Note: If you’re looking for our most recent recommendations, check out the 2023 list of our favorite resorts in Europe.
While Europe is a large continent with many countries, one destination continues to capture Travel + Leisure readers’ hearts: Italy. Travelers enthusiastically returned to its countryside and waterfront properties. In fact, six of the places on this list are hotels around Lake Como and on the Amalfi Coast.
Every year for our World’s Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe — to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Hotels (including safari lodges) were rated on their facilities, location, service, food, and overall value. Properties were classified as city hotel, resort, or safari lodge based on their locations and amenities.
Courtesy of Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco
What do the Italian properties on the list bring to the table? “A beautiful escape from reality,” a voter wrote of No. 10 Grand Hotel Tremezzo on Lake Como. “I truly felt transported and the most relaxed in my life.” Another fan called it “my favorite hotel on the planet.” Also on Lake Como, No. 13 Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni has incredible “views both from and of the property,” according to one T+L reader.
Santorini, the volcanic gem in the southern Aegean Sea, nabbed three of Greece’s four spots this year, while France snagged two spots with Coquillade Provence Resort & Spa (No. 4) and Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa (No. 5). The former is a magical hilltop resort inside Luberon Regional Nature Park, with stunning views of the region of Provence, while the latter is the only luxury hotel in the beloved Champagne wine region.
Below, find out which other resorts readers chose as the best resorts in Europe.
1. Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco, Montalcino, Italy
Courtesy of Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco
While nearly all of the other Italian properties on the list are on Lake Como or the Amalfi Coast, this centuries-old Tuscan estate snagged the top prize, with a near-perfect score to boot. Its guests have maximum privacy — the 5,000-acre property has just 42 suites and 11 villas — and find it hard to get bored: They can visit the Brunello di Montalcino winery or play the rolling 18-hole golf course or have a treatment at the lush spa in the estate’s former wine cellars or relax by a heated infinity pool with striking views of the countryside. Culinary offerings include two excellent restaurants, a cooking school, and a charming kitchen garden — plus a truffle-hunting excursion. Rooms are lavish, and service is impeccable, ensuring that any countryside-vacation dreams will come true.
Score: 99.25
2. Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection, Santorini, Greece
Courtesy of Grace Hotel, Auberge Resorts Collection
Score: 99.22
3. Sani Asterias, Halkidiki, Greece
Courtesy of Sani Resort
Score: 97.87
4. Coquillade Provence Resort & Spa, Gargas, France
Courtesy of Coquillade Provence Resort and Spa
Score: 97.82
5. Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa, Champillon, France
Courtesy of Royal Champagne Hotel & Spa
Score: 97.50
6. Canaves Oia Epitome, Santorini, Greece
Score: 97.41
7. Hotel Santa Caterina, Amalfi, Italy
Courtesy of Hotel Santa Caterina
Score: 97.33
8. Il San Pietro di Positano, Positano, Italy
Courtesy of Il San Pietro di Positano
Score: 97.12
9. Finca Cortesín Hotel, Golf & Spa, Málaga, Spain
Courtesy of Finca Cortesin
Score: 96.97
10. Grand Hotel Tremezzo, Lake Como, Italy
Courtesy of Grand Hotel Tremezzo
Score: 96.80
11. Borgo Egnazia, Savelletri di Fasano, Italy
Courtesy of Borgo Egnazia
Score: 96.60
12. Katikies Santorini, Greece
Courtesy of Katikies Santorini
Score: 96.24
13. (tie) Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio, Italy
Courtesy of Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni
Score: 96.00
13. (tie) Hotel Caesar Augustus, Capri, Italy
Courtesy of Hotel Caesar Augustus
Score: 96.00
15. Le Sirenuse, Positano, Italy
Brechenmacher & Baumann/Courtesy of Le Sirenuse
Score: 95.81