Wanderlust · 10 min read · March 10, 2026

Don't just rebook Dubai. The smarter holiday alternatives nobody is rushing to — yet

Millions of people are pivoting from the Gulf to Spain and Greece. Here's where to go instead — destinations that are genuinely outstanding, completely unaffected by the conflict, and not about to be swamped by the crowd doing the obvious thing.

Short on time? Let us summarise this guide for you.

Millions of people who were planning Gulf or long-haul holidays are now pivoting to Spain, Greece, Portugal and Turkey. Those are all excellent choices — but the flood of displaced travellers will make the popular spots busier and pricier than usual this summer. The smarter move is to go one step further: to destinations that are outstanding in their own right, completely safe and unaffected by the conflict, bookable on direct flights from UK airports, and not on anyone's instinctive panic-rebooking list. Albania is the standout — stunning Riviera beaches at prices that make Greece look expensive, with direct flights from UK airports in under 3.5 hours. Montenegro's Kotor is one of the most beautiful places in Europe, UNESCO-listed, and still largely undiscovered by mass tourism. Puglia in Italy's south, the Alentejo in Portugal's interior, Malta, and Slovenia all offer world-class experiences without the crowds heading to the usual suspects this summer.

Why the obvious pivots aren't always the smartest ones

When hundreds of thousands of people cancel a Dubai or Doha holiday on the same week, they tend to do the same thing: book Spain. Or Greece. Or Turkey. All three of which are excellent — but all three of which are about to become significantly busier and more expensive than they were going to be anyway, as the tourism industry's version of musical chairs plays out across Mediterranean Europe.

This is the logic of second-order thinking applied to travel planning. The first-order question is "where else is warm and safe?" Spain. Greece. Portugal. The second-order question is "where is warm and safe, and won't be overwhelmed by everyone else answering the first question?" That's a more interesting list.

Every destination in this guide meets the same criteria: it is warm, beautiful, safe, reachable on direct flights from UK airports, completely unaffected by the Iran conflict, and not on the instinctive list that springs to mind when someone who just cancelled a Dubai trip reaches for their phone. Some of them are better than Dubai. All of them are discoveries waiting to happen.

Albania — Europe's best-kept beach secret

The one-line pitch: Greek island beaches, Mediterranean food and warmth, a fascinating post-communist history — all at prices that haven't yet been inflated by mass tourism.

Albania has been described by travel experts as "the hidden-secret version of Greece or Croatia — stunning beaches, exceptional food and historic towns — but without the crowds or inflated prices." The Albanian Riviera stretches along the Ionian Sea with crystal-clear waters, dramatic limestone cliffs, and beaches that are, genuinely, among the most beautiful in Europe. Ksamil, near the Greek border, has been dubbed "Europe's Maldives" — that's marketing language, but the turquoise waters and near-deserted white sand beaches justify the comparison more than most such claims. Dhërmi is the livelier alternative, with summer beach clubs, music festivals, and a vibe somewhere between a Greek island and an undiscovered Croatian cove.

The capital Tirana is worth a day or two on any itinerary — colourfully painted buildings, a thriving café culture, and a Bunk'Art museum housed in a former Cold War bunker that gives a genuinely fascinating window into Albania's extraordinary isolated past. Inland, the Albanian Alps offer some of the most dramatic hiking in Europe, almost entirely undiscovered by international visitors.

The practical bit

• Getting there: Direct flights to Tirana from UK airports on Ryanair and Wizz Air, with flight times of around 3–3.5 hours. BA also flies from Heathrow. From Tirana, the south takes another 3–4 hours by car or bus — or fly to Corfu and take the ferry to Saranda on the Riviera in 45 minutes.
• Cost: Very affordable by European standards. Meals out, accommodation and local transport all cost significantly less than equivalent options in Greece or Croatia.
• Best for: Couples, adventurous families, solo travellers, culture enthusiasts
• Best time: May–June and September for warm weather without the peak season heat; July–August for the full beach club experience
• Note: Albania is outside the EU, so check visa requirements before you travel (UK passport holders don't currently need a visa for short stays). Currency is the Albanian Lek, though euros are widely accepted in tourist areas.

Montenegro — Dubrovnik's more beautiful, less crowded neighbour

The one-line pitch: A UNESCO-listed medieval walled town on a fjord, ringed by mountains, with Adriatic beaches, and barely a cruise ship day-tripper in sight.

Kotor is, objectively, one of the most spectacular settings of any town in Europe. The bay — technically the southernmost fjord in Europe — curves between dramatic limestone mountains that plunge straight into dark blue water. The walled Old Town sits at the water's edge, its medieval Venetian architecture (including the magnificent Cathedral of Saint Tryphon) in extraordinary condition, and its narrow cobblestoned streets filled with the hundreds of cats that have made the city quietly famous among those who know it. Climb to the fortress of St John above the town for views that will genuinely stop you in your tracks.

Montenegro in 2026 is where Dubrovnik was twenty years ago: beautiful, accessible, not yet overrun. easyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair all fly direct to Tivat (about ten minutes from Kotor) from multiple UK airports. The Budva Riviera to the south offers long sandy beaches and a livelier resort scene; the Durmitor National Park inland is a wilderness of canyons, glacial lakes and one of Europe's deepest gorges. Sveti Stefan — a tiny fortified island village connected to the mainland by a causeway — is one of the most photographed images in European travel, and seeing it in person is even better than the pictures.

The practical bit

• Getting there: Direct flights to Tivat (for Kotor and the coast) on easyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair from multiple UK airports. Flight time around 2.5–3 hours. Average return fare from London to Tivat around £290–310 currently.
• Cost: More affordable than Croatia; comparable to mid-range Greece. Not as cheap as Albania, but substantially better value than western Mediterranean equivalents.
• Best for: Couples, history enthusiasts, outdoor adventurers, anyone who loved Dubrovnik ten years ago
• Best time: April–June and September are ideal — warm, uncrowded, and at their most beautiful. July–August is beach season but can be busy on the coast.
• Note: No visa needed for UK passport holders for stays under 90 days.

The complete Iran conflict holiday guide

Safety, rights, costs and destinations — everything UK travellers need in one place.

Puglia — the Italy nobody goes to (but everyone should)

The one-line pitch: Italy's heel — whitewashed trulli houses, baroque cathedral cities, turquoise Adriatic bays, the country's best olive oil and pasta, and far fewer tourists than anywhere else on the Italian peninsula.

While the Amalfi Coast heaves under the weight of Instagram visitors and Tuscany fills with Americans on wine tours, Puglia — the long, flat heel of Italy's boot — is doing something quietly extraordinary. It's becoming Italy's most exciting food destination (the handmade orecchiette pasta, the burrata from Andria, the olive oil pressed in ancient masserie) while still being dramatically less visited than almost anywhere else on the peninsula.

Lecce is the city that tends to convert sceptics. Called the "Florence of the South" by those who have been, its Baroque architecture is so ornate and golden-hued that it feels like the whole city was carved from a single piece of honeyed stone. The Valle d'Itria, with its extraordinary trulli — conical-roofed stone houses that look like something from a fairy tale — is unlike anything else in Europe. The Adriatic coastline offers clear water, hidden sea caves, and beaches that are beautiful without the "you'll queue for forty minutes for a sunbed" problem of more famous Italian resorts.

Crucially for 2026 bookings: easyJet launched new direct flights from Manchester to Bari (Puglia's main airport) starting in summer 2026. Multiple UK airports have direct routes to Bari and Brindisi.

The practical bit

• Getting there: Direct flights to Bari and Brindisi from multiple UK airports on easyJet, Ryanair and Jet2. easyJet's new Manchester–Bari route starts July 2026 from £38.99 one-way. Hire a car — it's the only way to properly explore the region.
• Cost: More affordable than northern Italy; restaurants and accommodation offer significantly better value than Tuscany or the Amalfi Coast.
• Best for: Food lovers, culture enthusiasts, families, couples, anyone tired of seeing the same Italian cities
• Best time: May–June and September–October for warm weather, quieter roads, and the best produce markets. July–August is hot and coastal areas get busy.
• Note: Public transport in rural Puglia is limited — a hire car is essential for getting the most out of the region.

Alentejo — Portugal without the package holiday crowds

The one-line pitch: A third of Portugal that most British tourists have never visited — rolling cork forests, medieval hilltop villages, world-class wine, wild Atlantic beaches, and a sky so unpolluted it's UNESCO-certified for stargazing.

Everyone who has ever been to the Alentejo describes it the same way: the feeling that time has slowed down. This vast, sun-drenched region covers nearly a third of mainland Portugal, stretching from the mountains of Marvão in the north to the wild Atlantic coast in the west. Its landscapes — golden plains of wheat, ancient cork oaks, sunflower fields, olive groves — are unlike anything else in Europe in their scale and stillness.

The towns are extraordinary. Évora is a UNESCO World Heritage City with a Roman temple and an eerie, beautiful Chapel of Bones built by Franciscan monks in the 17th century. Monsaraz is a tiny hilltop village — little more than a single cobbled street — perched above the vast Alqueva reservoir, with views at sunset that are genuinely among the finest in Europe. The Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve is the world's first UNESCO-certified starlight tourism destination; on a clear night, the Milky Way is visible to the naked eye in a way that almost no one who has grown up in urban Britain has ever seen.

Where everyone pivoting from Dubai will go: the Algarve. Where they won't: the Alentejo. That gap is the whole point.

The practical bit

• Getting there: Fly to Lisbon (direct from most UK airports, around 2.5 hours) and hire a car. Évora is 90 minutes from Lisbon; the coast is around 2 hours. There is no major airport in the Alentejo itself — the car is essential.
• Cost: Excellent value by western European standards. Rural accommodation, food and local wine are all significantly cheaper than equivalent options in the Algarve.
• Best for: Couples, culture enthusiasts, wine lovers, walkers, anyone seeking genuine peace and quiet, stargazers
• Best time: April–June and September–October for ideal temperatures. July–August can be extremely hot inland (40°C+), though the Atlantic coast stays pleasant.
• Note: A hire car is not optional here — it's the only way to explore properly. Book early, as cars from Lisbon Airport are in high demand in summer.

Your complete holiday rights guide

Whatever destination you choose, make sure you know your rights. UK261, ATOL, Package Travel Regulations and travel insurance — all explained.

Malta — the warm, English-speaking wildcard

The one-line pitch: Three civilisations of extraordinary history on one sun-drenched island, English-speaking, short direct flights, and still dramatically underrated as a destination.

Malta has a peculiar status in British travel: well-known enough that everyone has heard of it, underrated enough that far fewer people have actually been. Those who do go tend to come back slightly evangelical about it, because Malta punches so far above its weight that it surprises almost everyone. Three thousand years of history — Phoenicians, Romans, the Knights of St John, Napoleon, the British — are layered onto an island only 27km long, and the result is a density of monuments, fortifications, cathedrals and archaeological sites that would be the envy of a country ten times the size.

Valletta — the capital and one of the smallest national capitals in the world — is a walled Baroque city of extraordinary grandeur that was named European Capital of Culture in 2018 and has been quietly reinventing itself ever since. Mdina, the old medieval capital, sits on a hilltop and is known as the "Silent City" — its narrow streets within the walls are car-free and feel genuinely timeless. The Blue Lagoon on the island of Comino is one of the most photogenic swimming spots in the Mediterranean. And the Hypogeum of ?al Saflieni — an underground prehistoric necropolis over 5,000 years old, carved entirely by hand — is one of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in the world that almost nobody outside Malta has heard of.

English is an official language. The weather between April and November is exceptional. Direct flights operate from multiple UK airports on Air Malta and other carriers in under three hours. And in a summer when popular Mediterranean resorts are more crowded than usual, Malta remains a destination where you can still find quiet corners that feel like a genuine discovery.

The practical bit

• Getting there: Direct flights from multiple UK airports on Ryanair, easyJet, Air Malta and others. Flight time around 3 hours. Delta Air Lines is also launching direct seasonal flights from the US to Malta in June 2026 — a signal of the island's growing international profile.
• Cost: Mid-range by Mediterranean standards — more expensive than Albania or Montenegro, but broadly comparable to mainland Spain or Greece.
• Best for: History enthusiasts, couples, older travellers, families (particularly those for whom English-speaking is important), divers
• Best time: April–June and September–November for warm weather without summer peak crowds. July–August is hot and busy but fully operational.
• Note: Malta is a member of both the EU and the Commonwealth. UK passport holders don't need a visa. The Hypogeum requires advance booking — do this before you travel, not when you arrive.

Slovenia — Europe's most underrated country, full stop

The one-line pitch: Alpine lakes of impossible blue, a fairy-tale capital city, world-class food and wine, and an entire beautiful country small enough to drive across in a morning — all for significantly less than Switzerland next door.

Slovenia is the destination that people who have been there can't stop recommending, and that somehow still never makes it onto mainstream package holiday lists. It ought to be better known: Lake Bled, with its island church and clifftop castle reflected in waters of improbable turquoise, has been photographed millions of times and still looks better in person. Lake Bohinj, just over the ridge, is equally beautiful and has about a tenth of the visitors. Ljubljana, the capital, is a compact, walkable city of Baroque bridges, open-air markets, and a castle that looks out over orange rooftops — think Prague as it was before the stag weekends colonised it.

But what makes Slovenia genuinely special is the combination of things on offer in such a small space. You can ski in the Julian Alps in the morning, swim in a Mediterranean-warm Adriatic bay in the afternoon, and eat dinner in a Michelin-recommended restaurant in a medieval city centre in the evening — all without driving more than two hours. The country is astonishingly well-organised, clean and welcoming. It punches above its weight in food and wine (the Vipava Valley makes excellent whites that are almost unknown outside Slovenia). And crucially, its tourist infrastructure is good enough to make it easy, while its visitor numbers are low enough to make it feel like an undiscovered country.

The practical bit

• Getting there: easyJet flies direct to Ljubljana from Gatwick; other routes connect via Vienna, Frankfurt or Munich. Alternatively, fly into Venice or Trieste and hire a car — the border is under an hour away. Flight time from London around 2 hours direct.
• Cost: Significantly cheaper than Austria or Switzerland; broadly comparable to Croatia or the Czech Republic. Outstanding value for a high-quality destination.
• Best for: Active travellers, couples, food and wine enthusiasts, city-breakers, anyone who wants somewhere genuinely different
• Best time: May–September for lakes and outdoor activities; December for Christmas markets and winter atmosphere. Avoid August at Lake Bled if you're crowd-averse — go to Lake Bohinj instead.
• Note: Slovenia is an EU member state. UK passport holders don't need a visa. The country uses the euro.

Closer to home: the UK staycation case

It would be dishonest to write a guide to alternative destinations without acknowledging that for some families this year — facing higher energy bills, fuel costs, and general economic uncertainty — the most sensible alternative to a Middle East holiday is no overseas flight at all.

The UK staycation market was already strong before the conflict, with the Lake District, Cornwall, the Scottish Highlands and the Peak District all seeing strong advance bookings for spring and summer. And there is a genuine argument, beyond the financial one, for rediscovering Britain in a year when airport uncertainty feels like an unappealing addition to the holiday experience.

The Yorkshire Dales, the Pembrokeshire coast, the North Coast 500 in Scotland, the Jurassic Coast in Dorset — these are destinations that many British families have never properly visited, that require no airport, no travel insurance war exclusion clause, no FCDO advice monitoring, and no queuing at passport control. In a year when the rest of the world feels more complicated than usual, there is something genuinely appealing about that simplicity.

The staycation destinations bucking the overtourism trend this year include Ambleside in the Lake District, Bakewell in the Peak District, and Porthleven in Cornwall — all booking up quickly, but none of them inaccessible. And for groups and families, the UK's large holiday cottage market offers space and flexibility that hotels rarely match.

How to choose

Here is the decision matrix in plain terms:

Every one of these destinations has no FCDO travel advisory, no connection to the Iran conflict, direct or straightforward routes from UK airports, and something genuinely outstanding to offer. None of them will be overwhelmed by the displacement wave this summer in the way that the Balearics, the Greek islands and the Algarve are likely to be.

And all of them will be talked about by the people who go, for months afterwards, as the holiday they didn't expect to be the best one they'd taken in years. That's not reassurance language. That's just what tends to happen when you go somewhere genuinely good that you didn't know well enough beforehand.

Is it safe to fly right now?

A destination-by-destination safety guide for UK holidaymakers, including current FCDO advice for all major destinations.