list of unique places to visit in Europe for 2023.

I have said it before, travelling the Dolomites and South Tyrol in particular, it often feels like you’re travelling through Austria. It’s the mountains combined with the traditional alpine chalets, and red geraniums hanging from the balconies.

Arriving at Hotel Winkler Sport & Spa Resort we were slightly confused. It was again a classic alpine chalet we arrived at. We had checked the hotel online, and photos showed a very luxurious and modern hotel. Walking up to the entrance of the hotel, we honestly thought we were at the wrong Winkler Hotel. But then, walking through the entrance it’s like going through a time machine, from traditional alpine to extremely modern and luxurious. Absolutely fantastic!

After 6 months of staying at home and exploring only our own Netherlands, it was finally time to cross borders again and have our first trip abroad since the Corona pandemic. With still many travel restrictions in place, our destinations were limited. But nevertheless, we managed to pick an awesome destination for this first trip after Corona.

When we travelled the Dolomites early September 2020, we picked several stops to cover most of the Dolomites from west to east. So after starting the trip in Merano, we made our way east, having our next stop north of Merano.

A beautiful family-run hotel near the town of Mühlbach, about 50km north of Bolzano and 30km north of the amazing St. Magdalena. We made Nature & Active Hotel Rogen our next stop, which turned out to be a pretty sweet decision.