Holiday escapes for those who want to avoid the tourist hordes

It's mildly annoying when you book a holiday to get away from it all only to find yourself on a beach in Phuket, trying to stop your eyes from rolling into your brain stem as Janice from accounts squeals: "What are the odds?!"

Places like Bangkok, London and New York often burst at the seams with travellers and an overabundance of tourists can dilute one's experience of a place.

So where does the road less travelled lead an intrepid South African explorer? How about São Tomé and Príncipe?

These twin islands off the west coast of Africa form the second-smallest country on the continent and one of the least touristy places on earth, with only 8,000 visitors stopping by last week. Why so few? Do a quick spot test and ask people around you what a São Tomé and Príncipe is. You'll catch most of them out.

The small island nation features a secluded landscape that includes verdant rainforests, coral reefs and a conspicuous lack of tacky resorts. There are also great snorkelling and dolphin-watching opportunities.

South Africans looking to travel there can expect to pay about R6,000, depending on dates, if you fly with the Angolan carrier TAAG Airlines. If not, good luck finding flights. You're also going to need a visa, yellow fever shot and malaria vaccinations. Remember to brush up on your Portuguese.

If you feel like something a little more far-flung with even fewer tourists, Tuvalu, a cluster of nine islands in the South Pacific, is about as remote as you're going to get. The islands had just 1,000 visitors last year. It's the perfect place to get in touch with Polynesian culture, do some diving and zoot around the beach on scooters.

Getting there is pricey and requires clever use of the interweb. You're probably going to have to fly to New Zealand, Australia or Hawaii and then try catching a lift from there. That may cost just south of R30,000 per ticket if you're savvy. As near as we can tell South Africans can get a tourist visa on arrival if they have return tickets and proof that they won't go broke on the island.

For something a little less beach-themed, the world's sixth-smallest country could be a nice change of pace. Shouldered in between Austria and Switzerland, Liechtenstein is the second-least visited country in Europe, receiving only about 66,000 guests a year despite boasting a 12th-century fortress, a prince and the Alps.

Liechtenstein doesn't have any airports but one can fly to any of its neighbours, all of which are very close by, then hop on a bus, some of which cost as little as R60, to the principality. You'll need a Schengen visa and a budget suitable for relatively posh European adventures.