Huge pent-up demand for international travel means that, when all pandemic-related travel restrictions are removed, the world’s alpha attractions are likely to be even busier than they were in pre-coronavirus times.

For those who would prefer fewer crowds, here’s an alternative sightseeing suggestion for each of the planet’s 10 most visited countries.

Disneyland, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre rank highest on the to-do lists of visitors to France, but as Paris may soon be packed with travel-starved tourists, let’s head to the French Basque Country (Pays Basque) instead.

Straddling the border between Spain and France, at the western edge of the Pyrenees, the Basque Country offers awe-inspiring natural landscapes, mountains and forests of beech and fir.