Media room:
Travel updates

Media room:
Travel updates

The European Road Less Travelled

May 10, 2021

Kiwi.com looks at the less likely European destinations to explore post-pandemic

10 May 2021, Brno – Yesterday, 9th May, the European Union celebrated Europe Day.  A day that marks the anniversary of the historic ‘Schuman declaration’ in 1950 and the starting point of the European Union. 

Eliška Řezníček Dočkalová, Director of Customer Experience at Kiwi.com said:  “In general, travelling within the EU is almost as easy as taking a bus or a train in your hometown and has helped tourism blossom in many countries. The impacts of the pandemic and the differing restrictions per country have of course impacted this freedom of movement over the last year but with focus on health measures, and vaccinations making good progress, we anticipate a return to that freedom soon.”

“While EU destinations such as France, Spain, Greece and Italy are the most popular destinations for Kiwi.com’s European and global customers, there are many countries that seldom feature in the top ten such as Estonia, Bulgaria and Lithuania that definitely deserve to be considered for a weekend away or longer stay.”

On the list of lesser travelled EU destinations according to Kiwi.com booking data:

Bulgaria: Home to Plovdiv, the oldest city in Europe, the Rose Valley and 378 kilometers of gorgeous beaches.  Interest in Bulgaria from European travellers was on the increase prior to the pandemic with a 57 percent growth in year on year bookings in 2019. 

Romania: Famous for Bran Castle (Dracula’s castle), the tallest wooden church in Europe and the Bigăr Waterfall. So far this year on Kiwi.com there have been almost 35.5 mil searches made for destinations in Romania and a drop in ticket prices to get there from the European continent of 16%.

Lithuania: You can admire the Gothic, Renaissance and Neoclassical architecture of Old Town of Vilnius – the second largest capital of the Baltics, and nearby Trakai with its colourful wooden houses. Pre-pandemic travel to Lithuania with Kiwi.com from Europe saw a major uplift – increasing by 25 percent in 2019 when compared to the previous year.  

Latvia: Offers another UNESCO World Heritage site – Riga – with its wooden buildings, art nouveau architecture and medieval Old Town.  Latvia is also home to the Venta Waterfall, the widest in Europe. This year, Kiwi.com has seen over 4,4 million searches from European travellers looking at Latvia as a destination to travel to.

Estonia: For peace and tranquility you can enjoy Saaremaa, Hiiumaa and Vormsi – some of Estonia’s over 2,000 islands.  The historic old town of Tallinn is well known for its wonderfully preserved medieval architecture. Estonia’s popularity among European travellers was growing pre-pandemic, with a 59% increase of bookings in 2019 compared to 2018.  So far this year Kiwi.com has seen over 4 mil searches to travel to Estonia from Europe.

How to travel to these destinations on a budget with Kiwi.com.

  • Nomad: can build you the most cost-effective itinerary available to see all these destinations. Select the Nomad option, enter the destinations and how long you want to stay in each, hit enter and let Nomad do the rest of the work for you. Nomad will shuffle all the possible routes Kiwi.com offers, and will create the cheapest itinerary for you.
  • Multicity: if you already have a plan, you can choose the Multicity option and enter the destinations you want to visit, with the order you want to visit them. Kiwi.com’s proprietary algorithm will find you the cheapest option by connecting airlines, including those that don’t have commercial agreements and you wouldn’t find if booking directly.
  • Deals: lastly, keep an eye on Kiwi.com’s deals page on the website for destinations in these countries. If not available currently, there will be plenty of other destinations for an incredibly cheap price you need to check. 

Note: Always check the traveling restrictions with local authorities before making a booking. 

– Ends –

Notes for Editors 

About Europe Day: Every year, the European Union institutions in Brussels and Strasbourg, open their doors to the public during the first days of May, to celebrate peace and unity. This and last years are marked by the stamp of the pandemic that can’t allow any physical activities, moving them to online

About Kiwi.com

Kiwi.com was founded in 2012 by Oliver Dlouhý and Jozef Képesi. The travel tech company was created for travelers by travelers. Its proprietary algorithm – Virtual Interlining – allows users to combine flights and ground transportation from more than 800 carriers, including many that do not have commercial agreement. Kiwi.com powers more than 100 million searches every day and employs 2,000 people worldwide.

Kiwi.com Media Contacts

Carol Barnes, Head of Global Communications, Kiwi.com
[email protected]

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