9 great places in Europe for a group holiday

Flooding out across more than ten million square kilometres and harbouring more than 40 countries and at least 800 cities, the continent of Europe doesn’t make it easy to single out a destination for a group trip. 

Even whittling down the sort of holiday you want can be tricky. Do you choose a city break or countryside escape? Head for the mountains or settle by the sea? Chase the sun or stay where it’s cool? Here we help take the headache out of the honing, by spotlighting nine destinations that are not to be missed.

1 Sicily, Italy

Sicily (pictured above) has the title of European Region of Gastronomy for 2025, giving groups an excuse to organise a trip focussed on the island’s food and wine offering.

Plan a round-island itinerary and you can search for sfincione (a type of pizza) in the technicolour food markets of Palermo, go marsala tasting in the town of the same name, pair the agritourism sights near Agrigento with a visit to the striking Valley of the Temples, discover the cheese-making traditions of Ragusa, witness the hubbub of La Pescheria, one of the oldest fish markets in Italy, and sip wine on the slopes on Mount Etna – all in a single visit. 

2. Amsterdam, the Netherlands

The canal-streaked capital of the Netherlands marks its 750th anniversary in 2025 and the city is putting on a year-long programme of celebrations that range from exhibitions to concerts.

Featuring world-famous sights like Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum and being close to Keukenhof flower gardens, Amsterdam has always been a group favourite. If you’ve already ticked the city off your bucket list, why not plan an alternative repeat visit?

Scale the 100-metre-tall A’DAM lookout, take in the 8,000 square metre Staat street art museum, and spend some time in the up-and-coming Noord area of the city with its cocktail bars and street food scene.

3. Braga, Portugal

50 miles northeast of the more famous Porto, Braga took the title of Europe’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination in the recent World Travel Awards. The city’s standout sight is the UNESCO-listed Sanctuary of Bom Jesus, a hilltop shrine that’s wrapped up in wishing well-spotted gardens and fronted by a 116-metre cascade of Baroque-style stairs.

Elsewhere, Braga is a place of Baroque architecture, pavement cafés, and fountain-topped plazas. Groups can also day trip to Guimarães, a 25-minute drive away. Known as The Birthplace of Portugal, it promises a castle, a palace, and a UNESCO-protected centre that’s all cobbles, balconied buildings, terraced restaurants and textile shops.

4. Vilnius, Lithuania

Thanks to its 1,490 kilometres of walking trails, 140 kilometres of bike paths, and liberal spread of green spaces, Vilnius has been crowned the European Green Capital for 2025.

Visitors to the city can amble around the UNESCO-protected Old Town, climb St John’s Bell Tower with its working Foucault Pendulum, get their passport stamped in the whimsical Užupis district, climb Gediminas Hill for widescreen city views, discover the insightful KBG Museum, and sip drinks in the sky at the bistro of the 326-metre-tall TV Tower.

For something a little bit different, visit in May for the Pink Soup festival, which celebrates the city’s šaltibarščiai beetroot soup with a weekend of pink-themed activities.

Or make a plan to brighten up January 2026 with a trip to see Vilnius’s annual Light Festival.

5. Reggio Calabria, Italy

According to travel search site Skyscanner, interest in Reggio Calabria in Italy has increased by 541% in the last year.

Located on the tiptoe of Italy’s boot, Reggio Calabria pairs a palm-backed coastal promenade and stream of beaches with a clutch of museums (including one dedicated to bergamot that also sells bergamot gelato) and a generous helping of aperitivo spots.

Day trips can be taken to Seminara aka The City of Ceramics, and scenic Scilla, a Cinque Terra lookalike with a hilltop castell, fresh fish tavernas and a famous sea monster myth.

6. Akureyri, Iceland

2025 is the year to swap Reykjavík for its more northerly destination dupe Akureyri. Having launched its first direct flights to the city in summer 2023, easyJet now offers a suite of holidays to the Akureyri region.

Base yourself in the city itself and itineraries can be plumped up with visits to the Forest Lagoon Spa, with its geothermal waters, and tours of the Diamond Circle’s waterfalls, glacial canyons, and volcanic lakes. Alternatively, stay in Husavik, which is known as the Whale Capital of Iceland, for whale watching trips and dips in the Geosea thermal sea baths.

7. Jerez, Spain

From May, Jet2 will be offering new flights to Jerez from Birmingham, Leeds Bradford and Manchester airports. This southern Spanish city purrs with tabancos (Andalucian tapas come wine bars), flamenco theatres, and traditional bodegas where venenciadors flamboyantly serve sherry, the city’s signature drink.

Take a guided city tour to admire Jerez’s Renaissance, Moorish, and neoclassical buildings. Watch the ‘horse ballet’ at the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, and book a tutored tasting at a bodega to learn more about how the city’s ‘liquid gold’ is made.

8. Nova Gorica and Gorizia, Slovenia and Italy

Nova Gorica is one of two European Capitals of Culture for 2025, but there’s a twist. This is a ‘borderless’ ECoC, one that combines the Modernist town of Nova Gorica in western Slovenia and Gothic Gorizia, which lies in neighbouring Italy.

Visitors can cross between the two unimpeded and even stand with a foot in both countries just outside Nova Gorica’s train station.

Group itineraries can include walking the ramparts of Gorizia’s Medieval castle, seeing the longest stone arch rail road bridge in the world, wine tasting in the surrounding Vipava Valley, and exploring Mount Saboutin, which is honeycombed with man-made tunnels where the soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian and then Italian armies camped, strategised, fought, and died during World War One.

Sprinkle in a few of the ‘Go2025’ exhibitions and concerts and you’ve got a bumper group trip.

9. Chemnitz, Germany

An hour’s train journey south west of Dresden, off-radar Chemnitz is the second European Capital of Culture for 2025.

This Saxon city delivers ‘Gründerzeit’ architecture, which resembles Baroque and Gothic, underground pubs, and a raft of museums, including the Museum of Natural History, where the atrium displays a 290-million-year-old petrified forest. Chemnitz is also the gateway to the low-lying Ore Mountains, which are ribboned with walking trails.