This Italian City Was Just Named the Most Picturesque Winter Destination — and It Has a Festive Christmas Market, Too

Bolzano is a small city tucked in the Dolomites that becomes awash in twinkly lights during the holiday season.

It's OK to plan an entire trip around the fact that a place is particularly beautiful, photogenic, or heck, just downright Instagrammable. It's OK to want to appreciate gorgeous things and places and want to share them with your friends, family, and the world at large on social media. And this holiday season, you can make all that happen by heading to one charming and photo-worthy town in Italy.

Heepsy, an influencer marketing platform, released its ranking for the top 10 most  Instagrammable holiday destinations for winter 2024-2025. It named Bolzano, Italy, the No. 1 spot thanks to its astonishing number of Instagram mentions.

It came to its conclusion by looking at each destination's popularity, number of accommodation options, and winter-specific attractions. It also analyzed online engagement via the number of times the destination was mentioned through hashtag on social media ("reflecting each destination's visual and social media appeal") and its Google search volume, along with its average snowfall and number of Christmas markets and holiday-related events, calculated by events listed on Eventbrite. 

"Bolzano, Italy, leads the ranking with the highest number of Instagram hashtags at an impressive 866 million, making it the most visually appealing winter destination," the team shared in a statement provided to Travel + Leisure. "With 100 winter festivals and 23 Christmas markets across Italy, it offers both the festive spirit and amazing scenery."

The small city tucked in the Dolomites becomes awash in twinkly lights throughout the holiday season. It's a place where travelers can walk through winding medieval streets with the backdrop of snow-capped mountains in the distance. Guests can make their way to Piazza Walther for the city's largest Christmas market, filled with dozens of vendors selling traditional crafts between November and January. Don't skip over the local cheeses and the mulled wine while you're there.

Joining Bolzano at the top of the list is Amsterdam, which ranks second thanks to its 37 million hashtags and 300 winter event listings, accounting for the second-most among the cities it ranked. It's followed by a domestic destination, New York City, which took third with 36.9 million Instagram hashtags. Prague comes in fourth, followed by Venice; Vienna; Stockholm; Sweden; Copenhagen; Denmark; Budapest; and Granada, Spain.

And just in case you need more specifics, these are the 10 best European Christmas markets to visit in 2024.