off the beaten track

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Prepositional phrase

off the beaten track

1. (idiomatic) In or to a place or places not commonly visited.

   Synonym: off the beaten path

   • 1881, Annual Register, page 417:

     From Nikko northwards my route was altogether off the beaten track, and had never been traversed in its entirety by any European. I lived among the Japanese, and saw their mode of living in regions unaffected by European contact.

   • 1945 September and October, H. C. Casserley, “The Leek & Manifold Valley Light Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 263:

     The Manifold Valley is on the borders of Staffordshire and Derbyshire, very much off the beaten track and somewhat difficult of access.

   • 1970, Bohdan S. Wynar and Anna Grace Patterson, American Reference Books Annual, D. A Rothschild, Libraries Unlimited Inc., p. 235,

     It is not the author's purpose to dwell on famous attractions, but rather to go off the beaten track, and frequently the tourist is encouraged to leave the car and explore the surrounding country on foot.

   • 2004, Greg Richards, Julie Wilson, The Global Nomad: Backpacker Travel in Theory and Practice‎^[1], page 140:

     The search for authenticity arguably motivates backpackers to travel off the beaten track in search of areas not yet contaminated by tourists or other backpackers.

Related terms

• off-track

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: syrjässä (fi)
• French: hors des sentiers battus (fr)
• Polish: na uboczu

See also

• road less traveled

References

• “off the beaten track”, in Collins English Dictionary.