Now, Spain Unites With Italy, France, and Greece As Europeans Increasingly Choosing Quieter Destinations For Travel 2025

Published on July 17, 2025

By: Paramita Sarkar

In 2025, European travel is changing a lot– and the most popular European countries for Europeans to visit now are Spain, Italy, France, and Greece. They’re always on the move, but are preferring more low key, strip new sites to the crowded ones.

Europe travel is not only rebounding strongly post-pandemic, it is transforming into a more sustainable and counter-seasonal style of tourism, recent reports across European governments have said.

Long range plans Long range plans remain strong even though there are economic uncertainties, 77% of Europeans say they have a plan to travel between June and November 2025. These figures demonstrate the strong determination for a great holiday among Europeans, reflecting broader European government efforts to bringing sustainable tourism to some of the continent’s most visited destinations including “Spain”, “Italy”, “France” and “Greece”.

New findings based on the European Union tourism authorities indicate an impressive rise of 6.5% YoY in international travel across Europe; and 65% of Europeans have opted to travel in Europe. Spain is the most popular destination with one in eight (13 per cent) choosing the country, a rise of five per cent from last year. Italy is close behind (10%) and there is also notable appeal for France (8%) and Greece (6%).

Notably, travel patterns in Europe are changing, and Germans and French are increasingly heading off the beaten track. Furthermore, more than half of European travellers (55%) are looking for a quieter and less overrun destination.

This is consistent with the policy of the authorities in Spain, Italy, France and Greece to pursue sustainable tourism and reduce congestion during the high season.

This trend has been reported as evidence of European travellers becoming more mindful of sustainability and responsible tourism.

September is quickly becoming an appealing alternative to the high season of July and August. In September, 22% of Europeans currently plan their trips, citing a desire for more comfortable weather, fewer crowds and a better economic value.

The shift supports wider efforts to distribute tourists more evenly across the year, and boost the economies of regions in Spain, Italy, France and Greece.

European tourists still predominantly like to holiday in places close to home. Over 90 per cent of these young people, he said, were determined to travel within the continent, citing the safety, convenience and cultural proximity of the journey. Most European governments have commercialised intra-European travel to boost regional economy stimulating tourism domestically, and reminding the economic and cultural brilliance of your immediate neighbours.

And European travellers have increasingly been picking destinations within Europe itself—outside of their immediate neighborhood, so to speak. Thirty-two percent of travelers are now interested in going to places within the continent that offer them a different cultural experience, showing an increased curiosity and openness of Europeans to venture outside of the known.

Worries about over-tourism in hotspots have risen sharply to 3% more than last year. In response, the tourism authorities of Spain, Italy, France, and Greece have stepped up their efforts to pitch less crowded alternatives to the typically popular spots. These projects also help regulate the flow of tourists and sustain economies in peripheral areas, helping to work towards a more responsible tourism model.

European transport options are changing too to accommodate this taste for peace and quiet. Despite the fact that air travel is currently cited as the preferred mode of transport with 53% of European travellers wanting to get away fast and cheap, there is now a 4% year on year growth in car travel (32% of Europeans). This move is due to the sheer ease of access and convenience that cars provide to more remote (and thus often quieter and less-congested) locations, something that necessarily aligns with the sustainability goals of European governments.

Cost is clearly still a game changer for European tourists. Even 62% who are facing economic hardships, have no plans to reduce their travel budget, while an additional 22% plan on spending more. While more and more Europeans are ready to pay between 1,500 and 2,500 euro per person on there next holiday – it’s only a sign that they continue to prefer their holiday over their economy.

Accommodation and food & beverage are still the leading expenditure areas at 32% and 24% respectively Illustrating that Europeans are still willing to invest in comfort and quality during travel. Spending preferences change with age, with older Europeans preferring comfort and high quality dining experiences, while younger European travellers attending to experiences and wellness or lifestyle activity.

Overall, European travel trends for 2025 are definitely pointing towards more strategic change in the direction of quieter, and sustainable off peak tourim in important destinations like Spain, France, Italy and Greece. This is evolving travel behaviour as a result of wider European government initiatives set up for responsible tourism, regional economic development and environmental protection.