A billboard in Paris reminds passersby that the Olympic summer games come to town in July. (iStock)
With the holidays behind us and fewer events demanding our immediate attention, these are fine days indeed for planning travel expeditions. From Olympics to openings to anniversary years, there’s plenty to look forward to in Europe in 2024.
Expert recommendations
Guidebook gurus and major travel publications are never short of advice. A sampling of suggestions includes Lonely Planet’s promotions of Donegal, Ireland, for coastal walks and soaring sea cliffs; the País Vasco, or Basque Country, in Spain for its culinary scene and plethora of fiestas; and to a familiar favorite, Tuscany, Italy, for exploration of Etruscan culture and to relish its role as host to the start of this year’s edition of the Tour de France. The world’s best-known bike race kicks off on June 29 with the opening stage from Florence to Rimini, followed by a jaunt from Cesenatico to Bologna and a trek across Piedmont that concludes in Turin on July 1.
Fodor’s Go List includes Albania for scenery reminiscent of the Riviera at a much better price, Tirana’s vibrant café culture and wines the world knows nothing about but should. Rouen, France, makes the grade for its Seine-side beauty, historical connections and top-notch art museums including the Musée des beaux-arts de Rouen, repository of the country’s second-largest collection of Impressionist works. Bergen, Norway, is tagged for its colorful, pint-sized yet perfectly formed harbor and a fish market, while Sighișoara, Romania, gains mention for its land-that-time-forgot medieval lanes and squares juxtaposed against dark legends.
Frommers Best Places to Go makes a convincing argument for the islands of Scotland and the cooler temperatures they offer as their Mediterranean counterparts bake in the sun. Frommers gives the Hebrides a nod for sea life, seafood and sea sports including kayaking; the Orkneys gain mention for sea stacks and a connection with farming and fishing stretching back 5,000 years.
New tourist infrastructure comes online
Via Transilvanica is an 870-mile-long trail coursing through the diverse and largely untrampled regions of Romania. Meant to be traversed by foot, bike or horse, a marker placed at every kilometer along the way expounds upon the history and significance of the surroundings. Its creation is a project that seeks to breathe new life to places seemingly forgotten by the world, largely depopulated due to economic factors, and revitalize them through the interactions of backpackers and adventurers with the local population.
The Trans Dinarica trail, launching in 2024, will be the first bicycle route to connect the Western Balkans. The 2,090-mile trail, rated as moderately difficult, will weave through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, serving up a menu of mountain ranges, lakes, rivers and the Adriatic Sea.
UNESCO site expansion
The 2023 World Heritage Committee Session concluded with the addition of an impressive 45 new sites to the World Heritage List. Just a few of its latest European inscriptions include the Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker, Netherlands, whose mechanical scale model of the solar system completed in 1781 helped shape our understanding of the cosmos; the Jewish-Medieval Heritage of Erfurt, Germany, where a synagogue, mikvah and residence illustrate the life of a Jewish community and its coexistence with a Christian majority during the Middle Ages; and the Funerary and memory sites of the First World War (Western Front), 139 locations in Belgium and northern France that testify to the vast scale of the war and the start of a new tradition in remembering those fallen.
European Capitals of Culture
Each year the European Union seeks to highlight the richness and diversity of its Member States by means of its European Capitals of Culture initiative. These yearlong celebrations of art and culture are meant to increase European citizens’ sense of belonging to a common cultural area and foster the contribution of culture to the overall development of cities. The cities sharing the honors in 2024 include Bad Ischl, Austria; Tartu, Estonia; and Bodø, Norway. Bad Ischl’s program kicks off in its Kurpark on Jan. 20 with an opening concert consisting of rappers, a thousand-member yodeling choir and a performance by European Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst.
Openings and anniversaries
On April 15, 2019, a fire broke out at the Notre Dame Cathedral, razing its roof and spire. Following five years of extensive restoration, Paris’ most recognizable church is set to reopen to visitors on Dec. 8.
Paris is also set to host a major exhibition. From March 26 through July 14, the city’s Musée d’Orsay in will stage “Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment,” consisting of some 130 works by artists including Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne and others. Displaying works rejected by the government-sponsored Paris Salon, this now-legendary nose-thumbing is often considered the birth of modernist painting and a key moment in the history of Western art.
Sporting endeavors
Two major events of the sporting world will no doubt occupy much of the public’s viewing time during the height of summer. The UEFA EURO 2024 is the official name for the European Championship soccer tournament set to unfold between June 14 and July 14. The venues for the games in host nation Germany include arenas in the cities of Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttart.
Paris, France will put its experience in welcoming people from around the world on full display as it hosts the Olympic Games from July 26 through Aug. 11. Much of the sporting celebration will unfold along the contours of the Seine, passing iconic landmarks including the Eiffel Tower and the Grand Palais. The city’s development plans lean heavily upon the use of existing or temporary venues, each of which has a clear, defined legacy in alignment with the city’s long-term development plans.
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Publish date : 2024-01-12 08:00:00
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