Lonely Planet blog

Lonely Planet was abuzz with insider info this week. The more obscure, off-beat and unconventional the better. Want in on some of this week’s zaniest discoveries?

Think visitors to France’s capital would swap notes on the Eiffel Tower and pain au chocolat, right? Nah, this week readers were more interested in dipping under the well-worn streets of Paris – and not for a romantic catacomb or candle-lit basement bar, but a tour of part of the 2,000-kilometre sewage system at the Paris Sewer Museum.

Or, for a more appetising, yet still off-radar Parisian experience, blogger Linda Donahue recommended Sunday Dinners with Jim Haynes – an American expat who opens his doors each week to anyone with an appetite for a random night.

Lonely Planet’s Flickr group member Sara Mattei sent us this gorgeous pic of the far-flung Faroe Islands which made every off-the-beaten-track seeker swoon.

Discussion turned to how Thorn Tree member escutcheon could experience the off-the-beaten-track side of NYC. And boy, you had some ideas: kimchi and karaoke in Little Korea, a visit to the Lower East Side’s Tenement Museum or an earful of after-dark busking in Union Square Park.

Turns out Quebec City’s got some gems hiding in the backyard. Blogger Corinne McDermott gushed about Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, a wonderland of waterfalls 30 metres higher than Niagara Falls.

By the end of the week, the truth – and bums! - were exposed: Lonely Planet author Tom Hall reported on the infamous Manchester Airport nudey scans. And he had your full attention.

Can’t wait to find out what piques your interest next week…

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