10 PLACES YET TO BE ‘DISCOVERED’ BY THE INSTAGRAM SET

CAMARGUE France

Just a few miles from the glittering Cote d’Azur lies the Wild West. This near-forgotten region of southern France is characterised by salty wetlands blushing with flamingos and patrolled by white-horse riding cowboys (or “guardians”), who can be photographed corralling hulking black bulls and competing in rodeos. The gateway to the region is Arles. It may be Unesco-listed, but it still flies under the radar despite being the town where Vincent Van Gogh bashed out 300 paintings in 15 months and boasting a Roman amphitheatre.

ARDNAMURCHAN

Scotland

Ardnamurchan juts out 17 miles into the whale-rich Atlantic Ocean, just north of the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. Site of the most westerly point on the UK mainland, it is a windswept swath of pine-and-birch forest, thistle-studded moors and volcanic white-sand bays accessed only by singletrack roads. Just 1,200 humans inhabit the peninsula; the rest is given over to nature and it is one of the few places left in Britain where you can glimpse the feisty wildcat. You probably won’t, but there are Père David’s deer, pine martens, porpoise and seals to set your lens on.

BAGNI DI REGINA GIOVANNA

Italy

A skip down the coast from Sorrento, this seaside sparkler has been keeping its beauty secret since Queen Joanna of Naples entertained her illicit lovers at the Roman Villa, Pollio, in the 14th century. Its cavernous natural swimming pools filled by the glass-green sea call out for the camera’s attention.

AUSTERLAND Iceland

Don’t discount Iceland as being photographed to death. Most snappers stick to the Golden Circle or the northern fringes around Akureyri. The Eastfjords is as yet largely undiscovered. Home to just 13,173 people, it offers a chance to photograph real village life, dramatic coastlines populated with puffins and the staggering basalt columns of

Stuđlagil Canyon.

SETENIL

DE LAS BODEGAS

Spain The great cities of

Sevilla and Granada have long drawn shutterbugs, but tucked between the two is

Setenil de las Bodegas –

Andalucia’s best-kept secret.

It is a marvel of Moorish architecture built into the The Kingdom of the Dragon cliffs. Ascend the Torreon only opened up to travellers del Homenaje tower for the in 1974 and its recently increased £186 sustainable development fee per tourist per night keeps visitors to a minimum. As such, its landscapes are pristine. Hike up hillsides alive with fluttering prayer flags to snap its vast rice terraces, stay in the home of a local family to see the brewing of fiery arak and spicy ema datshi, or sit quietly in temples lit with incense and peopled by

orange-robed monks. best aerial views of town and find unusual angles of the 13th-century Arab Nazari Castle.

EASTERN BHUTAN

PERAST

Montenegro

North of Kotor, Perast is one of the

best-preserved towns on the Adriatic coast, but no cruise ships stop here. It is an enigma, with a population of just 274, only one main street, but a staggering 17 Venetian-era palaces and 19 churches. Why? This tiny coastal village was founded by fishermen and mariners who traded copiously with Venice and with their riches they built grand homes, squares and baroque masterpieces such as St Nikola Church. Go in summer for the folk singing festival, Klapa, and Fasinada, where locals row out to deposit stones on the chapel islet of Our Lady of the Rocks, but it is better in spring to have the locals to yourself.

RAJA AMPAT

Indonesia

Underwater photographers only whisper the name of this revered archipelago – located between west Papua and the Maluku Islands – for fear word will spread too fast. In one of the best diving destinations on Earth, you will submerge yourself in a world of pygmy seahorses, manta rays and coral bommies blooming with soft corals. And because much of the colour and action is best at a depth of 16ft, you don’t necessarily need a specialist camera housing since many phones are now water resistant at that depth.

YAZD Iran

Overshadowed by glamorous Esfahan and the poet town of Shiraz, Yazd in central Iran is one of the oldest cities in the world. Its preserved historic centre bears a skyline of traditional wind-catcher towers and alleys of adobe mud-brick homes. Twists and turns reveal ancient qanat (aqueducts), cisterns and domed temples and it is a pleasure to stroll the streets capturing the teahouse culture, weavers of Persian carpets and silk, and the unique da’khmeh (Tower of Silence) where Zoroastrians once honoured their dead.

RYE England

The search for camera fodder doesn’t have to lead abroad. One hour by train from London is the medieval coastal town of Rye, its cobbled streets lined with Tudor homes. Train your lens on the house with two front doors, its nook-and-cranny alleys and the Mermaid Inn, which dates from 1420 and whose former guests include the Hawkhurst Gang of smugglers,

Queen Elizabeth I and ghosts aplenty.