Travel Resolutions For 2025

Christmas shopping may be the order of the day as the year draws to a close, but our cursors are hovering less over ‘add to basket’ and more over ‘book now’. But what are the travel trends driving our adventures in 2025? From multigenerational journeys to the anti-tourism movement, here are eight ways to travel better in the new year.

8 Travel Trends To Know In 2025

Shoulder Seasons

As temperatures soar across the continent (and at home), jetting off to hotter climes every summer feels not just guilt-ridden but redundant. Almost 70 percent of Virtuoso’s advisors have noticed clients opting for shoulder season or off-peak travel in search of more moderate weather – and we’ll be doing the same in 2025. Think beach holidays in spring, hiking in the Dolomites in the summer, exploring the Croatian coast in the autumn and admiring cities come winter.

The Northern Lights in Scotland (Getty Images)

Nature Immersion

This was the year of the Northern Lights – and interest in noctourism has spiked as a result. But it’s not just breathtaking nighttime experiences travellers are craving: it’s nature as a whole. ‘In a world where it’s becoming increasingly more challenging to trust if what one sees is real, we anticipate trips that incorporate natural phenomena sightings will see a sharp rise in popularity next year,’ says the team at Unique Homestays. And this can be found in the UK, too: ‘Whether it’s the sky aglow with the aurora borealis in Scotland, rare humpback whale encounters in Cornwall, or an island off the Pembrokeshire coast turning snow-white with the annual arrival of thousands of gannets, the UK is fast becoming recognised for its natural wonders.’

Nuuk, Greenland

Coolcations

It may have emerged in 2023, but this travel trend ‘shows no signs of slowing,’ say the experts at Virtuoso, ‘as more travellers request cold-weather destinations to escape the rising temperatures and avoid crowds.’ Coolcations include classic contenders like Alaska, Iceland, Greenland and Scandinavia (Norway is in Virtuoso’s top five trending destinations this year), but is also coming to incorporate Antarctica thanks to expanding cruise options and lesser-known cool spots like Kyrgyzstan, the Baltics and Armenia.

Overtourism in Venice: cruise ship passengers crowd the walkway in Piazza San Marco. (Getty)

Anti-Tourism

Gran Canaria is the latest destination to tax its visitors as overtourism reaches fever pitch. In 2024, Barcelona removed a bus route from Google Maps to stop tourists disrupting locals’ journeys, Venice introduced a fee for daytrippers, and Japanese locals built a massive barrier in front of a picture-perfect view of Mount Fuji in an attempt to keep overcrowding at bay. ‘People want to travel where they’re welcomed wholeheartedly,’ say the experts at flight-free travel company Byway. ‘Avoiding overtouristed hotspots is high on this year’s agenda.’ Looking for somewhere to start? Try skipping jam-packed Amsterdam for smaller, quintessentially Dutch towns like Breda, swap Barcelona for Bilbao in Spain, and try Norfolk instead of Cornwall for your staycation. Here’s how else to take the path less travelled.

Take two wheels rather than four in the Côa Valley in Portugal with The Slow Cyclist

Slow Travel

Slow travel is another trend going nowhere soon. ‘A lot of our clients live very fast-paced lives and so they want to completely switch off for as long as they can,’ shares Henrietta Loyd, co-founder of cazenove+loyd. ‘There’s a lot to be said for stepping outside of their usual busy lives, connecting with nature, appreciating the world around them, and simply slowing down.’ This manifests in varied ways, from hiking and cycling tours to unique cultural immersion experiences.

Tech Adventure

Next year will be all about travel adventures which incorporate exciting new technology, says Nick Davies, Managing Director at Cookson Adventures. ‘This might be an extreme wellness camp in Arctic Norway that’s tailored to your fitness metrics or an immersive, actor-led experience with the great archaeologist Howard Carter in a privatised Egyptian tomb, which we enhance by light and sound design to really bring history to life,’ he says. AI, meanwhile, is helping personalise trips like never before, creating itineraries, tracking baggage and even making hotel reservations.

©Glacier Express AG – Stefan Schlumpf

Detour Destinations

Speaking of extended trips… While destination dupes were all the rage this time last year, 2025 is ushering a new trend for lesser-known spots: detour destinations. Enriching the fly less, stay longer ethos, these destinations are essentially extended pitstops, with Audley Private Concierge noticing clients ‘increasingly looking to combine two very different elements into their trip to maximise their overall experience’. Train champions Byway similarly boasts an average of 4.5 destinations per trip booked by its customers – and this figure is only increasing. ‘These kinds of trips allow travellers to get more out of their holidays, combining Italian cities with Swiss mountains, European capitals with Norwegian fishing towns and Medieval old towns with Galician countryside,’ the Byway team says.

The Dining Car on The Britannic Explorer

Luxury Train Travel

All aboard! We’ve been tooting on about the rail renaissance for a long while, but with the tentative nationalisation of the railways, the end of strikes and the rise of luxury cabins, we might finally be back on track… Joining Italy’s La Dolce Vita Orient Express, The Britannic Explorer will depart on its maiden journey in 2025, whisking travellers from London to Cornwall, the Lake District and mid-Wales, showcasing picture-perfect natural landscapes all the while. It joins a growing movement of luxury train travel across the globe, with new journeys launching in Canada, South Africa, Namibia and more.

This article originally appeared in C&TH‘s monthly Travel newsletter. For more like this delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here.