# Underrated cities worth the detour

> Underrated cities worth the detour: Oviedo, Salamanca, Zadar, Brno, Busan, Takayama. Travel guide and photography prints for each city.

- Source: https://clevertourists.com/guides/collection-underrated-cities
- Authors: Evan & Clara, Clever Tourists (first-hand, from a 526-day trip across 20 countries)
- Published: 2025-09-29

Most itineraries skip these entirely. That's exactly what made them some of the biggest surprises of the trip.

## Places

### Oviedo, Spain

An elegant Asturian capital with rare pre-Romanesque churches and cider culture.

### Salamanca, Spain

A golden-sandstone university city and one of Spain's great Renaissance ensembles.

### Zadar, Croatia

Zadar is a peninsula city in northern Dalmatia layered with Roman, Byzantine and Venetian remains. Its compact old town holds a Roman forum, the round 9th-century Church of St. Donatus and a waterfront known for two contemporary art installations that play with sound and light.

### Brno, Czech Republic

Brno is the capital of Moravia and the second-largest city in Czechia. A university and trade-fair city, it combines a historic hilltop castle and cathedral with notable modernist architecture.

### Busan, South Korea

Busan is South Korea's second city and largest port, a coastal metropolis spread between mountains and the sea on the country's southeastern tip. It is known for its beaches, its vast seafood market, and a brightly painted hillside village.

### Takayama, Japan

A preserved Edo-era town tucked deep in the Japan Alps.