‘It's our take on the ‘where next?’ culture’: Intrepid Travel reveals 2025 Not Hot List
12 Sep 2024by Gary Noakes
Intrepid Travel has revealed its 2025 Not Hot List, designed to highlight alternatives to destinations feeling the pressure of overtourism.
Hazel McGuire, Intrepid’s UK and Ireland general manager, said: “The Not Hot List is our take on the listicles, 10 best places to go and ‘where to next?’ culture.
“We really want to shine our light on places that are under-represented, and we want to look at places where communities really want to welcome tourists.”
The issue of overtourism, said McGuire, had been "brought to the fore” in recent times. “Dispersal of the tourism dollar is something we should all be looking to achieve," she said.
McGuire added Intrepid did not expect a wholesale shift in buying patterns. “We have something like 750 tours around the world, and there are absolutely tours that are more appropriate for the first-time traveller.
“The Not Hot List is definitely for the more adventurous traveller who has almost reached the end of the traditional bucket list. There’s not a common theme, but it’s something new, interesting and exciting.”
Intrepid has launched new trips in four of the Not Hot locations featured. They include a 10-day Greenland Expedition, a land itinerary in a country where most visitors arrive via cruise ships.
There is also a 15-day Benin, Togo and Ghana Adventure, taking travellers to rarely visited spots like Teshie-Nungua in Ghana, where artisans craft elaborate art coffins.
Also new is an 11-day Trans-Mongolian Railway Adventure, which stops in remote villages along the Gobi Desert, and an 11-day Cape York and Torres Strait Explorer journey to the northernmost tip of Australia.
Here is the list in full.
1. Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan
This region in the Karakoram mountains is home to the densest cluster of peaks standing at more than 7,000 metres, but while Nepal attracts two million hikers annually, Pakistan welcomes fewer than 20,000.
2. Disko Island, Greenland
Intrepid’s Greenland Expedition spotlights modern life above the polar circle. Travellers experience the culture and history of local fishing towns and take guided hikes to Inuit settlements.
3. Cape York, Australia
While Cape York, the northernmost Australian tip, attracts many Australian visitors, it remains relatively unknown internationally. Travellers encounter both local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities there.
(Image credit: Intrepid Travel)
4. Adirondacks, New York
Four hours from New York, at six million acres, this area is larger than Yellowstone, Yosemite, Glacier, Grand Canyon and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks combined. In 2025, the new Adirondack Rail Trail will raise its profile further.
5. Sainshand, Mongolia
Intrepid’s new train journey along the Trans-Mongolian Railway is a lesser-known alternative to the Trans-Siberian route. This journey allows visitors to take in views of the Gobi Desert with stops at remote communities like Sainshand.
6. Rupununi Savanna, Guyana
Guyana has long remained one of South America’s least visited countries. The Rupununi Savanna is a vast green land housing Kaieteur Falls – the longest single drop waterfall in the world.
7. Anti-Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Intrepid describes this region, near the coastal resort of Agadir, as a long-overlooked trekking destination. It boasts ancient granaries carved into rock by nomads, which have now been restored to attract visitors.
(Image credit: Intrepid Travel)
8. Accra, Ghana
More flights to Ghana’s capital and a huge redevelopment of its waterfront including a beach promenade mean Accra should become a destination rather than just a gateway to beaches and national parks.
9. Maldonado, Uruguay
Intrepid describes this emerging new region’s olive groves and vineyards as hinting at Tuscany but long overshadowed by South America’s wine giants. Each December, international artists transform the village of Garzon into a giant installation.
10. Oslo, Norway
According to Intrepid, Norway’s “quirky” capital offers “floating saunas, artsy communities, diverse architecture, international cuisine, wild swimming spots, and a dynamic night-life scene”. Yet it is only 30 minutes from the Nordmarka forest’s hiking, biking, skiing and sailing opportunities.