Winter can be depressing. There’s nothing more soul-crushing than spending all of your daylight hours at work, which is why you need a 2026 holiday booked and ready to look forward to. And don’t worry about the boring bits – the research, the planning, the ‘would I actually enjoy this?’ – because the World Travel Awards (WTAs) has done that work for you.
Bagging a World Travel Award is one of the greatest honours that can be bestowed upon anyone/thing in the tourism industry. The awards’ mission statement is to ‘acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry’, and it’s been fulfilling that goal since 1993.
Portugal wins big in the ‘Oscars of Tourism’
A large panel of industry experts votes on who they think each award should go to, so you need to impress a lot of people in order to earn the ‘ultimate hallmark of quality’. In the lead up to the worldwide awards ceremony, each continent has its own; South America was earlier this month, and this week the 2025 European awards were held in Sardinia. All sorts of awards were dished out, from the best European airlines to hotels, adventure destinations and the best city breaks.
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So where should your first 2026 jaunt take you? Portugal seems to be the firm answer from the WTAs, as Lisbon was named ‘Leading City Break Destination’, and Porto earned ‘Leading City Destination’.
This isn’t the first time the WTAs have recognised Lisbon as a prime holiday spot. Since 2009, it’s been named the best city break on Earth four times, and, between European and worldwide awards, has been recognised as a fantastic city to visit 19 times. That’s pretty impressive, but it’s no surprise.
Lisbon offers a lot to visitors. Its people are warm and welcoming, and some would say it’s worth visiting for the pastel de natas alone. The hills may be killer, but the public transport is affordable and easy to navigate, and the Atlantic views from the top are postcard-perfect. We’ve got plenty of guides on the best things to do, places to stay, and things to eat in the city to make planning your trip even easier.
Other shortlisted nominees for the award inclue Athens, Berlin and London – you can find the full list of cities nominated for ‘Leading City Break’ on the WTAs website here.
The ‘Leading City Destination’ is a slightly different award, and it went to another major Portuguese hub in Porto. Lisbon was also nominated for this award, but in the end its northern neighbour got the win. You can have a look at the full list of nominees for best city destination here.
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