New data from destination marketplace and tour operator The Tour Guy suggests that travellers are increasingly looking beyond Europe’s major cities, with day trips emerging as a growing part of the tourism experience.

According to a recent survey by The Tour Guy, 85.4% of travellers opt for day trips when visiting a destination, taking them beyond well-known attractions such as the Colosseum, Louvre and Uffizi to explore destinations outside city centres.

The trend is also reflected in booking activity.

Day trips booked through The Tour Guy platform increased 110.7% year over year in 2026, indicating growing demand for experiences that allow visitors to explore the countryside, coastlines and attractions surrounding major tourist hubs.

The survey found that 64.9% of respondents choose day trips because they are curious to see countryside, seaside areas and natural landscapes beyond city borders.

Meanwhile, 53.4% said they already had a specific attraction outside the city that they wanted to visit. Only 8.5% said their main motivation was simply taking a break from sightseeing in a city.

The data also points to growing demand for new experiences in familiar destinations.

The Tour Guy found that one in every four day trips sold in 2026 involves an experience that was not available in 2025.

Rather than introducing entirely new destinations, however, many of these experiences offer travellers different ways to explore places they already recognise.

One example is a new archaeologist-led experience in Pompeii, which combines the famous ruins with the geology of Mount Vesuvius through the expertise of both an archaeologist and a volcanologist.

In Italy's Chianti region, a tour that was previously part of a wider Tuscany itinerary has been developed into an experience focused specifically on wineries.

The same pattern can be seen among the fastest-growing day trips on the platform.

Trips to Sintra from Lisbon and Tuscany’s villages from Rome have recorded quadruple-digit growth in bookings, while Mont-Saint-Michel from Paris ranks as the third fastest-growing day trip.

According to The Tour Guy, the popularity of recognisable destinations remains important in attracting travellers, but the experience itself is increasingly influencing booking decisions.

“Ahead of World Tourism Day, travelers are telling us something very clearly: tourism doesn’t end at the city gates.” declares Sean Finelli, CEO and Co-Founder of The Tour Guy. “Day trips represent a huge opportunity for the whole travel industry, as they allow to create new experiences starting from what people already know. Recognition and innovation represent the magic formula to make travelers book.”

The findings suggest that Europe's best-known cities may increasingly serve as gateways to surrounding destinations, rather than being the sole focus of a trip.

For tourism businesses, the data points to an opportunity to create fresh experiences around familiar destinations and encourage travellers to explore beyond traditional city attractions.

The survey was conducted by The Tour Guy among 107,000 travellers who visited Europe during the previous 12 months, between September 7 and 14, 2026. Booking data covers January 1 to September 15, 2026, compared with the same period in 2025.

The Tour Guy defines a day trip as a guided tour departing from a major European city to a destination reachable within a single day. -TradeArabia News Service