#authentic-travel

#authentic-travel

A weekend break: what does that really mean? It's an escape from reality; often, somewhere with a mountain of pillows and a bath you can float in. It's room service, no washing up and pressed sheets. There are times when the full hotel treatment is divine; life changing, even. Exactly what you need. But, right now, a different kind of break is creeping into our collective consciousness - and it's anything but polished.

What sets this isolated rock apart from the competition? It's a question of substance and that ghastly overused word, "authenticity." Capri will always be the pretty one - the view from the Via Krupp and the Faraglioni as seen from La Fontalina are starlet gold - and the island of Procida took recent fame as Europe's 2022 culture capital. Still,

Europe's marquee cities still command the spotlight, but here's what the smart money knows: the better play is often elsewhere. Not in hidden gems or secret finds-those clichés died with the last decade-but in working cities that haven't yet been strip-mined for content or paved smooth for the algorithm. The sameness is what gets you. Every square becomes a stage set, every local joint a "discovery" on someone's expense account.