Destinations

After well over a century under construction, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia basilica is ready to raise its immense central tower and become the tallest Christian church in Europe. The basilica’s General Director Xavier Martínez says that “the tower will be finished at the end of this year or the beginning of 2026.”

From rooftop mulled wine to Northern Lights pop-ups, new festive markets are shaking up the classic winter break in Europe. And according to a new survey, the new entries play to a new theme: less about ticking off touristy Christmas markets, and more about finding something original, local, and TikTok-worthy – particularly for younger travellers.

By Cindy-Lou Dale/ The oldest walls in Europe don’t just hold in heat; they hold in stories. Step into a country house on a fog-slung coast or a fortress crouched in a mountain pass, and you can feel history press close: the chill of a draft that shouldn’t exist, the echo of footsteps on an empty stair, the sense that you’ve arrived late to a conversation that never ended.

A sauna in Swedish Lapland for better sleep quality, or cold plunges in the archipelago for improved circulation? Two out of three respondents in a new international survey would be open to spending more time in nature if a doctor prescribed it. Now, Sweden is positioning itself as the world’s first country to which travel can be prescribed by a doctor.

As kids of all ages get pumped over pumpkins and giddy over ghosts this week, Tourism Ireland reminds that the event can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, thereby rendering the destination as the true “home of Halloween” – a “holiday” that is still taken seriously around the country while lending traditions that are rooted in Irish folklore to the rest of the modern world.

Madrid’s streets were baa-dly jammed last weekend – not by protesters or soccer fans but by a flock of sheep and goats being led through the Spanish capital in an annual festival that honours the area’s rural heritage.

For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, visitors to Rome’s world-renowned Colosseum have the opportunity to walk through a hidden imperial passage that once allowed Roman emperors to reach the ancient amphitheater unseen. The once-secret corridor – known as the “Commodus Passage” and named after the Roman emperor turned into a pop icon by Ridley Scott’s movie “Gladiator” – opens to the next week (Oct. 27) marking an extraordinary milestone in archaeological preservation and access.