Skip the Crowds & High Prices! Here’s How We Find Epic Travel Alternatives
Learning how to find travel alternatives can completely change the way you plan trips. Some destinations are incredible, but they’re also crowded, expensive, or simply too far away for a lot of travelers. There’s nothing worse than feeling limited on your travels, and our goal is to make sure you don’t feel that way.
The good news is that many of the landscapes people dream about are hardly every entirely unique to just one country. Snowy mountains, turquoise lakes, tropical beaches, and charming villages exist all over the world, often also in places that are cheaper, less crowded, and far more underrated.
If you want to travel smarter without sacrificing incredible experiences, here’s exactly how to find travel alternatives that give you a similar vibe for a fraction of the cost.
Want to save the article for later? Pin it!
*Please note that this blog post may contain some affiliate links, which we make a small profit on, at zero cost to you. Links are only used on products & services that we’ve used and believe in, to give you the best buying experience. Purchasing from these links helps us to continue providing free travel guides for you- so thank you for your support!
Our Travel Planning Recommendations
Why Travel Alternatives Are Worth Looking For
Popular destinations become popular for a reason. Places like Switzerland, Norway, and Japan are known for stunning landscapes, incredible infrastructure, and unforgettable experiences. The problem is that popularity often comes with high prices, tons of people, and sometimes less authentic-feeling experiences.
That’s why finding travel alternatives can completely reshape the way you travel! Instead of focusing on the name of a destination, you start focusing on the experience you actually want.
Maybe you’re looking for dramatic mountain scenery, alpine lakes, tropical beaches, or futuristic cities. Once you identify the vibe or landscape you’re chasing, you open the door to dozens of other destinations that offer something similar.
Upgrade Your Inspo
Get the best travel tips, tricks, and hidden gems sent directly to your inbox. You’ll become a better traveler, week after week.
Upgrade Your Inspo
Get the best travel tips, tricks, and hidden gems sent directly to your inbox. You’ll become a better traveler, week after week.
Travel alternatives also help you discover places that feel less commercialized. In many cases, underrated destinations offer a more authentic experience because tourism hasn’t completely taken over yet.
You’ll often find lower prices, fewer crowds, and more flexibility while still getting the landscapes and atmosphere you were originally searching for.
Another plus is that you can also start to travel more! Rather than waiting and saving up for years to go to Switzerland, you can plan a weekend trip to one of its dupes just a few hours away. This way, you start adventuring more, and aren’t blowing your budget all at once in the process.
💡 You don’t need to hike for days to see waterfalls like this! The left shows Agua Azul Waterfalls, a cool travel alternative to Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon.
Our Ways for Finding Cool Travel Alternatives
Finding travel alternatives isn’t about choosing random cheap destinations. It’s about identifying what you actually love about a place and then searching strategically for similar experiences elsewhere.
Here our the different ways that we find fun travel alternatives!
1. Make a List of Expensive Destinations You’re Interested In
Start by writing down the destinations you dream about visiting, even if they feel out of reach financially right now. Maybe it’s Switzerland for alpine scenery, Norway for dramatic fjords, or Japan for a mix of culture and cuisine.
At this stage, don’t focus on price. Focus on what specifically attracts you to the destination. Is it the mountains? The architecture? The beaches? The food? The atmosphere? Understanding what you actually want out of a trip is the foundation for finding strong travel alternatives later.
Many travelers get attached to a destination name instead of the experience itself. Once you separate the two, it becomes much easier to discover similar places around the world.
Suggested Read: How to Visit Expensive Destinations on a Budget
2. Search for Destinations With Similar Landscapes
Once you know what type of scenery or experience you’re looking for, start searching for destinations with similar landscapes.
For example, mountain destinations in Europe are often expensive, especially in places like Switzerland. But countries like Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan offer dramatic alpine scenery, lakes, hiking, and mountain culture at a fraction of the cost.
The same concept works for beaches, deserts, tropical islands, or even city vibes. Instead of searching for a specific destination, search for the type of environment you want to experience. This is the easiest way to find travel alternatives if what you’re seeking is a specific scenery.
3. Look at Nearby Countries and Regional Alternatives
Nearby destinations often share similar landscapes, climates, and cultural influences. If one country feels too expensive or overcrowded, neighboring countries can sometimes offer a very similar experience for much less.
For example, travelers interested in the Alps often focus immediately on Switzerland or France, but just nearby you have Slovenia, which offers similar scenery with lower prices and fewer crowds. The same happens with tropical destinations, where one famous island becomes expensive while nearby islands remain relatively affordable.
This strategy works especially well because landscapes don’t stop at borders. Mountain ranges, coastlines, and ecosystems usually extend across multiple countries, which creates opportunities to find underrated alternatives nearby.
Eswatini has much more affordable safaris than its neighbor, South Africa.
⭐️ Some of our favorite countries are those that are neighboring the most popular ones!
4. Use Specific Google Searches for Underrated Destinations
Generic searches rarely lead to hidden gems. Instead of searching “best places to visit,” use more targeted phrases like:
These searches help surface blog posts, Reddit discussions, and travel guides focused specifically on alternatives rather than mainstream tourism.
This is often where you’ll discover destinations you’ve never considered before. Many underrated places simply don’t have the same marketing presence as major tourism hotspots, which means you need to search intentionally to find them.
5. Use Reels and Save “This Is Not…” Videos
Short-form video platforms are incredibly useful for finding travel alternatives because creators constantly compare destinations visually.
Videos titled things like “This is not Switzerland” or “This is not Bali” are designed specifically to showcase underrated destinations with similar scenery or atmosphere. Watching these side-by-side comparisons can help you identify places that match the exact aesthetic you’re looking for.
Whenever you find a destination that catches your attention, save it into a dedicated folder. Over time, patterns start to emerge. You may realize you’re consistently drawn toward certain landscapes or travel styles, which makes it easier to narrow down future destinations.
Final Thoughts on Finding Better Travel Alternatives
Finding travel alternatives isn’t about settling for less. In many cases, it actually leads to more unique, affordable, and memorable trips. Most of our favorite destinations are actually places that we found as travel alternatives!
Instead of chasing the same overcrowded destinations everyone else is visiting, you start focusing on the experience you want to have. That shift opens the door to underrated mountains, quieter beaches, lesser-known islands, and destinations that still feel truly authentic.
The more intentionally you research, the easier it becomes to find places that deliver the same feeling without the same price tag or amount of people. Sometimes the best trips aren’t the famous ones – they’re the ones you discovered before everyone else did.
Want to save the article for later? Pin it!
👀 What’s Next?
Now that you know how to find the best travel alternatives, it’s time to give you some of our favorites. Next week, we’re going to share some of the best destination dupes, so you can start exploring more off the beaten path!
Also, here are some other guides to help you plan your trip:
✈️ 3 Easiest hacks for booking flights
📆 When to buy your flight
🤑 Flight hacking for beginners
📆 How to plan your 2026 travels
🤑 How to visit expensive destinations on a budget
🍃 30 Ways to become a more eco-friendly traveler
🛌 How to find unique stays
🗺 How to create an itinerary with Google Maps
🤖 How to plan an epic trip step-by-step (without Chat GPT)
🎉 How to find epic festivals around the world
🧘🏻♀️ How to find local events while traveling
📲 10 Travel apps that will save you time and money
📝 10 Travel essentials you didn’t know you needed
🧳 28 Life-changing packing tips
🎒 Top 6 backpacks for travelers
💻 Strategies for booking your trip
👩🏻💻 10 Tips for working remotely while traveling
🪂 How to find fun things to do while traveling
🤠 How to find the best tour operators
So are you ready to start finding new and exciting travel alternatives? We hope that this guide has made you want to jump outside your comfort zone, and realize you can travel more, and for less!
Want some other game-changing travel tips? We have plenty of other travel planning and packing guides for you to check out. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for our weekly article updates, and for exclusive discounts on our shop!
Still feeling overwhelmed by it all? We can plan your perfect trip for you, or you can sign up for a one-on-one consultation where we spend time walking you through anything you need.
Here are some other guides you’ll love:
