Off the Beaten Path European Destinations - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Off the Beaten Path European Destinations Traveling off the beaten path has different meanings for different people. For me it means going places where not everyone thinks of going. For example, everyone thinks of going to Paris, but not everyone thinks of Arles in the South of France. They may think, Oh I want to go to Provence, but not Arles, and Arles is one of my favorite places in the South of France. Likewise for Spain, people think Madrid and Barcelona. But just south of Madrid is the city of Toledo, a fabulous medieval city set in the land of the Man of Lamancha and it's just a wonderful place to go so I really recommend that. These places I have found by having only vague itineraries, and that's how I think is the best way of finding your place off the beaten path. Have a vague itinerary and I'll give you an example. I did a tour around Lake Léman which is Lake Geneva. So traveling and during circumnavigating Lake Geneva you are in Geneva, of course, the city which is a fabulous city but you also go into many small towns and you have discoveries. I discovered a fabulous winery for example in the south end of Switzerland, who would have thought? Also, the home, the last home and also the resting place of Charlie Chaplin. And the place where Smoke on the Water was written. So that iconic tune was written on Lake Léman You would have not found that if you had not gone off the beaten path and just had this vague itinerary, oh I'm going to circumnavigate Lake Geneva. It's by having that kind of vague plan that some of the most magical things happen.