beaten track, (off) the

Fig. away from the frequently traveled routes. (*Typically: be ~; go ~; travel ~.) We found a nice little Italian restaurant off the beaten track.

An unusual route or destination, as in We found a great vacation spot, off the beaten track. This term alludes to a well-worn path trodden down by many feet and was first recorded in 1860, although the phrase beaten track was recorded in 1638 in reference to the usual, unoriginal way of doing something.

COMMON If a place is off the beaten track, it is far away from places where most people live or go. The house is sufficiently off the beaten track to deter all but a few tourists. Rents at these malls, which are generally off the beaten path, are lower than at most suburban shopping centers. Note: A track here is a footpath or narrow road.

A well-worn path, (not) the usual route or method. The origin seems obvious, since a much-used route would indeed be flattened by the tramp of many feet. The phrase began to be used figuratively, in the sense of trite or unoriginal, in the seventeenth century or before, and off the beaten track, in the meaning of new or unusual, is just about as old. Samuel Johnson spelled it out in 1751 when he wrote, “The imitator treads a beaten walk.”