A travel expert who has visited 76 different countries has revealed which off-the-beaten-track destination she believes is the most underrated.

Social media influencer and digital creator Meghan Mitchell named Uzbekistan as the lesser-known country that is most worth a visit.

She believes the Central Asian nation and former Soviet republic is “super underrated”.

Meghan was particularly impressed by Uzbekistan’s stunning architecture and railway infrastructure.

The social media influencer said: “I didn’t know much about Uzbek before going and it really is super underrated. The architecture here is mind-blowing and they have an amazing high-speed train system.”

Uzbekistan has 600 kilometres (373 miles) of high-speed railway. Super-fast 160mph trains connect Uzbekistan’s capital city, Tashkent, with Bukhara – an ancient city that was a prominent stop on the Silk Road trade route between the East and the West.

The Afrosiyob high-speed railway more than halved train travel times between the two cities. The journey has been slashed from seven hours to just three hours and 20 minutes.

Construction on the line began in March 2011 and, incredibly, it opened a little more than six months later in October of that year – at a cost of approximately US$70 million (£52million).

Several extensions have been completed since then and further expansions are planned that will connect all the major Silk Road cities in Uzbekistan.

However, the rail system has also faced criticism, with train tickets being extremely difficult to secure due to advance bookings by foreign tour groups.

Local resellers also book any available tickets several months in advance. As a result, the Uzbek taxpayers are said to have enjoyed little to no benefit from their investment.

Given this, tickets to ride the railway should, if possible, be secured well in advance of a visit to Uzbek. However, despite this, it sounds like this country is still well worth a visit.

Its capital, Tashkent, has an amazing Metro system – the first in Central Asia – with incredibly ornate stations. But Uzbekistan is not just a destination for trainspotters  – this country was a key part of the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that connected Asia and Europe for more than 1,500 years.

Its historic cities feature ornate architecture, labyrinthine bazaars, and other incredible sights. Samarkand, a city in east-central Uzbekistan, is the same age as Rome and Athens, making it one of the most ancient cities in world.

The nation is also home to some of the world’s most incredible Islamic architecture – including mosaic-filled madrasas, minarets, and domes. It also has varied landscapes – such as the Fergana Valley, the Tien Shan mountains, and the Kyzl Kum desert

“Even in Central Asia the cities are full of young people with smartphones and ripped jeans! The Uzbeks must be the friendliest people ever (and we’ve visited a lot of countries).

“People came up to us with smiles on their faces, just to talk to us – no ulterior motive. Adults wanted to practise their English, and schoolchildren and older students wanted to talk to us about Harry Potter and popular music.”