With the variety of the continent at their feet, it is little surprise that Europeans like to holiday close to home. Almost three-quarters of trips taken by EU citizens were within their home country’s borders in 2023.

Just as Britons make millions of overnight stays in Cornwall over summer, seeking golden beaches or reliving nostalgic family holidays, other Europeans also savour familiar getaways.

To see where they are travelling on home turf, we tracked down the most popular domestic destinations in six countries. The Baltic shores of Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein, Greek islands yet to be crowded by foreign tourists, and a landlocked region in northern Spain are among the “Cornwalls” of Europe.

Alentejo, Portugal

In 2024, UK travellers accounted for 4.4 million of the 5.2 million international tourists visiting the Algarve. If you want to avoid the clamour of British voices, follow the locals instead.

The Portuguese are flocking to the Alentejo region, which welcomed 1.1 million domestic tourists in 2024 (second only to the Centre of Portugal region) according to data from Turismo de Portugal.

Many Britons have long overlooked Alentejo’s long, sandy coastline, sandwiched between the Algarve and Lisbon. You will soon find yourself far from the Algarve’s crowds, among traditional fishing villages such as Azenhas do Mar, where the tidal seawater pool beneath the cliffs is best enjoyed after a day’s hiking.

For a taste of the quiet Portuguese life away from the coast, try Elvas, where you will find yourself in one of Alentejo’s “white towns”, where whitewashed buildings stand alongside Napoleonic era fortifications, 15 minutes from the Spanish border.

Explore the walled city’s maze of Unesco World Heritage-listed medieval streets, visit the grand 16th-century Amoreira Aqueduct, and enjoy Alentejo’s finest vintages at countryside wineries such as the Azamor Estate (tastings from £17).

Inntravel offers walking holidays along Alentejo’s unspoilt Costa Vicentina from £1,190 for a week, not including flights. Sunvil offers seven-night packages at Vila Gale Collection Hotel Elvas (from £1,001pp, with flights from Manchester)

Unsung Greek Islands

The Greeks do things differently, and Eleni Skarveli, director of the Greek National Tourist Organisation in the UK, explains that the domestic tourist trend in Greece doesn’t revolve around one standout hotspot. “Most Greeks spend their time in family villages where they have personal ties,” she says. “This summer, I’ll be spending my holidays on my motherland island.”

She recommends Britons follow in her footsteps to Kasos, a remote island in the Aegean Sea between Karpathos and Crete, where outsiders are as welcome as locals. “The real magic of places like this is not in the historic sites or the beaches,” she says. “For me, it is in the relaxed vibe, surrounded by familiar faces who are always happy to welcome you back. It’s the kind of island where everyone knows each other.”

Skarveli also suggests lesser-known Greek islands such as Lemnos, as does Sunvil, a UK tour operator specialising in Greece. In Lemnos, the largest town, Myrina, with population of just 4,500, is overlooked by a ruined Venetian fortress and close to sheltered, sandy beaches such as Paralia Plati. Lemnos has just one direct flight a week from the UK, so you are likely to find as many locals as tourists there.

Sunvil also recommends Agistri, the smallest of the Saronic islands, where rocky cliffs give way to a pebbly coastline hiding beloved beaches such as Paralia Dragonera and Paralia Aponisos. It’s just an hour’s ferry ride from the Greek capital, and a popular weekend getaway for Athenians.

Sunvil offers one week at the Sotiris Apartments in Lemnos from £1,029pp, self-catering, including flights, luggage and transfers. Sunvil has a one-week stay at the four-star Oasis Scala Beach Hotel in Agistri from £1,030pp, B&B, including return flights to Athens

Hérault, France

The Bridge Pont Vieux and Cathedral Saint-Nazaire in Béziers (Photo: Ventura Carmona/Getty/Moment RF)

Located in the southern Occitania region, golden beaches such as Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone’s five-and-a-half mile stretch of sand (just six miles south of Montpellier) make Hérault a firm favourite with French tourists.

Turquoise lagoons, including the 13-mile Étang de Thau, give way to a hinterland resplendent with vineyards and old chateaux, framed by the mountainous Parc Naturel Régional du Haut-Languedoc, where soaring peaks and deep valleys form the foothills of France’s Central Massif.

In August, the Feria de Béziers is the region’s biggest event, with a week of festivities lining the Canal du Midi in one of the oldest cities in France.

Hérault, which is anchored by the medieval streets and café culture of elegant Montpellier, is where the majority of French holidaymakers flocked to after the pandemic.

They were likely drawn by the premise of sipping Languedoc wines on sunny terraces, relaxing on the broad, sandy Mediterranean coastline, strolling ancient port towns such as Marseillan and Sète – the “Venice of the Languedoc” – and exploring the rugged hinterland and plane tree-shaded Canal du Midi.

Recent data from Atout France, the country’s tourism agency, backs this up, with the wider Occitania region’s part-Mediterranean climate inspiring 28.4 million overnight domestic stays last summer. This was on a par with the neighbouring (and larger) region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, making southern France the most popular destination for French tourists.

Montpellier is served by easyJet and BA while Béziers is served by Ryanair. The Occitanie Rail Tour pass costs from €20 (£17.30) for two days of unlimited travel by train in the region. The Originals Boutique Hotel Neptune has three-star rooms set around an outdoor pool, near quiet Carnon Beach and half an hour’s drive south of Montpellier, from £82. Ranch du Haut-Languedoc provides homely rooms in the hilltop commune of La Salvetat-sur-Agout, in the heart of the regional natural park, from £92. Horse riding is among the many activities on offer

Aragon, Spain

The old town of Zaragoza (Photo: Jose Luis Zueras Marco/Getty/ iStock Editorial)

While established summer destinations such as the Canary and Balearic islands contend with overtourism, Spaniards head north in search of cooler weather. Few Spanish destinations remain the domain of domestic tourists, but one contender is Aragon – which stretches into the Pyrenees.

More than 6.7 million domestic tourists visited Aragon last year, according to the Spanish Tourist Office. Given that only 18,000 Britons visited in 2023 (foreign visitors tend to come from France, Germany and Italy), you’re unlikely to hear a familiar accent among the medieval streets of Zaragoza, the regional capital, where Roman ruins sit alongside Islamic palaces.

In the city’s El Tubo neighbourhood you will find a network of lanes and alleys packed with tapas and wine bars, where you can enjoy the sunshine and taste Aragonese specialities such as ternasco (slow-cooked lamb) and migas (breadcrumbs flavoured with cured meats and spices).

Attractions include the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar, with its ceilings painted by Goya, while Ambar Brewery, in operation since 1900, is one of the oldest breweries in Spain.

Escape the city (and summer heat) with a trip into the Pyrenees, where you can hike the Camino de Santiago or explore the wild alpine landscapes of Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park (around two hours’ drive from the city).

Ryanair flies to Zaragoza. Innside by Melia Zaragoza has stylish rooms and a rooftop pool in Zaragoza’s Old Town from £85. InnWalking organises seven-day, self-guided hiking tours of Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park from £1,035pp, including accommodation, breakfasts and luggage transfers

Emilia-Romagna, Italy

The bustling nightlife in Bologna (Photo: only_fabrizio/Getty/iStock Editorial)

Steeped in Roman history, embroidered with Unesco sites and fringed with popular Adriatic beach towns such as Rimini, it’s no wonder Emilia-Romagna is a hit with Italians. In 2023, the northern region hosted more than 28 million overnight tourist stays by residents of Italy, the highest of any region in the country, according to the latest data from Italy’s Institute of National Statistics.

Eleven million non-resident stays were also recorded – but compared with the almost 50 million international tourist stays in Venice alone, that is minuscule.

So, what do Italians know that we don’t? Well, head to Bologna, the regional capital, and you’ll find Gothic basilicas and the world’s oldest continuously operating university (founded in 1088).

Just over an hour north-west, Parma’s glorious Romanesque architecture is overshadowed by the region’s culinary creations (Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano), while in the Enza Valley outside the city, medieval Montechiarugolo was recently voted the most beautiful village in Italy in a national survey and is a hub of parmesan production.

The port city of Ravenna, the last capital of the Western Roman Empire, is studded with ancient monuments and Byzantine mosaics. An hour south, Rimini’s long, sandy beaches are crowded with Italian sunbathers. Away from the nine-mile coastline, Rimini’s overlooked Old Town is packed with sights, including the Arch of Augustus (dated to 27 BC) and Tiberius Bridge (still in use, despite being built in 21 AD).

Ryanair and BA fly to Bologna; easyJet and Ryanair fly to Rimini. Phi Hotel offers 600 years of history next to Bologna’s Piazza Maggiore (B&B from £134). On the coast, Mercure Rimini Artis Hotel has four-star rooms overlooking the beach from £135

Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

The beaches of Schleswig-Holstein (Photographer: Marco Bottigelli/Getty/Moment RF)

In 2023, German residents were the highest spenders on international travel in the European Union. Increasingly, however, they are also looking closer to home. In 2024, 24 per cent of Germans travelled domestically (an increase of 2 per cent on the previous year).

The Baltic and North Sea shores of Schleswig-Holstein, with their pale sand and islands, proved to be the most popular. Indeed, 2024 was a record year for the northernmost state’s domestic tourist industry, with 9.4 million Germans spending five or more nights there (beating Bavaria into second place).

Kiel, the state capital, is situated on the banks of the Kieler Förde leading to the Baltic Sea, and in summer, the “Sailing City” lives on the water.

Explore the fjord on a harbour sightseeing tour (€18pp), delve into Kiel’s past at the Maritime Museum (in a restored fish auction hall) and find sandy beaches at Falckensteiner Strand. Stroll along Kiellinie, the city’s two mile-long waterfront promenade, before enjoying a cold beer at Sandhafen, a floating beach bar.

The 60-mile Kiel Canal cuts across the Jutland Peninsula from Kiel, connecting the Baltic Sea to the North Sea, where the Wadden Sea Unesco site is home to the world’s largest tidal flats ecosystem. Here, park rangers lead hiking tours through mudflats packed with migratory birds.

Hamburg is served by British Airways, Ryanair and easyJet, then it’s a 75-minute train ride north to Kiel. The Hampton by Hilton in Kiel offers queen rooms from £70, including breakfast.