We asked our knowledgeable writers to suggest the top destinations in Europe for 2024 – perhaps due to a flurry of new hotel openings, rumours of Michelin arrivals, brand-new museums, or a concerted conservation effort taking root. We heard about amazing environment and brand-new glampsites in Scandinavia, first-time sporting events in Italy, and an unexpected but rapidly growing surf scene in France. In addition, traditional Greek getaways are now more accessible than ever before, and Hungarian cities are completely changing in time for significant anniversaries.
The list of European nations, areas, towns, and neighbourhoods that deserve your time and attention in 2024 is provided below; each was carefully chosen by our editors. Though it’s but a small portion of what Europe has planned for the upcoming year, we believe it’s the ideal place to begin. Speaking of which, you’ll find the best european casinos that accept UK players in the above cities. Many happy journeys.
Bodø, Norway
Because of its idyllic location on the northern Norwegian coast, Bodø can enjoy lengthy summer days in the heat of the midnight sun and brilliant winter nights when the aurora borealis bursts across the night sky. As the 2024 European Capital of Culture, this little fishing village in the Arctic will host the region’s biggest-ever cultural programme, with over 1,000 events and a flood of visitors interested in all forms of creativity. This place celebrates the distinctive Sámi tradition of the area while showcasing spectacular examples of modern construction, such the 900-seat, world-class Stormen Concert Hall that fronts the harbour and will serve as a major hub for the festivities.
Bodø is not only praised for its culture but also serves as the entry point to the ethereal Lofoten Islands. It’s the ideal playground for adventurers and photographers alike, with its striking scenery of peaks and fjords providing striking vistas. Bodø’s growing food and drink scene (visit Lystpå for dinner and Brødrene Berbusmel Bakery for breakfast) and interesting new lodging options only serve to enhance the city’s allure. When the Wood Hotel opens in 2024, it will provide the most opulent accommodations in the town to date, featuring floor to ceiling windows and a minimalistic Scandi style. Try GlampNord for something a little more in line with the natural world.
Antwerp, Belgium
Frequently disregarded in favour of its neighbouring Dutch city, Amsterdam, or incorrectly dismissed as being as stuffy as Brussels, Antwerp is unquestionably Belgium’s most underappreciated city. The world’s diamond capital is actually a bit of an underappreciated treasure, offering enough of charm and culture for a fun-filled weekend getaway.
There is a concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants that is impressive enough to compete with major European cities. The most well-known is perhaps the two-star The Jane, which will mark its tenth anniversary in 2024 and was placed 39th in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list this year. The restaurant’s chic new bar, Untitled, which opened earlier this year, serves rustic cuisine at a more reasonable price point, all expertly served in front of you by chef Joeri Timmermans, if the restaurant’s excellent 14-course tasting menu is out of your price range.
After supper, head next door to August, a former Augustinian convent that has been transformed into an incredibly peaceful haven. Alternatively, Hotel Julien, a sibling property, is a design-led favourite for a slumber in the middle of the city. After you’ve sampled every dish the city has to offer, take a leisurely stroll around the grandiose Zuidpark development, which is scheduled to be finished by spring 2024. The seven-hectare park, which is slated to be one of Antwerp’s greenest spots, will contain 30,000 plants and a number of intelligent water elements as part of the city’s ongoing efforts to become greener.
Asturias, Spain
Asturias did not had to remake itself to attract the new, more ecologically concerned and nature-loving traveller that the pandemic brought about. The slogan “Asturias, natural paradise,” coined nearly 40 years ago, encapsulates everything we desire in a vacation destination. This autonomous community, which saw more than 2.4 million tourists last year, including more foreign visitors than ever before, may be the reason it’s the most popular tourism destination in northern Spain. Heatwaves are hardly apparent due to the climate.
La Rectoral de Taramundi, Spain’s first rural hotel, opened here. Other notable addresses are Las Caldas Villa Termal, Solo Palacio of Ecoboutique, and PuebloAstur Eco-Resort in the Picos de Europa mountain range. As an alternative, reserve a room at CoolRooms’ Palacio de Luces or the Vestige Collection’s Palacio de Figueras, which are recent arrivals. Asturias is also a must-visit for its cuisine scene. Its “landscape cuisine” is on par with Basque Country cuisine. There are eleven Michelin-starred restaurants in the area, and the Caudal and Nalón valleys are home to a burgeoning culinary scene. Notable chefs in the area include Xune Andrade (Mont), Diego García (El Pintu), Paula Lamas and Jairo Rodríguez (Roble), and Natalia Menéndez (Casa Chuchu). With the goal of becoming the nation’s Gastronomic Capital in 2024, Oviedo, the regional capital, is bringing together over 200 chefs for the Euro-Toques conference in April.
Biarritz, France
Biarritz, a French resort town located just across the border from San Sebastián, is ready to emerge from the shadow of its Michelin-starred Spanish Basque equivalent and welcome a new generation of sophisticated travellers. By the way, this restaurant is on the list of rumoured restaurants according to experts. These visitors are making reservations at its tastefully restored Belle Époque hotels, such as Experimental’s recently opened Regina Biarritz, Unbound’s Hôtel du Palais, and the mysterious independent Villa Magnan (reserve a table at De Puta Madre and share a meal with local filmmakers and interior designers).
This lovely town on the southwest coast of France had a rough time in the late 20th century compared to its heyday in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when Emperor Napoleon III had his summer palace here and his Spanish wife Eugénie promoted Biarritz as a health resort. Thankfully, well-heeled urbanites from Spain and France have rediscovering this delight. They are soaking up the trendy surf scene (Biarritz is among Europe’s oldest surf destinations, thanks to a group of Americans who visited in the 1950s) and promoting a burgeoning Basque culinary scene, which includes Michelin-starred restaurants like L’Impertinent and the exciting Les Halles covered market.
Budapest, Hungary
The capital of Hungary is well-known for its architecture, which ranges from gothic and baroque to art nouveau and neoclassical, with the Blue Danube acting as a ribbon to unite them all. Then there are the hot baths with high mineral content and elaborate design details. The thriving nightlife of the city is complemented by the creative energy of the city; the ruin bars district serves as a real illustration of how potential can be created from the ashes of hardship that followed the cruelty of Communist control.
After a two-year reconstruction, the Chain Bridge – the oldest in the city and, in the words of Mayor Gergely Karácsony, a “symbol of togetherness” – has fully reopened, providing stunning views of Buda Castle and the Hungarian Parliament Building. The National Athletics Centre and the magnificent House of Music Hungary, two recent constructions, are evidence that the city is optimistic about the next 150 years. Originally a palace, the art deco W Budapest opens in July 2023 across from the Hungarian State Opera on a boulevard recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Marriott portfolio also includes the 216-room Dorothea Hotel with its opulent rooftop restaurant.
Carlsberg City District in Denmark
The vast Carlsberg brewery in Copenhagen kept its secrets hidden behind closed doors for 161 years. A plan was conceived to turn the former location, with its patinaed spires and life-size elephant statues, into a showpiece neighbourhood after Carlsberg moved out in 2008. The same features that draw locals to the burgeoning Carlsberg District also draw tourists: an abundance of green space, convenient public transport, and an appealing blend of modern and repurposed buildings, centred around well chosen eateries and stores.
In order to highlight the distinct terroirs of each bean, the light-filled Coffee Collective occasionally serves two roasts at once. Together with Neopolitan pizzeria Surt, the pioneer of modernised smørrebrød, Aamanns, is also here. Former Noma chef Philipp Inrieter’s destination izakaya Kona and Michelin Best Young Chef Christoffer Sørensen’s Studio are also here. Arriving are home designers Carl Hansen and Søn from Adelborg and PP Møbler. Henrik Vibskov, the fashion designer, has also relocated, filling his atelier with a rainbow of outfits that contrast with the surrounding Deerest’s traditional suits.
The 1847 barroom at the Carlsberg brewery is revived in December, while the brewery itself is renovated with a cutting-edge, interactive visitors centre. The unveiling of the opulent gardens named for Carl Jacobsen, which will be accessible to the public for the first time since their inception in 1890, and Friday summer festivities in the courtyard are also planned. After that, curl up on the Hotel Ottilia windowseat with a view of the construction cranes. In a city that values livable density, you’re seeing the results of astute urban planning.
Costa de Prata, Portugal
The section of Portugal’s Atlantic coast that has us most excited right now is the Costa de Prata (Silver Coast), which is less flashy than Comporta, less well-known than the Algarve, and more surfer-friendly than the Costa Vicentina. In Ericeira, where Aethos Hotels launched an outpost at the end of 2022 that combines smart design with laid-back seaside cool, start a road trip from south to north. It was just after Immerso, a hotel with a lot of handcrafted goods from the area and the same authentically Portuguese vibe as the nearby beach club and new restaurant Balagan.
Travelling north, Areias do Seixo remains the standard for opulent lodgings on the Costa de Prata, and Ohai Nazaré offers family-friendly glamping in Nazaré, the same town where German surfer Sebastian Steudtner rode an 86-foot world record wave.
One of the best reasons to stay at the bohemian Literary Man is a visit to Obidos, one of the most picturesque villages in Portugal. Alternatively, if you want to play golf, you may book a room at Marriott’s Praia D’El Rey. Peniche, a popular surfing destination along the coast, has several excellent beaches, such as Consolação, and is a perfect place to start exploring the Berlengas islands, an increasingly public paradise. The road adventure comes to a conclusion in Aveiro, Portugal’s Venice, where the MS Collection Palacete de Valdemouro, a Small Luxury Hotels property, recently debuted. Without a doubt, the Costa de Prata is headed for glory.
It is worth noting that it is Portugal among the best countries with developed play environments.
Cyclades, Greece
Right now, is there any place more popular than the Greek islands? This summer, the island group known as the Cyclades – which includes Mykonos, Santorini, Paros, Milos, and Ios – took over social media feeds thanks to their breathtaking blue and white scenery, exciting beach and nightclub scenes, and unmatched shopping. Next summer is the ideal time to plan a trip to the Cyclades, since additional airlines and more smart stays will be announced in 2024.
It’s now easier than ever to travel there because to new routes Etihad, British Airways, and Saudia launched to several Greek islands in 2023 and the establishment of Cycladic, the first inter-island airline, in 2024. The hotel industry is flourishing. Santo Mine, a sibling hotel with 37 luxurious suites, will join Santo Pure in Oia, Santorini, next year. Santo Pure just added 20 new suites. The chic boutique hotel Kalesma in Mykonos is set to open its spa in 2024, complete with a cryotherapy section and hammam. Opening in May of next year, the five-star, eighty-acre Gundari Resort on Folegandros will be joined in April by a new One&Only property in Kea. There are more possibilities for luxurious lodgings in the Cyclades because these opulent hotels are uncommon on these islands.
Kosovo
Little Although Kosovo lacks the opulent resorts and breathtaking beaches of Montenegro and Albania, this newest member of the European Union offers heartwarming warmth, breathtaking peaks, and pastoral landscapes that are perfect for multi-day hiking and riding excursions. The end of the Kosovo War was 25 years ago in2024, and there is still plenty to learn about the area.
The Trans Dinarica bicycle route, which opens in 2024, will follow in the footsteps of cross-border adventure trails like the Peaks of the Balkans and High Scardus. It will pass by the minarets that frame the river named Prizren, pass through the Ottoman market town of Gjakova, and ultimately arrive at Peja. Situated at the brink of the Rugova Gorge, Peja functions as the starting point for numerous outdoor pursuits in the nation, such as spelunking and via ferratas. The popular Health Trail, which begins at the Lumbardhi River Promenade and travels south-to-west through the aptly titled Accursed Mountains, will soon have a new paved path connecting it.
There are two more planned routes that link paths in the Rugova Mountains to Radac cave and the rushing White Drin waterfall. Slick and contemporary Ujëvara e Drinit Resort, right next to the waterfall, is known for its view suites and dinners with fresh trout. Hikers can take a break from trekking and satisfy their hunger in outlying guesthouses like Ariu, where they can enjoy authentic Kosovar cuisine like flija, which is cooked with locally sourced dairy.
Mallorca, Spain
The grand dame of the Mediterranean continues to be unsurpassed because of its impeccable style of understated grandeur, first-rate service, and emphasis on sustainability. However, the Balearic island has recently added even more gems to its dazzling crown. Richard Branson’s most recent hotel, Son Bunyola, is located in the Tramuntana Mountains. The group behind Andalucia’s renowned Finca Cortesin has opened Grand Hotel Son Net in a 17th-century manor house in the village of Puigpunyent, not far from there.
The chic design of Ikos Porto Petro, the farm-turned-boutique hotel The Lodge, and Zel Mallorca – the first Zel hotel is a partnership between Rafael Nadal and another local powerhouse, Meliá – all contribute to the anticipation for 2024. And if all of that wasn’t enough, consider the Four Seasons.
