The Era of the Anti-Package Holiday Has Arrived—Here’s Where to Go Now
From alpine retreats to unique city breaks.
We want more from our summer plans than just a bit of sun and sea (although they’re nice to have in the mix). We crave holidays built not around a destination but around a premise: the ancient train journey that takes four days to cross a continent; a lake so still it looks painted; the off-grid cabin with no Wi-Fi and a wood-fired sauna. “People want more than just a fly-and-flop holiday,” agrees Tom Barber, co-founder of the luxury travel operator, Original Travel. “They want time to pursue a hobby, learn a new language, learn to cook, dive, or even explore regional dances - and there is real kudos in discovering somewhere new before everyone else does.”
To help you plan your summer break, we’ve rounded up the best trips that will fill you with wonder and reignite the joy of travelling, not just being on holiday.
Swap the Sea for a Lake
It feels natural to book a summer break by the sea. But at some of Europe’s busiest beaches, you can be hard pushed to find enough space to lay a towel. So if you’re craving a break by water, try a lake destination instead.
Lac d'Annecy is well-known in France, but barely on the British radar. Annecy itself is a beautifully preserved medieval town, with smaller villages dotted around the entire lake, all connected by cycling paths (with bike rental services) and a very regular bus service. Talloires is a great place to stay: it has a sheltered swimming area with a swimming platform and water slide that is popular with kids and adults alike, and a big cafe/ bar on the lake front that serves beers, wines and pizzas to a laid back crowd. There are plenty of Airbnbs, or for a treat stay, check into L'Auberge du Père Bise (from €440 perebise.com).
Slovenia's Lake Bled is no longer a secret, but Lake Bohinj in Slovenia is in the same Triglav National Park as Bled but almost entirely overlooked by visitors. It is wilder, more mountainous, swimmable, but almost no commercial development. Hotel Bohinj is a stylish base near the lake with rooms (from €180 per night, hotelbohinj.si).
For an even further under-the-radar option, head to Lake Prespa on the North Macedonia-Albania-Greece border—one of the oldest lakes in the world, where you’ll see extraordinary pelican colonies and 11th-century Byzantine frescoes painted directly onto the rocks. Stay in Villa Prespa, a rural B&B in the village of Dolno Dupeni (from £110 for a double room, villaprespa.com).
Try an Unusual Road Trip
The road trip has been the basis for some of the best movies. Much like train travel, it’s not solely about the destination: you need to put thought into plotting an interesting route.
The North Coast 500—Scotland's 516-mile loop from Inverness around the far north of the country—takes in the dramatic sea stacks of Assynt, to the white sand beaches of Durness. Jump into your Land Rover Discovery and stop at charming hotels along the way, or hire a campervan from Goboony, the Airbnb-style camper van rental platform (from £50, goboony.co.uk).
Further afield, Albania’s Riviera, running south from Vlorë toward the Greek border, offers beautiful views of a dramatic coastline as you take in the towns of Himara, Borsh, and Dhërmi and thousands of concrete bunkers, relics of the former Communist president Enver Halil Hoxha’s era, that dot the landscape. Fly to Tirana, where you can stay at the chic Faces Places (from €60 facesandplaces.al).
While everyone’s visiting Lisbon, take an unhurried trip through the interior of Portugal, threading through the Alentejo's cork-oak plains, olive groves, and fortified hilltop villages, including the small walled town of Monsaraz, and the medieval village of Marvão. Stay in Santiago Hotel (from £105.71, mrandmrssmith.com).
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Go for Off-Grid Luxury
Off-grid luxury is now one of the fastest-growing segments in high-end travel, although of course, you can choose just how “off grid” you want to be.
In Norway's Lofoten Islands, Eliassen Rorbuer has converted 12 traditional fishermen's cabins into wonderfully atmospheric cabins with wood-burning stoves. Eliassen Rorbuer (from £240/night, lofoten-rorbuer.no).
The highlands of Scotland still feel like vastly under-explored territory. Glen Dye cottages are in the middle of a 15,000 acre estate surrounded by wilderness and forests that you can walk through and swim in the river. (Prices from £195, glendyecabinsandcottages.com)
If you really want to switch off—but don’t want to travel too far—check into one of Unplugged’s 52 cabins in England and Wales, where you lock your phone away on arrival and immerse yourself in nature. (Three nights start from £390, unplugged.rest).
Take a Train
Watching the world thrum past your window is one of the best ways to travel. Original Travel reports enquiries are up 125% for rail trips, with bookings up by a 1/3 since 2023. How quickly you get there is not the point: it’s about savouring the journey.
For a spectacular rail route that takes you overnight from London to Fort William, then over the 21 arched Glenfinnan viaduct to Mallaig—the iconic route to Hogwarts from the Harry Potter films. (Book a cabin from £719 per person, trip.byway.travel).
For continental travel—that’s not the Orient Express—the sleeper networks of Scandinavia and central Europe are worth checking out. The Nightjet network, operated by Austrian Federal Railways, now connects Vienna, Zurich, Amsterdam, and Rome on routes where waking up in a new city after a civilised night in a couchette feels like a minor act of magic. (Nightjet passes available direct from ÖBB from €124 in sleeping car with private toilet and shower, oebb.at).
For a spectacular train ride on The Glacier Express, combined with walks across mountain routes surrounding Zermatt’s mountain, book a guided tour. (From £2,451pp inntravel.co.uk).
Visit a Lesser-Known City
Leave Paris and Barcelona alone during the summer months (come back in winter), and explore a city that is less crowded.
In Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, the old city's wooden balconied houses lean over narrow streets in various states of picturesque dishevelment and the Persian-influenced bathhouse district in Abanotubani offers a genuinely ancient urban spa tradition. Stay in the boutique hotel Communal Hotel Plekhanovi (from £53; mrandmrssmith.com).
Valletta in Malta is Europe's smallest capital, featuring densely Baroque that has had years of careful restoration. The Grand Harbour at dusk, approached through the Upper Barrakka Gardens, is one of the great theatrical views of the Mediterranean. Try the charming Valletta Boutique (from €140, vallettaboutique.com).
Once the great seaport of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Trieste is often overlooked in favour of Venice or Rome, but it has beautiful grand architecture, extraordinary food and a beautiful, painterly light. L'Albero Nascosto is a charming boutique hotel (from £130, alberonascosto.it).
