Ten best European countries for 2024 summer vacation

Top 10 European Countries to visit this summer

A new Europe Summer Tourism Index by SchengenVisaInfo has placed the country of Spain as the best country out of 45 European nations for summer tourism in 2024.

According to Schengen.News, the index found that Spain scored highly due to its popularity, beaches. cuisine, friendly people, and good weather.

Which countries ranked highly?

According to the index, these countries scored the best:

Barcelona fights mass tourism

Although Spain remains a favourite for tourists, residents from parts of the country have been protesting overtourism in the cities.

According to Schengen.News, police figures reported that about 2 800 people took to the streets of Barcelona to participate in protests of overtourism.

Reports have shown that in 2023 alone, the city registered over 12 million tourists.

This has had an impact on the ongoing increase in the cost of housing, which went up by 68 percent in the past decade, as well as on local commerce and working conditions.

South Africans among ‘most interested’ in visiting Croatia

Another beautiful European country that made the Top 10, Croatia, recently reported over 38 000 Schengen visa requests in their first year as Schengen state, and that South Africans were amongst the most interested.

As reported by SchengenNews, Chinese, South African and Qatari nationals were the top visa applicants for the year.

According to the data, 47 percent of visa requests filed to Croatia in 2023, originated from five countries alone. The top five countries of origin for visa applicants to Croatia were as follows:

1. China with 4 447 visa applications
2. South Africa with 4 141 visa applications
3. Qatar with 3 274 visa applications
4. Kosovo with 3 165 visa applications
5. Indonesia with 3 099 visa applications

In total, an impressive 88.7 percent of these 4 141 visa applications were approved for South Africa.