Travel gurus drive off the beaten track

CarDelMar suggests five relatively unknown places to visit when planning a trip to Europe. Car rental provides the freedom to explore and discover remote hot spots and hidden glory of holiday destinations so you can become the local travel guru.

The adventure and scenery is on the roads where public transport won’t travel; just remember your camera to capture the views when on a scenic journey.

1: Collect car from: Rzeszow, Poland

Zamoúã is a Renaissance town that dates back to 1580 in south-eastern Poland about 100 miles from Rzeszow. The historic city centre was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992. It retains its original fortifications with Italian inspired architecture. The town sits on the trade route linking western and northern Europe with the Black Sea. Lezajsk and Bilgoraj are worth stopping off at en route. A four door Volvo S40 with air conditioning can be hired from £36 per day*.

2: Collect car from: Innsbruck, Austria

Feldkirch is a medieval city dating back to 1218 in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg, on the border with Switzerland and Liechtenstein, about 95 miles from Innsbruck. In recent years Feldkirch has built a reputation of having a top ice hockey team. They won the European Cup in 1997/1998. Check out the famous ‘Royal’ ski resort, St. Anton en route. A five door Opal Astra can be hired from £22.10 per day

3: Collect car from: Pula, Croatia

The Dalmatian Coast, Croatia’s 300-mile necklace of islands and fantastic beaches on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, lies between the island of Rab in the northwest and Montenegro in the southeast. The coastline also includes an immense number of coves, islands and channels. Driving through Dalmatia gives you great scenic views, and brilliant opportunities to enjoy watersports and idyllic sandy coves. From £34.80 per day an Opal Zafira can be rented to travel the coast.

4: Collect car from: Zakynthos town, Greece

The most secluded beach for a mini-adventure is Smuggler’s Cove. The cove is home to a 25-year-old shipwreck that sits in the middle of the beach and the cliff-top platform above it provides spectacular views of the surrounding Mediterranean. There is also an opportunity to engage in turtle-spotting on the way. The Zakynthos coastline is roughly 123 kilometres in length. A Renault Megane can be rented for £32.80 per day.

5: Collect car from: Kalmar to Helsingborg, Sweden (the Swedish coastal road trip)

Kalmar, situated by the Baltic Sea in the south-east of Sweden, was one of Sweden’s most important and wealthiest cities in the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries, and dates back to 1027. A coastal drive to Helsingborg will take about four days through Sweden’s only baroque city, Karlskrona, and Ystad, one of the best preserved cities in the Scania province. Helsingborg is the country’s closest point to Denmark. Ideal car is the VW Passat Variant that can be hired from £37.50 per day.

CarDelMar has further holiday tips on the website Cardelmar.com.

*All rates quoted were at time of publication. There is an option to bid your own price with CarDelMar’s My Price service.