Travel
Southern European tourists flock to Denmark to escape the heat
While the south swelters, Denmark’s mild temperatures and extended daylight hours are providing the perfect summer escape for many.
With rising temperatures in southern Europe, more and more tourists are flocking to cooler destinations in the north.
Denmark, in particular, has become an increasingly popular choice for those looking to escape the scorching summer heat.
According to the recently published report from DMI, the official Danish meteorological institute, the national average temperature of July 2024 was 16.2C.
For much of southern Europe, high temperatures tell a very different story.
Italy has been enduring nearly constant heatwaves since mid-June, with parts of the country experiencing record temperatures exceeding 40C. France has also faced several days of high-temperature alerts, with temperatures soaring over 30C across the country last week.
Southern Europe flocks to the north
Amid the bustling crowds in Copenhagen’s iconic Nyhavn, it’s not uncommon to catch snippets of French, Spanish, and Italian, as tourists from across southern Europe flock to the city with its cooler climate.
Sagrario, normally a resident of Madrid, stopped by in Denmark on a cruise ship tour in Scandinavia with her daughter.
“In Madrid, we’ve had a heat wave for three straight weeks with temperatures of minimum 30C and maximum temperatures of 40C,” Sagrario’s daughter Sofia said.
Copenhagen’s hospitality industry, which traditionally caters to tourists from northern Europe and the United States, has noticed a significant increase in visitors from southern Europe.
“We definitely see a big increase in southern European tourism. It’s France, it’s Greece, it’s Spain, and Italy,” Karim Nielsen, the CEO of Kolpin Hotels which owns Hotel Sanders in Copenhagen, told Euronews.
“And that increase we have seen that coming for the last 5 or 6 years but the last two years it has been increasing a lot. And, here at Hotel Sanders, we normally have something like 80 per cent Americans, but that number is actually decreasing a little bit. And we see especially from Spain and Italy, we have approximately 10 per cent of our occupancy from southern Europe now. That’s a quite big increase from formal numbers from 3-4 per cent” Nielsen added.
Nielsen attributes this increase to southern European guests seeking cooler weather in the north.
Not limited to the capital
South Zealand, about 80 kilometres outside Copenhagen, is an emerging destination for those looking for a cool summer vacation.
“The trend for southern European guests coming to Denmark started around three years ago. Last year we really saw it. And this year, I’d use the word extremely high. And it has gone from maybe 5 per cent to 30-35 per cent of our guests,” Filip Rasmussen, the owner of Jungshoved Præstegaard, a traditional Danish B&B in Præstø, said.
Rasmussen noted that while a new agreement with a French travel agency has contributed to this increase, there has also been a notable rise in visitors from southern Switzerland, Italy, and Spain.
“The topic is heatwave which is actually the first thing they say if you ask “why are you visiting Denmark?” he added.
Patricia Levantis and Franck Wattinne, residents of Marseille staying at Jungshoved Præstegaard, say they are satisfied with Denmark’s cool late August climate, which allowed them to enjoy outdoor activities.
“25 degrees during the day. In the evening, you can wear a small sweater or a small jacket. So we can do very pleasant things,” Wattinne said.
The official tourism organisation of South Zealand and Moen, Visit Sydsjælland & Møn, confirms the trend.
Bender also noted that while the tragic fires in Greece are a sombre backdrop, Denmark is glad to offer a cool respite for those affected.
“When you see all the fires in Greece and so on. It’s a tragic background. But of course, then we are happy to say, come and cool down for a couple of weeks up here at North and discover our beautiful nature and culture,” Bender added.
More than the cooler climate to offer
Stakeholders of the tourism industry in Denmark say that the new influx of tourists are not just coming from southern Europe but other parts of northern Europe such as the Netherlands and Belgium.
“It’s also not only people from the southern part of Europe. It’s also people who used to travel to the southern part, but now choose the north and find out the quality we have. In the middle of the summer, we have much, much longer nights. We call them the white nights even,” Rasmussen.
At the height of summer, during the solstice, the sun doesn’t set until around 10 PM in Denmark, giving visitors almost an hour more daylight compared to Italy, for example.
According to data from Visit Denmark, the Official Tourism Organisation of Denmark, the number of Italian and French tourists visiting the capital region this June has surged by 23%, growing from around 49,000 in 2019 to nearly 60,000 in 2024.
Copenhagen has recently broken records for overnight stays as the city gains popularity, a trend explained by Wonderful Copenhagen, the official tourism organisation for Denmark’s capital region.
Wonderful Copenhagen says, however, that the record-breaking trend cannot be attributed to the cool climate but is thanks to the culture and culinary scene in the city.
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The new European Sleeper route will run about twice a week during the winter and take around 15 hours.
The night train boom is continuing with a new sleeper across Europe launching in 2025.
European Sleeper has announced a new seasonal service that will cross Europe from the North Sea to the Adriatic, passing through nine different cities.
The railway group says the route has been chosen to accommodate both winter sports holidays, city breaks and Venice Carnival, which will take place from 22 February to 4 March next year.
Here’s everything we know about when it will start running and where it will take passengers.
New sleeper to connect nine European cities
The new night train comes “in response to the high demand for winter sports travel, city trip options and the lack of suitable train connections,” according to European Sleeper.
The seasonal route will begin in Brussels and end in Venice, a new destination for the Belgian-Dutch company. The overnight journey will take passengers through Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria before ending in Italy.
It will stop in Antwerp, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Cologne, Munich, Innsbruck and Verona en route.
“Passengers will be able to board our train from Belgium and the Netherlands, and relax in the comfort of the restaurant car, while the train transports them through Germany and Austria, and across the Alps, ending in the historic cities of Verona and Venice the following day,” says Chris Engelsman, co-founder of European Sleeper.
The stop at Innsbruck, the gateway to the Austrian Alps, aims to facilitate winter sports holidays.
The inaugural journey will depart from Brussels on 5 February 2025, with the service operating approximately twice weekly during February and March and taking around 15 hours.
“This schedule accommodates school holidays, and the peak winter sports season, and provides a sustainable, enjoyable travel option to Venice’s famous carnival,” Engelsman says.
“This marks a new important milestone for European Sleeper and the convenience of night travel across Europe more sustainably.”
When does booking open for European Sleeper’s new night train?
European Sleeper says it is still finalising the departure and arrival times with authorities and a timetable will be released soon.
Information about ticket prices is also expected to be released soon.
Booking will officially open on 1 September. The service will also be available for booking through partner Green City Trip, an environmentally conscious tour operator based in the Netherlands.
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The discount fares can be purchased this week, until 21 April, on journeys up until 12 May.
If you fancy seeing some of Britain’s top sights on the cheap, this is the month to book some leave.
Travel tech company FlixBus is celebrating its 3rd anniversary in the UK by offering £2 (€2.34) tickets for coach services across England, Scotland and Wales.
The discount fares can be purchased this week, until 21 April, on journeys up until 12 May.
This year, FlixBus added connections to the city of Inverness as part of its Scottish Network, which will be included in the deal.
The company says it aims to make coach travel “as sustainable and affordable as possible”.
It recently launched an electric, long-distance, zero-emission route between Newport, Bristol and London.
Here are five of the best journeys available on the £2 offer.
Escape to the Scottish Highlands
Visitors seeking bracing air and epic scenery can take a four-hour bus from Glasgow to Inverness, stopping on the way in Perth.
The city of Inverness is considered the gateway to the Scottish Highlands.
From here, you can strike out into the countryside and lose yourself in heather-carpeted glens and granite mountains.
Journey back in time to the historic city of York
This route takes travellers from the city of Manchester to the historic heart of York in northern England. The journey takes two hours and 40 minutes, stopping at Bradford and Leeds on the way.
York is one of the UK’s cultural hotspots, home to the UNESCO-designated York Minster, a Gothic behemoth from the 13th century with medieval stained glass windows.
If it’s a sunny day, take a walk around the city walls – a reminder of York’s Roman past.
Harry Potter fans should leave time to stroll down the Shambles, a street of charmingly crooked half-timbered houses that bely its macabre past as a slaughterhouse.
Visit the vibrant city of Manchester
This route travels between the city of Birmingham and the city of Manchester passing through Stoke On Trent and stopping at Manchester Airport.
The two-hour and 45-minute trip gives travellers access to one of the UK’s trending tourist destinations.
Once the hub of the Industrial Revolution, Manchester is now home to a buzzing music scene, warehouses transformed into popups and co-working spaces and the unmissable Gay Village along Canal Street.
Chill out in the Cairngorms National Park
A three-hour bus from Glasgow takes travellers through the attractive Scottish towns of Perth and Pitlochry to Aviemore in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park.
Nature lovers will find ancient forests, secluded lochs and a funicular whisking you up to sublime valley views.
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This Italian lakeside city wants to impose a daily visitor fee.
Lake Como is glitzy, glamorous and engulfed by tourism.
The third largest lake in Italy, it sees as many as 1.4 million visitors a year descend on its shores.
The tourist numbers are proving overwhelming for the holiday hotspot in northern Italy, and one city is now considering introducing a tourist tax.
Mayor of the lakeside city of Como Alessandro Rapinese says he is mulling a Venice-style daily charge with suggestions that it could come into force soon.
Lake Como to introduce a daytripper fee
Rapinese has lambasted Lake Como’s overtourism saying it is “difficult to be mayor when you are fighting tourism”.
“We are already discussing the idea[ofa[ofatourist tax]. Revolutions begin with concrete measures and we are ready for this long journey,” he told UK newspaper The Times.
The fee would apply to daily visitors to the city of Como.
The mayor has not shared any further details about how much the fee will be, who will have to pay and when it will come into force.
If he uses the Venice model, the charge will apply to daytrippers (not those who have booked overnight accommodation in the city) and may be levied only on busy days like weekends and public holidays.
Lake Como battles overtourism
The chic lake has been struggling with soaring tourist numbers in recent years.
Crowds have boomed since several celebrities including George Clooney purchased multi-million euro properties along the shoreline and the lake provided a backdrop for films including Casino Royale and House of Gucci.
“I visited Lake Como last year and said I would never go back. Standards had dropped. Restaurants were disappointing in quality and price. Too many people to enjoy anything about the resort,” one visitor wrote on X.
Last summer, one lakeside villa which appeared in James Bond and Star Wars films was forced to limit visitor numbers.
Villa del Balbianello cut daily entries from 2,000 to a maximum of 1,200 to protect the historic house.
The Italian Fund for the Environment (FAI), which runs the property, called it “a drastic decision” but essential to counter the effect of “an excess of tourism that has an ever greater impact on Lake Como”.
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