Lonely Planet reveals Best in Europe for 2019
Slovakia’s High Tatras have taken the top spot in this year’s Best in Europe list by Lonely Planet.
The influential list highlights destinations that should be on travellers’ radars this summer.
The guide book group chose the mountain range for its crooked peaks, plunging waterfalls, wildlife, its highest peak, Gerlach, and its glacial lake, Strbske Pleso.
Number six on the list are the UK’s Shetland Islands for their ‘awesome coastal trails, wicked wildlife watching, and fabled fish and chip shops’.
Here’s the full list for 2019 and summaries from Lonely Planet guides:
1 High Tatras, Slovakia
A ‘mythical landscape’ where ‘snow willow blankets the ground and fearsome beasts patrol the forests’.
2 Madrid, Spain
The city’s nightlife, always among Europe’s best ‘just keeps improving’ and ‘an emphasis on sustainable living has led to wide-scale pedestrianisation, bicycle lanes and rental schemes, widened footpaths, and new emissions controls transforming the city’.
3 The Arctic Coast Way, Iceland
Wowing with the natural wonders for which Iceland is rightly famed – ‘thunderous waterfalls, colossal glaciers, steaming fumaroles – and endless opportunities for snow sports, wildlife watching and wilderness adventures’…the best of Iceland minus the crowds.
4 Hercegovina, Bosnia
Visitors are told to ‘potter around the streets of medieval Pocitelj, explore the Vjetrenica karst wind tunnels, hike to the traditional mountain village of Lukomir, and take a trip along the CIRO cycling trail’.
5 Bari, Italy
With ‘a spring in its step’ this reinvigorated old town sets the tone, the boarded-up shop fronts replaced by family-run eateries…cultural spaces are reopening, from the ornate Teatro Piccinni theatre to once-condemned heritage hotels like the Oriente.
6 Shetland, Scotland
Adventurers to the UK’s northernmost point will be rewarded with ‘awesome coastal trails’, can ‘spot otters and orcas from craggy headlands, and enjoy ‘fabled fish and chip shops’.
7 Lyon, France
Set to become the new ‘French darling’ as it steps into the global spotlight hosting the finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in July and for its efforts to make tourism accessible and sustainable.
8 Liechtenstein
Where tourists can walk around an entire country in a weekend thanks to the Liechtenstein Trail, a scenic 75km hiking path that ‘twists over peak and pasture’ through all 11 municipalities.
9 Vevey, Switzerland
Held just once every 20 years, Vevey will be popping more corks than ever as the three-week wine festival, Fete des Vignerons, comes to town in June.
10 Istria, Croatia
Offering history, beaches, gourmet cycle tours during spring, music festivals in summer and truffle-hunting excursions come autumn, expanding European flight connections make this heart-shaped peninsula easier to reach than ever.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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