Prospective visitors to Rome always want to see the same things: The Vatican. The Colosseum. The Forum. The problem is, everyone has the same ideas, and everyone is there. But there are alternatives to the typical Roman visit, offering visitors a chance to take in every bit of the beauty and antiquity of this storied empire without being caught up in jostling swarms of noisy tourists.

Do you like canals, but hate the idea of contending with the more than 50,000 people that descend on Venice every day? Check out these small-town alternatives... 

On our recent (November 2017) trip to Switzerland, we spent a day visiting the town of Gruyères, in the western mountains close to France. Gruyères is a town almost too beautiful to be believed - as we walked into the pedestrian-only town center, the views took our breath away