Welcome to our Europe 2026 Guide

There was a time, BC (Before COVID), when September was the big “Earlybird Europe” month.

Airlines came out with their earlybird fares, and travellers were ready to make serious plans, and book, for the next European summer.

Then everything was disrupted, as we all remember too well. The old rhythm stopped.

Then the disruption ended, as we all remember far more happily. Everything had changed. The term “revenge travel” was coined, and the last one out of WA turned off the lights. The challenge, with such crazy-busy demand, was getting the European holiday you wanted, when you wanted.

Well… welcome to life AD (After Disruption). Welcome to this moment of thinking about travelling to Europe in 2026.

And welcome to expected earlybird Europe airfares this month, for example from Singapore Airlines. Its earlybird 2026 airfares are available to buy until September 22, 2025, and cover London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Copenhagen, Barcelona, and many more European destinations.

Travelmarvel has extended its “Fly Free to Europe 2026 Sale”. Travellers now have until September 30, 2025, to lock in a European holiday with free return flights with Qatar Airways.

In this Travel guide, we give a taste of lots of European places and experiences.

CITIES

Top of the list of European cities to visit in 2026 will be all-time favourites London, Paris and Rome. There’s a good reason for that. Each is brilliant, in its own way, and fully encapsulates the country and culture of which it is capital. London’s free museums, Underground and a pub for a pint. A croissant and coffee for breakfast at a little corner cafe in Paris. The might of the Colosseum and lunch in Piazza Navona in Rome.

Athens will still be one of the most-visited European cities in 2026 — plan a few days there, then some time out on one of the nearby quieter Greek Islands like Hydra.

To me, Northern Europe remains a whole other proposition. We often think of Norway in connection with coastal cruising in its beautiful fjords (Geirangerfjord and Sognefjord are superstars), but link time in Copenhagen and consider a self-drive trip to castles like Kronborg and Frederiksborg, UNESCO sites like Roskilde Cathedral, and the landscapes of Skagen. Oulu in northern Finland is the European Capital of Culture 2026, selected for its concept of “cultural climate change” with a focus on uniting people to face global challenges by connecting culture with social, cultural, economic and ecological sustainability. There will be lots going on in this vibrant city. Where Iceland was the wildcard in Europe, Greenland has rather snatched its spotlight, with airport infrastructure in Ilulissat and Qaqortoq due in 2026, as part of the country’s aim to gently increase visitor numbers.

FLYING

Europe direct or a one-stop hop? That is the question.

Hubs Flying through hubs gives us the chance to break a long-haul flight (get off and stretch our legs), and consider a stopover. Singapore is surely top of the list for this — and flying out of WA with Singapore Airlines is tried and trusted. Hong Kong (flying Cathay Pacific), can offer another “mix it up stopover”, as can Malaysia Airlines through Kuala Lumpur. Scoot, Singapore Airlines’ low-cost carrier, connects in Singapore to Vienna as well as Athens now. Emirates and Qatar Airways both fly daily from Perth, offering stopover packages in Dubai and Doha, respectively.

Direct Flying direct to London, Paris and Rome is now fully embedded in our thinking about the flight offerings from Perth. Qantas flies to London Heathrow daily (in a bit over 17 hours), to Paris three times a week, and from May 3 to October 23, 2026, will fly to Rome four times a week.

Airfares Going back to the period just BC, airfares climbed steeply, but now they have settled into a pretty steady cruise. In fact, I am looking at return economy airfares with Singapore Airlines in June from $1538. Qatar has announced return economy fares to London, Amsterdam and Zurich from $1769 and business from $7749, to be booked by September 22, 2025, for travel between September 21, 2025, and August 15, 2026. That’s pretty much what we were paying a decade ago. If you are paying in the low $2000s for economy return, you will be doing very well. One big trend is booking premium economy, for example with Emirates, and if that’s your thought, I’d suggest looking into it sooner rather than later. A real standout in business class out of Perth is Qatar’s Q Suites.

Tips If you are thinking about an independent-style European holiday, perhaps with some train travel and cycling, and see an airfare sale with prices you like, be ready to book flights and then “fill the dates in between” with your holiday. If you are looking for packages, for example, with a cruise or river cruise, look for deals with flights included or “one flies free”. And don’t be too set on where you fly to — regional cities are sometimes promoted through lower fares.

TOURING

The trend in touring has been to slow down. The itineraries of companies like Albatross Tours (which only offers tours in Europe) and Collette show this. There are many two-night stays and lots of three nights. Just look at Albatross’ La Grande France, with three nights in the heart of perfectly preserved Sarlat-la-Caneda, surely one of the most beautiful towns in France. Many companies, like APT, specialise in small groups.

RIVER CRUISING

Amsterdam to Budapest is the classic, and with good reason. It’s great. This is a big trip on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers, with stops in places like Cologne, Frankfurt, Regensburg, Passau, Vienna and Bratislava. As the many river cruise competitors look for “points of difference”, they are varying the time in some places and adding others — so look carefully at the difference between the itineraries and make sure you are stopping in places that interest you. Most include a guided walking tour in the places you arrive.

Tip If you have just one day in a place, consider whether you really want to pay for an additional tour to “go somewhere else” for the day. Sometimes I think we miss just being in the town or village we have docked at.

OCEAN CRUISING

Ships connect some of the best spots in Europe. Favourite itineraries are in the Mediterranean (visiting Rome, Barcelona and Greek islands), Northern Europe and the Baltics (Scandinavia and the Norwegian fjords) and, increasingly, the British Isles, from Scotland. I’d be looking at the Iberian Peninsula, with ports like Barcelona, Lisbon, and Athens. Consider the size of the ship.

Basically, it might be that the bigger it is, the more activities and options there are on board, and the lower the cost — but if you want to spend more time wandering on shore, you’ll want something smaller so you can wander on and off. This is where a travel agent can often help with advice. Being on the right ship on the right itinerary is always the key.

Tip Look out for solo traveller deals. I have no doubt companies will offer “no single supplement” offers, as the travel industry has swung its attention (finally) to looking after this significant group of travellers (“segment of the market”, in their language). We have just seen “no single supplement” on some Hurtigruten, Emerald and Ponant itineraries in Europe. Look out for more.

TRAINS

The trend on the rails is towards more overnight trains. The European Sleeper route from Brussels to Berlin and Prague, which launched in 2023 and 2024, and the next-generation Nightjet trains by OBB, have private rooms from Vienna to Brussels and Amsterdam to Vienna. Look out for Nox Mobility, which has “100 per cent personal rooms” and the grand plan of running an network of all-private rooms which connects to more than 100 cities by 2027.

CYCLE TOURING

It’s all packaged up and mainstream. Ride from city to town, village to village (often following rivers), staying in accommodation each night and with your luggage moved while you ride. It’s a good, and now very easy, way to see Europe in a connected way. There are hundreds of self-guided European cycle tours that can be booked as a package. Riders get an itinerary, bicycle, accommodation, luggage transfers, maps and notes. My pick would still be a package along the popular Danube Cycle Path through Austria and Germany.