Undiscovered Gems

Non-touristy things to do at the world's most popular destinations

Skip the queues. We dig up the non-touristy things to do at the world's most popular cities — and tell you exactly how to find them, when to go and what they cost.

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Latest gems

Amsterdam

Het Schip: The Amsterdam School Masterpiece Built as Social Housing

Het Schip is a 1919 block of workers' housing in the Spaarndammerbuurt that doubles as a masterpiece of the Amsterdam School —…

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A classical stone statue in an arched garden niche with a small fountain, framed by clipped box hedges in a formal garden.

Amsterdam

Museum Van Loon: Step Inside a Lived-In Amsterdam Canal House

Museum Van Loon is a grand 1670s canal house on the Keizersgracht, lived in by the aristocratic Van Loon family and now…

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A quiet walled garden with an old brick wall, climbing greenery and a gate opening onto a green lawn.

Amsterdam

The Begijnhof: Amsterdam’s Hidden Medieval Courtyard Where the City Falls Silent

The Begijnhof is a walled medieval courtyard of houses and gardens hidden in the middle of Amsterdam, built for a lay sisterhood…

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An ornate gilded Baroque altar with a painted altarpiece and a crystal chandelier in a small church interior

Amsterdam

Our Lord in the Attic: Amsterdam’s Secret Church Hidden in a Canal House

Our Lord in the Attic (Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder) is a complete 17th-century Catholic church built in secret across the top…

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Barcelona

The Squares of Gràcia: Where Barcelona Eats Dinner Outdoors, Away From the Tourist Grid

Gràcia was an independent town until 1897 and still feels like one: a dense grid of low-rise streets north of the Eixample,…

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Barcelona

Refugi 307: Walk Through a Real Civil War Bomb Shelter Dug Into Montjuïc

Refugi 307 is one of the best-preserved of the roughly 1,400 air-raid shelters that Barcelona's residents dug by hand during the Spanish…

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