There are those who plan their holidays months in advance and those who open a flight website with a vague idea and a free weekend. For the latter – a numerous and often underestimated category in sector reports – lastminute.com has published the Travel Horizons Report (here you can find the complete report) which cross-references data on departures from the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany and Spain to identify the destinations with the most marked growth in bookings in 2025 compared to the previous year. The result is a map that looks east, with some Baltic and Balkan excursus.
Gdansk: +97%
The Polish city on the Baltic Sea leads the ranking with an almost doubled increase in bookings. A former port of the Hanseatic League, Gdańsk has a historic center – the Main City – in which many buildings date back to that mercantile era. The market square, the town hall bell tower, the Motława riverside: everything combines to make the city one of the best preserved medieval centers in Northern Europe.
Bucharest: +71%
The Romanian capital is not yet on the mental map of the average Italian tourist, which makes it, in some ways, even more interesting. Bucharest is a city of architectural layers — art deco, art nouveau, socialist brutalism — that tells a hundred years of history with a certain visual brutality. The Palace of Parliament (pictured) is the largest parliamentary building in the world, and inside it is also home to the National Museum of Contemporary Art.
Krakow: +58%
Third in the ranking, Krakow is certainly not a discovery, with the numbers confirming an interest that shows no sign of waning. The historic center is among the twelve sites included in the first UNESCO list of 1978, the Main Market Square is the largest in Europe and Wawel Castle (which we can appreciate in the image above) summarizes centuries of Polish royal history. A few kilometers away, the Wieliczka Salt Mine adds another world heritage site. For those who want to combine Krakow and Gdansk, there is a night train connection.
Albanian coast: +53%
For a few years, influencers’ reels have been describing the Albanian Riviera as the “Maldives of Europe”, a somewhat generous comparison but effective enough to push bookings up by 53%. Ksamil (pictured) is among the most famous destinations, Saranda offers proximity to the UNESCO archaeological site of Butrint, Dhërmi attracts those seeking nightlife. It is worth adding a stop in Tirana, a lively capital rich in history and with a rapidly evolving cultural scene.
Row: +40%
The Latvian capital, another former Hanseatic city with a medieval historic center protected by UNESCO, closes the top five. Riga, however, is above all famous for its Art Nouveau, given that around a third of the buildings in the center are decorated in this style, a concentration that has no equal in Europe. The National Library preserves the cabinet of popular songs, also a UNESCO heritage site. And for those who prefer something less institutional, the local craft beer scene is booming.
