The best places to go in Europe in 2026

From February 6 to 22, Milan will co-host the Winter Olympic Games together with Cortina d’Ampezzo. The Games are poised to be the most sprawling in history, spanning 8,500 square miles between the two centers and their outlying venues. The 2026 Games will also be the most gender-balanced winter edition in history, with 47% female participation, while sustainability remains a priority. The initiatives include 100% renewable energy, the use of 11 (of 13) existing or temporary venues and an Olympic Village, equipped with solar panels, rainwater harvesting and urban agriculture, which will be reused as student residences.

From April 22 to 26, design devotees will descend on Milan for the 64th edition of Design Week, or Mobile Showthe largest furniture fair in the world. Fuorisalone, the city center branch, unfolds through hundreds of courtyards, galleries and exhibition halls rooted in a unifying theme. As the 2026 theme, Be the Project will aim to focus attention on sustainability and social impact, expanding on last year’s Connected Worlds, which explored AI and digital interconnection.

But sports and design are not the only attractions of Milan. Three five-star hotels will open in 2026. In the Quadrilatero della Moda, the golden rectangle that delimits the exclusive fashion district, two 19th-century palaces will house the 70 rooms of the Rosewood Milan. six senses will debut a short walk away in Brera, housed in a post-war rationalist building with 68 rooms, including 15 suites (two with plunge pools), a spa, a rooftop bar and a sky pool. A short walk from Piazza del Duomo, Milan will claim the top nine floors of Torre Velasca, a 26-story skyscraper from the 1950s with a protruding top reminiscent of a medieval watchtower. Adding to the mix, Soho House It will also arrive, transforming the 1930s Cinema Arti into a creative club and accommodation with more than 50 rooms, plus a rooftop terrace and swimming pool. —Jaclyn Giorgio