Welcome back to Underrated Cities, bringing you unexpected (and occasionally controversial) ideas for your next destination.
This edition: Lutheranism where you might not expect it, politics obscuring real food, and "is it possible to underrate a place if you've never heard of it?".
Know a city that's criminally underrated and should be featured in a deeply excellent email series? Hit reply and let us know your top tip.
In the meantime, find your next destination below... |
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The most common crime committed against Windhoek is only spending one night before bolting for Etosha or the Namib Desert. Understandable, because those landscapes will rearrange your brain. But this small city rewards those who just stop and breathe for a day or two.
On foot, it's easy to navigate: German colonial buildings and a Lutheran church that looks like a fairytale prop (Christuskirche), sitting incongruously in the middle of southern Africa. The Independence Memorial Museum is your essential orientation point. And a guided walk through the township of Katutura will tell you more about this country's recent history than any guidebook.
It's not a buzzing metropolis, sure, but it's not just a transit point either.
Our tip: skip the tourist-focused beer halls and eat kapana at the Oshetu Community Market. Grilled meat, open fire, no fuss. |
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Capital of California. Should be one of the more prestigious addresses in America. Instead, the rest of the state treats it as a vaguely embarrassing government town best driven through, at speed, on the I-5.
Here's the thing: Sacramento is California's actual larder. At the heart of the Central Valley, it's become America's Farm-to-Fork Capital, and the claim holds up. Chefs here change their menus based on what arrived from the fields that morning, which sounds like marketing until you experience it.
The bones are solid too: walkable Midtown streets, Gold Rush history in Old Sacramento. It just, well, dies later at night. But that's OK.
Our tip: Frank Fat's has served Chinese-American classics on K Street since 1939. Order the banana cream pie. No argument pls. |
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There's not much in Birgunj for the itinerary-minded traveller. It's a trading town on the Nepal-India border, flat and busy, and most people passing through are there to move goods, not take photos.
The people of Birgunj, though, are worth the detour. Walk any street and you'll see shopkeepers waving at friends on passing rickshaws, beckoning them in for tea. At Balaji Tea Shop, the founder's sons still brew hot milk tea in single-use terracotta cups.
The town, improbably, also has a Toastmasters club(!) that meets Thursday afternoons and welcomes drop-ins. All of which tells you something about what this place is really like.
Our tip: the rasmalai at Mijbaani Sweets is, by local consensus, the best in the valley. A family business, generations deep.
(thanks for the recs, Gyula!) |
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Our rec for the Minaal gear best suited to these destinations?
You'll want to move seamlessly between dusty border crossing and the corridors of power.
So of course, it's the Carry-on 3.0. |
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"Very happy with my Carry on 3.0! It’s my new essential for all trips. It feels incredibly durable and comfortable, and the capacity is a huge bonus. Thanks to its smart, slim design, I can skip baggage claim and avoid the awkward worry of being 'tipped-up like a turtle' you get with other packs. Highly recommend for stress-free travel."
– Victoria, Minaal Owner
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Got a city you think is underrated? Hit reply!
Let's get planning,
J, D, & the Minaal team |
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