News

This city has been voted Europe’s best destination in 2024

Over a million travellers voted in the ranking, and it beat more than 500 other destinations

Liv Kelly
Written by
Liv Kelly
Contributing Writer
Marbella
Photograph: Shutterstock
Advertising

There’s plenty of travel advice for 2024 out there, whether you’re after somewhere trendy, somewhere affordable or somewhere sustainable. But this one’s a biggie: European Best Destinations’ annual ranking of locations surveys more than a million travellers (does it get more comprehensive than that?) and the rankings for 2024 are in. 

So, where was voted as the best travel destination in Europe? Well, according to all the travellers who had their say, it’s Marbella. The coastal city in southern Spain was particularly popular with golfers and shoppers, and its sun-drenched shorelines make it a notoriously popular beach destination. It’s popular with foodies too – it has three Michelin-starred restaurants, after all. 

And travelling around that patch of the Costa Del Sol could soon get a lot easier, as plans for a train between Marbella and Malaga have been proposed – read more about that here

Monaco came in second place, and Malta came in third, but the top 20 destinations had plenty of variety. 

Riga, the Latvian capital city, came in sixth place. The Old Town is a designated Unesco World Heritage Site, and there’s also a dazzling Art Nouveau district. Aside from its lovely buildings, the city has a host of street food festivals and creative events which bring the pretty streets to life. 

The Faroe Islands came in sixteenth place, and were particularly popular with travellers craving some preserved nature and cracking landscapes. But there’s plenty more on the list, so take a look below. 

The 20 best destinations in Europe for 2024

  1. Marbella, Spain
  2. Monaco
  3. Malta
  4. Geneva, Switzerland
  5. Batumi, Georgia
  6. Riga, Latvia
  7. Madeira, Portugal
  8. Florence, Italy
  9. London, UK
  10. Reykjavik, Iceland
  11. Lège-Cap-Ferret, France
  12. Siena, Italy
  13. Ponza Island, Italy
  14. Porto-Vecchio, Corsica, France
  15. Champagne Wine Region, France
  16. Faroe Islands
  17. Sirmione, Lombardy, Italy
  18. Piran, Slovenia
  19. Newquay, Cornwall
  20. Thassos, Greece

For more travel inspiration, check out our definitive ranking of the best cities in the world for 2024.

Did you see that this European airline is now weighing passengers before flights?

Plus: these are the Airbnbs that have hosted the most proposals

Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out Travel newsletter for all the latest travel news.

You may also like
You may also like
Advertising