Want to see Europe in 2025 but can’t bear the crowds? Go beyond the obvious on these Euro trips with a twist.
With its multitude of World Heritage-listed sites and well-preserved ancient cities, Europe is the perfect place to ponder the past. But it’s not all history – there are always fresh ways to see this storied continent and new spots to add to your travel wish list.
Explore Europe from a different perspective in 2025 on these new and improved trips.
1. Share a home-cooked meal with Oznur in Turkey
Those who tell the stories hold the power. That’s why the Turkey Women’s Expedition is so important – it gives women the opportunity to lead. With a women-only group you’ll learn about doll making in Cappadocia and try your hand at cooking Turkish cuisine in Goreme. Plus, a brand new 2025 experience has been added, where you’ll share a home-cooked meal with Oznur – a woman who rebuilt her life in Avanos after the 2023 Hatay earthquake.
2. Learn about Greenland’s monsters from a local storyteller
Greenland is becoming a popular cruise destination, but if big boat travel isn’t your style, you can explore the Arctic island on the new Greenland expedition. Get around mostly on foot and public ferry and learn about the land’s link to monsters with a local storyteller. Easily scared? Luckily the sun doesn’t set in Greenland from the end of May until the end of June. This extended daylight will also give you more time to see the many icebergs that bob along the coast. Win, win.
3. Paris to Rome, never Lausanne to Bellinzone
We’ve all heard of Paris and Rome, but what about Lausanne, Lucerne or Bellinzone? The wonderful thing about this new Paris to Rome by Rail trip is that it expertly balances the popular spots with the lesser known. For example, in Rome you’ll see a different side to the city on a visit to Intrepid Foundation partner Cooperativa Coraggio, where you’ll eat lunch and hear about how the organisation regenerates unused public land with sustainable agriculture.
4. Try arctic cocooning as a family in Finland
Visiting Santa Claus’s hometown doesn’t have to be entirely for the little ones. Much like a good children’s movie, Intrepid’s Finland Family Holiday ensures children and adults alike get something equally wonderful out of the experience. You’ll tree hug and arctic cocoon in Halipuu Forest, a tradition which started to spread awareness of nature conservation. And age really doesn’t affect how good it feels to lie suspended in a hammock in a pine forest.
5. Follow the route of the Orient Express
Sometimes it pays to go slow. On the new rail trip from Paris to Istanbul, you’ll make your way across Europe, following the route once taken by the Orient Express. The itinerary was designed to give you the freedom to explore as you wish, with a local leader there to help you get your bearings and share insights. You could check out Le Reflet on the first night, a restaurant and Intrepid Foundation partner that employs people with disabilities, and plan your fortnight over a glass of Bordeaux.
6. Find Scandinavia’s secret swimming spots
If you’re after a more unconventional Euro rail route, why not book the new Essential Scandinavia trip for 18 to 35s? Journey to the locally loved Donso Island, home to hidden beaches and secret swimming spots, and try Swedish fika in Stockholm – the ritual of enjoying a cup of tea or coffee with something sweet. Sound familiar? Think of it as a more strictly observed tea break.
7. Spot goats on a ranger-led hike in Armenia
Get to know the South Caucasus region on the new Georgia and Armenia Explorer trip. In Armenia, visit the Arpa Protected Landscape, home to the rare Caucasian leopard, brown bears and bezoar goats. See the goats up close on a ranger-led hike, then wind down in a lodge set up by a local NGO dedicated to making nature accessible for people with disabilities. You’ll get to share in this vision with a kayak around Lake Sevan – a good trip all round.
8. See the quieter side of the Southern Balkans
Hit up Himare, a brand-new location for Intrepid, on an 18 to 35s trip through the Southern Balkans. You can expect fewer tourists in this part of Albania, meaning less competition for space to lay your towel on the area’s beautiful beaches. You and your new besties will explore the coast by boat, stopping off at caves only accessible via the water. After two days relaxing by the sea, head inland to get your culture fix in Gjirokaster, where you’ll visit traditional tower houses and try local coffee ‘on the stone’.
9. Watch lava flow and make Skrimsli in a local home in Iceland
Go a step beyond playing the floor is lava with your kids by taking them to see a lava show on the new Iceland Family Holiday. Besides getting a chance to see molten rock flow (safely, of course), you’ll also get hands-on at a Skrimsli making class in a local home. These Icelandic wool monsters make the ideal cosy keepsake, inspiring you to relive your geyser- and glacier-filled moments at home.
10. Experience dinner in a Polish Milk Bar
Real Central Europe might look like a classic 18 to 35s Euro trip – hitting the hotspots like Berlin, Budapest and Lake Bled – but it still gets below the surface of each destination with a local leader. In Krakow, you’ll grab dinner in a milk bar. These traditional Polish canteens date back to World War II and are not the typical choice for tourists, giving a good insight into local life.
11. Hike through haunted Hoia Forest Park on Halloween
If the Halloween in Transylvania trip wasn’t spooky enough – with its Halloween costume party and visits to all the sites that supposedly inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula (like Bran Castle, commonly referred to as Dracula’s castle and Sighisoara, the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler) – a new haunted hike has been added for 2025. Enter Hoia Forest Park at your own peril, keeping your eyes peeled for ghosts – and prepare for a jump-scare or two along the way.
12. Swim and snorkel around Turkey
Sometimes, the way you travel completely alters your experience of a country. This is certainly the case with Sail Turkey: Fethiye to Bodrum, where a comfortable traditional Turkish gulet (boat) is your temporary transportation and home. With ensuites and an onboard chef, your only concern is when to swim and snorkel in the Mediterranean. Expect plenty of time on dry land too, in the resort towns of Bodrum, Fethiye, Datca and Gocek – and with a reverse itinerary available, you can decide where to go and when.
13. See street art in Madrid’s lesser-known neighbourhood, Lavapies
The new Essential Spain and Portugal trip brings two new countries and a raft of cool new experiences to the table for 18 to 35s – from hiking the Los Cahorros trail in Granada to the option to go kayaking off the coast of Lagos. In Madrid, you’ll join a street art tour with a difference in the lesser-known neighbourhood of Lavapies, with an organisation that advocates for sustainable tourism and supports social projects within the local community. This is miles away from your fly-and-flop holiday.
Find out what else is new in 2025 with The Goods.
