Consumer Publications Are All About Europe This Month

The Zentralbahn Interregio train on the Lake Brienz shoreline in Switzerland. Photo: Kabelleger.

It’s high season for Europe, and the consumer publications on the newsstands are all highlighting the hottest spots for your customers. Here’s a round-up of what they will be seeing and reading as the weather warms. 

Travel + Leisure makes the destination clear with its “Europe Issue” this month. Its articles start on the Spanish island of Formentera, home to a billion dollars’ worth of yachts on any given day; take in the transformation of Bigger Better Budapest; float down the Rhône River from the Swiss Alps to the south of France; and land in Aarhus, the Danish modern “hot-underground-grown-up-scruffy place to be.” There’s also a guide to European museums, including what to see and what to skip and how to get the most for your money, plus tips on getting to Europe on frequent-flyer miles and etiquette once you get there. (Say hello to everyone in the group in Denmark before starting a conversation with one person. Who knew?)

Condé Nast Traveler’s May issue is hot – it’s the 2016 Hot List of best new hotels and resorts in the world. Leading the list of 13 U.S. properties are the 1 Hotel South Beach, the Ace Hotel Pittsburgh, and the Baccarat Hotel & Residences in New York. In Europe, the top three are the Domaine des Etangs in Massignac, France and two in Rome: Fendi Private Suites and The Fifteen Keys Hotel. There’s also a touching tribute to a destination wedding/adventure of a lifetime in Chiapas, Mexico, by a Condé Nast writer, and a feature on the Croatian isle of Vis, and a story highlighting the changing nature of London’s stalwart Mayfair section.

But it’s back to Europe — specifically the Danube — in Smithsonian Journeys, which devotes its entire Summer issue to the 1,770-mile-long river. The trip starts in Vienna, flows past the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade, highlights Upper Austria and Budapest’s Margaret Island, takes in the Cold War architecture of Bratislava, stops for some goulash in Hungary, and waltzes into Vienna. 

Lonely Planet’s summer issue, titled “Uncover the Unexpected,” takes readers to Sicily, Laos, Iceland, and Argentina. In Sicily, the magazine touts volcano-viewing on Mount Etna, the baroque architecture of Scicli, the elegant Taormina, and the seven Aeolian islands, and the Arab-inspired culinary treats of Palermo. And in Iceland, the breathtaking photography of the Waterfall of the Gods, volcanic rocks, and Thingvellir National Park will surely help you sell this northern hotspot.