Towns Gaining Attention for Good Reasons
Why some places earn their growing reputation
Guimarães
Guimarães is where Portugal began (the kings of the new kingdom were crowned here in the 12th century) and it has restored its old town carefully over the last 20 years. UNESCO listed. Small enough for two days, dense enough that those two days fill up. Combine with Braga for a four-day Minho weekend.
Ostuni
Ostuni is the white town on a hill in Puglia. Limewashed every spring. A maze of stepped lanes inside the old walls. Restaurants in vaulted cellars. The Adriatic ten minutes downhill. It's been busy for a few years but the surrounding masseria farmhouses keep accommodation interesting.
Matera
Matera was a national embarrassment until the 1990s and is now a European Capital of Culture alumna with restaurants in caves and a careful new architecture. Stay one night in a sassi hotel for the experience. Eat at a local trattoria, not at the high-end ones, for the better food.
Girona
Girona has been growing as a weekend destination for years, partly thanks to Game of Thrones location tours, but it has more depth than that. The Onyar river houses, the Arab baths, El Celler de Can Roca for the splurge, the Jewish quarter for the wander. A 38-minute train from Barcelona.
Suggested itinerary
- Portugal: Three nights in Guimarães after Porto. Direct trains.
- Puglia: Ostuni for three nights, day trip to Alberobello and Lecce.
Local highlights
- Guimarães as the birthplace of Portugal
- Ostuni's white old town
- Matera's restored Sassi
- Girona's emergence after Game of Thrones
- Cluj's third-wave coffee and craft beer
Nearby destinations
Other places worth combining with this trip: Braga, Polignano a Mare, Alberobello, Figueres.
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