• European travellers plan to spend an average of €775 for weekend city break this winter, compared to €896 in summer months
• Over half of trips planned are for couples
• 2 in 5 winter trips include nature getaways
• Speakspots.com data reveals countries most popular with tourist types, with Finland most popular for solo travellers and family trips

European travellers will be taking weekend trips around the continent this winter, and spending an average of €775 per trip (€320 per day including accommodation, food and activities). 

Data from leading AI-powered travel assistant Speakspots.com reveals winter travel trends for travellers visiting Europe this winter. The research is based on Speakspots.com’s own travel data, analysing plans for over 5,000 travellers planning trips between November 15 2024 and February 15 2025. Chief amongst the findings – a European city break over winter is on average €121 cheaper than the equivalent trip during the summer high season.

The data analysis looked at trip duration, travel budgets and types of travel, as well as uncovering the destinations most favoured by couples, families and solo travellers.

“Winter travel in Europe tends to be more varied than traditional summer and school break travel, and according to our data, potentially better value! We analysed our data to understand where people are going, how much they expect to spend and how long they plan on staying. And what we found was that people are squeezing trips in without taking annual leave, with weekend city escapes making up over half of the trips planned on Speakspots.com this winter. Another factor influencing winter travel plans is people taking longer breaks to visit friends and family during the colder European months. Perhaps the most interesting takeaway is the number of travellers hoping to incorporate a visit to nature into their winter travel plans. Cities who can offer travellers easy access to the great outdoors are sure to benefit!” said Andres Martinez Artal, CEO and founder of Speakspots.com 

European Winter Travel Trends, according to Speakspots.com data

Trend 1 – Travellers expect to spend an average of €320 per day this winter, with a weekend trip averaging at €775 per person

Travellers expect to spend an average of €775 per trip (2.8 days) this winter, which is €121 less than an equivalent trip over the summer months. The data highlights that many European destinations offer great value for money if travellers visit in low season. 

On average, travellers are allocating €150 per night for their accommodation, and a daily budget of €97  to spend on food and restaurants. Travellers expect to spend an average of €72 per day on activities and attractions while on their trips.

Trend 2 – Travel without the annual leave: shorter trips dominate plans for winter travel

Over half of the trips planned this winter are weekend trips (55%), followed by longer stays of 4 days or more (38%). UK destinations Cambridge and Oxford are the most likely to have day tourists, with 53% and 40% of the visitors planning trips to these cities expecting to stay for just a day. Rouen (France), Toledo (Spain) and Lille (France) can also expect larger proportions of day visitors.

Trend 3 – Northern European countries attract families, while Finland expecting to welcome the highest proportion of solo travellers

Travellers planning itineraries on Speakspots.com tell us whether they are travelling with families, as a couple, with groups of friends or on their own. Itinerary plans this winter reveal which countries can expect a higher proportion of family trips and which destinations will be welcoming more couples.

Countries with the largest proportion of family travel trips this winter:

(Ranked based on proportion of trips planned)

1. Finland
2. Portugal
3. Sweden
4. Belgium
5. Turkey
6. Germany
7. United Kingdom
8. Spain
9. Switzerland
10. France

Countries with the largest proportion of solo travel trips this winter:

(Ranked based on proportion of trips planned)

1. Finland
2. Croatia
3. Austria
4. Ireland
5. France
6. Denmark
7. Norway
8. Germany
9. Portugal
10. Belgium

Destinations with the largest proportion of trips planned by couples this winter:

(Ranked based on proportion of trips planned)

• Santonrini
• Nice
• Sorrento
• Warsaw
• Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
• Marbella
• Oxford
• Leipzig
• Fuerteventura
• Palma de Mallorca

Trend 4 – 2 in 5 travellers want to include nature getaways in their winter citybreak plans

Speakspots.com’s data reveals that despite visiting city destinations, two in five travellers are hoping to incorporate a nature getaway in their itinerary. 

Top 10 countries where travellers want to escape to nature as past of their travel plans: 

(Ranked based on proportion of itineraries including a nature getaway)

• Croatia
• Malta
• Greece
• Sweden
• Norway
• Spain
• Finland
• Ireland
• Belgium
• Italy

Speakspots.com offers travellers the ability to plan their trip using pioneering AI and real-time travel data from leading travel sources. The continually improving functionality means travellers will receive a fully personalised itinerary in under a minute, simply inputting their chosen destination, dates of travel and budget expectations. 

Over the last 12 months, Speakspots.com has experienced enormous incremental growth in traffic (30,000%), with users visiting the platform in search of personalised tourism recommendations for over 175 global destinations. In September 2024, Speakspots.com began including accommodation inventory in its trip planning services, via a partnership with Booking.com. Speakspots.com launched flights on its platform in November 2024, accessing real-time data via a partnership with Skyscanner, further refining the startup’s smart, highly personalised and dynamic trip planning functionality.

The startup remains intent on accelerating the adoption of more sustainable and conscious tourism by the mainstream. Speakspots.com’s AI defaults towards walking whenever possible, encouraging travellers to discover a destination on foot, as well as prioritising hotel recommendations, to counter concerns around rises in self-catering accommodations leading to increased rents for local residents. Over 90 percent of travellers who plan trips with Speakspots.com choose to include hidden gems, off-the beaten path experiences and visits to nature and green spaces in their itineraries. And so far this year, 95% of the itineraries generated via the platform have been entirely unique.