Advise for Month Stay in Charming Village Near Water

If you are open enough have a look around Baltic Sea which is very mild. Danish islands around Fyn island (e. g. Ærøskøbing, Fåborg or Svendborg) and also Bornholm island (e. g. Rønne or Gudhjem) offer relatively mild conditions still in September. The co-towns Helsingborg in Sweden and Helsingør in Denmark can be interesting as well.

If you consider Spain have a look at the northern Atlantic coast, e. g. Galicia or Bay of Biscay.

If you consider Spain have a look at the northern Atlantic coast, e. g. Galicia or Bay of Biscay.

I had a similar thought -- Basque Country has beautiful coastline and beaches; great food (outstanding seafood); and warm, wonderful people. The town that comes to mind is Zumaia, which I think has almost everything you list. The only thing I'm not sure about is a weekly outdoor market. Maybe others can chime in. But the food is great, the topography amazing, and other than a few die-hard Game of Thrones fans (it was a filming location), seemed off the beaten path from the typical tourist circuit. I also liked that it is between Donostia-San Sebastian and Bilbao, with access to both (and other towns) by bus or the Euskotren. The North Coast of Spain has a fair amount of rain, so that's another consideration. September seems better historically than October.

Edit: AND I just found this. "Like everywhere else in the Basque Country, Zumaia has some excellent cuisine. One local delicacy is pulpo, or octopus. Every year in mid-September the town holds the Fiesta del Pulpo. The custom on the day of San Telmo is to visit a bar or gastronomy club to enjoy some Olarro sopa (sun-dried octopus soup)." Oooohhhh! :-)

If you are open to Germany, you more or less described Glückstadt. Town of 10,000, old town square and harbor, weekly market (seasonal mileage varies), right on the Elbe which at that point is wide enough to feel like a sea, great walks along the dike or to the beach at Bielenberg, and easily accessed by train from Hamburg. It's perhaps not as warm, and it isn't directly on the ocean, but it almost feels like it. Quaint accommodations abound. Harbor reminiscent of Copenhagen's Nyhavn, great local history, 400 year old church on the cobbled square, cafes and restaurants on the square and harbor and around town, and an unhurried feel.

You don't need a car in Glückstadt. My grandparents lived there for their entire lives without ever having a license or a car. You can train to St. Peter-Ording and to Sylt, etc. with the greatest of ease, or go into Hamburg and go anywhere from there. The train to Hamburg or to nearby Itzehoe runs regularly. You could also train to town and catch a ferry to Helgoland for a day.

Perast, Budva or Ulcinj

Cassis, France comes to mind. I believe you can get there directly by train from Marseille. There is a market twice a week. The population is under 10,000 but will undoubtedly be more with tourists. We stayed there in 2015 and liked it. There are a couple of beaches. It is very walkable.

Here's a bit of a reality check from a European who has spent a good amount of time in real villages, staying with family over the holidays and that sort of thing. Just so you know it is not all it's cracked up to be as many Americans fantasize about, there's a reason why many people are leaving. It can be quite boring and monotonous, and honestly I am counting the days until I leave. I think to spend a few days is fine but for entire month you're going to start getting cabin fever I think.

First off, what do you consider a village? I've found that American's concept of what a village is a bit different from a European's. For me 10,000 pop is not a village but a town. A village for me is less than 1000 people closer to 500. Just so you know many of these villages are not well connected to public transportation, so car is going to be invaluable if you want to live there. Another practical point is how you're going to cope living in a tight-knit community? Many times the same families have been living there for hundreds of years, if a random foreigner who doesn't speak the language comes in and stays they may see you just as a nuisance. So many times the shops of the villages are closed, so you have to make the journey to a nearby town to do your shopping. English is hardly spoken if at all. And those smaller charming towns on the mediterranean coast are going to be mostly touristy, especially still in September.

I strongly recommend you consider staying in a coastal town, even a smaller one I think would be good, however don't expect them to be completely off the tourism radar. Also most of the Spanish Mediterranean coast is under intense drought right now with water rationing that's sure to get worse over the summer, so that might be a consideration. So maybe look to Northern Spain like Cudillero (personally I'd only stay in a place like that a week tops).

If you look inland that gives you many more options for less tourists small towns/villages.

Sorry, Naomi. I reread your post and you said you weren’t interested in France. But in Cassis’ favor are train connections to Marseille, Aix en Provence and Nice. You could do day trips or an overnight to Nice, for example, if you get bored with Cassis. Just a suggestion.

Carlos nailed it again. That's why I gave you 3 smallish cities with some tourist infrastructure. I would split time between 2 and one mountain location. Also I choose very affordable locations. But there are thousands of choices in the world.

Sorrento.
Portofino.
Nazare.

Reminder: Naomi is looking for something off the beaten path.

Is Ulcinj off the beaten path?

The Basque region in Spain was very rainy for us in October 2013. Cecil’s, Italy had some very stormy nights in October 2021, but most days were pleasant, even if some were a tad cool.

There are lots of options in Ireland, up and down the west coast, but, again, it’ll be Fall. Were spending two weeks on Sardinia later this month (yes, April), and are looking forward to staying in Bosa for a week, declared one of the prettiest villages in Italy. Haven’t been there, yet, but you might want to look there.

Aeropoli, towards the southern end of the Mani Peninsula on the Peloponnese, was truly a good, pretty remote, rustic, charming location. We were there in April six years ago, so I can’t suggest what the October conditions would be, but there’s a weekly market, and it should meet all your criteria…once you reach it.

Ulcinj was totally off the beaten path in 2015 and is virtually never mentioned here, so I assume it is still being ignored by foreign tourists. Sorrento, Portofino and Nazare, not so much.

Wrong conclusion imo.

Only because Balearic Islands are seldomly mentioned in this forum they are far away from "not touristy".

Ulcinj is a well-developed tourist town with a large number of hotels and guesthouses. Before the Yugoslav Wars, Ulcinj was a popular tourist destination for Germans, Italians, French and English. So no wonder that this forum did not hear about it earlier.

This forum is a bubble - maybe more than others?

Carlos nailed it again. That's why I gave you 3 smallish cities with
some tourist infrastructure.

in 2022 the city of Prague had about 6 million arrivals; while the entire country of Montenegro had about 2 million arrivals; Ulcinj had 287,000 arrivals. So, while off the beaten path is subjective, probalby not too far from wrong.

Just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Montenegro tourists were mostly Russian (16%) and its what i remembered most from my trips there. Germans made up 6% and UK 3%, other Europeans less than 1% each. With the Russians gone things should be sweet right now.

Ulcinj tourist video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kekFzTLYF8

Take arrival-local-ratio as an indicator:
If your data are correct Ulcinj has approx. a six to seven times higher number of arrivals per resident than Prague. For me this is more touristy and wide from off beaten path.

Or the other way around: Prague has 21 x more arivals but 119 x more inhabitants compared to Ulcinj.

Examples for worst case scenarios are Hallstatt or Geiranger imo.

Okay, fair.

One of the reasons I can only handle Prague in small doses is that all 6 million are in old town, which is about the same size as Disneyland.

4 more to consider

Perast on Kotor Bay
Tihany on Lake Balaton
Tata on Tata Lake
Vac on the Danube

The last three are close enough to Budapest where when you need culture you can.

Know what you mean.
In Berlin 2023 we had around 12.1 million visitors (+ 16 %) and around 30 million overnight stays (+ 12 %) in hotels.
Most of touristic visitors use because of sights the same places. And I estimate that a third of the streets of Berlin did not see any visitor at all - except visiting friends or families.

And I'm in a city where the sights are spread over an enormous area, but a substantial number of the tourists get rooms in one small area pretty much devoid of sights but full of 5 star hotels. Michelin restaurants and tourist shopping.

That village feel is pretty easy in the suburbs of many cities.

Has anyone here ever stayed in Saint-Palais-sur-Mer, near the larger commune of Royan not far from Bordeaux? It looks like a lovely place from what I can see, though I have not visited myself.

Next summer's trip I'll be there.

Malta, you could stay in any seaside town or on the Island of Gozo. British English is freely spoken and most signage is English. Bus routes are well planned, though some may find long waits, but you do get where you want to go with a good price for a weekly pass.

So, I've been toying with this one for a while -- going back and forth if it would be viable enough to suggest -- but what about one of the outer islands of Venice? Specifically Burano/Mazzorbo which are linked by a bridge. This would be the very definition of a slow life in a small village. While they attract some tourists, I think September could be remarkably peaceful, with views of the Lagoon from every vantage-point. We loved the islands and their colorfulness, but were also impressed Burano especially had "real" services like a small grocer and a hardware store. I guess it is easy to assume Venice is one big tourist stage, but here the espresso bars and restaurants seemed to cater just as much to locals, which we liked. Speaking of Venice, of course the Grand Dame is on your doorstep, allowing you to pick your own rhythms for visiting markets, sightseeing, etc. I do know there are apartments for rent in Burano on at least one platform, and probably all of them. Anyway, as is probably obvious, you've inspired my own daydream as much as an answer to your question, but I think I'd love a month out there, revisiting these little gems.

Not sure what the weather is like in September or the tourist crowd, but my stay in Rapallo, Italy was very enjoyable and I thought the next time I stayed in that area I would have a rental because of all the specialty stores and market there. I agree with many who have said, one month in one single place will probably grow old quickly, but the trains along the rivieras are very nice to see other smaller towns. Also, English is widely spoken. Population about 30k.

Hi. Have you considered Naxios, Greece? We only spent a couple of days in Choro but it might be a great place to spend more time. Great authentic feel to the island while also having some tourist infrastructure, wonderful food, public buses to take to interior areas but can stay close to the water/beach fairly inexpensively. Option to visit other islands via ferry.

Burano would be too isolated for me. The vaporetto ride back to the city takes close to an hour, and I don't believe that vaporetto runs super-frequently. I'd rather stay in one of the many quiet neighborhoods in Venice proper.

Dear community,

I am so grateful for your suggestions and insights. I feel so much better equiped to plan this month and now have a collection of special destinations for this trip and beyond. Thank you.