Sensory hiking and ancient wine: Why you should visit these European villages in 2024

31.12.2023 - 00:09 / euronews.com / Angela Symons

From Venice to Athens, Europe’s most popular destinations are buckling under the weight of unsustainable tourist numbers.

Visitors are met with crowds, queues and crumbling infrastructure. While locals face strained resources that foster a growing discontent with tourists.

So how can you make sure you’re part of the solution, rather than the problem?

It’s time to explore off the beatentrack. To help you in your search for undiscovered destinations, the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has announced the Best Tourism Villages for 2023.

These are places where tourism preserves cultures and traditions, celebrates diversity, provides opportunities and protects biodiversity.

In short, rural places where tourism is beneficial for locals and visitors alike.

Globally, 53 villages - 16 of them in Europe - received the award this year with the winners announced in October at UNWTO’s General Assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Here are all of the award-winning villages in Europe.

With a population of less than 80,000, Andorra is one of the smallest states in Europe.

Sandwiched between France and Spain, high in the Pyrenees mountains, the tiny country is popular for skiing and duty-free shopping - but it has a whole lot more to offer.

Ordino is a medieval town lined with picturesque stone houses - one of which you can peek inside at the Casa Areny Museum.

Once you’ve explored the town itself, the local parish is packed with outdoor adventures.

From the high-mountain Tristaina Lakes and Sorteny National Park - the country’s largest nature area - to Casamanya mountain and Ordino Arcalís ski resort, there’s no shortage of panoramic hiking trails and powdery slopes to conquer.

Ordino can be reached on a day trip from Barcelona, Girona or Toulouse, each around a three-hour drive away.

High in the Tyrolean Alps, St Anton am Arlberg is the gateway to the Arlberg ski region.

And there’s no better place to take to the slopes as this area is known as the ‘cradle of alpine skiing’ for its pioneering role in inventing the sport. Learn all about it at Museum St Anton am Arlberg, which can be found in a wooden ski cabin.

When you’re tired of snowsports, let your senses embrace the WunderWanderWeg - Wonderful Hiking Trail - which consists of a barefoot walking path, an alpine herb path and an alpine flower trail.

Schladming in central Austria also received a UNWTO award. The former mining town is now known for its world-class skiing, beautiful biking and hiking trails, and refreshing lakes.

Most tourists make a beeline for Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast, but head to the country’s mountainous interior and you’ll be rewarded with cascading waterfalls and riverside beaches.

The town of Slunj is just a short drive from the famous Plitvice Lakes but