2024 holidays: book a trip to the happiest country in Europe

By Adam Bloodworth

If you’re thinking about booking your 2024 holidays then a new survey has revealed a frontrunner

We’d usually choose a holiday by looking at the weather, attractions or feasibility of visiting a country, but why not judge on happiness levels?

Ireland is the country to visit with the best quality of life, according to a new survey by Dailybase which also revealed the top 10 European destinations for happiness.

Norway came second, with the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the UK in the third, fourth and fifth positions. Poland is sixth and Switzerland seventh, with Iceland, Germany and Denmark rounding out the 10 destinations.

The countries were measured according to criteria including unemployment rate, access to healthcare, cost of living, and salary.

In winning territory Ireland, there’s a divorce rate of just 0.6 per 1,000 people and salaries are 354% higher than the European average.

“This data presents not only the diversity of experiences across Europe, but also the individual factors that contribute to quality of life,” says Daniël de Voer, editor of Dailybase, “Everyone has different ideas as to what constitutes happiness, but this research provides a fascinating insight into which of Europe’s countries have the best quality of life.”

If you’re looking for more travel inspiration then here are five travel trends for 2024. They go into detail on the continued rise of slow, sustainable train travel, the continued puash to make safaris support local communities rather than take from them, and the trend for ‘radical sabbaticals.’

For more 2024 holidays inspiration, Brits recentlyrevealed their 2024 bucket list destinations, and there are some new trends emerging. The rise of the desire to go to space, for instance, has become more popular than doing a marathon.

Travelling to a new destination was the most popular bucket list desire for 2024, with 58% of those surveyed saying that was their priority.