For those flying many hours to their destination in Europw in the next few months, the hardest leg of the journey often isn’t the long-haul flight; it’s the commute to the hotel after landing.
A new study from award-winning tour operator Inspiring Vacations has ranked 60 of Europe’s most popular summer destinations by how easy it is to travel from the airport to the city centre – and the results are a wake-up call for anyone booking a last-minute ‘Euro Summer’ escape.
The ranking, which scores each city and airport on transfer time, service frequency, cost in AUD, distance to the city centre and distance to a major landmark, reveals that Pisa (PSA) is the easiest airport to arrive at in Europe: just a five-minute train ride from the terminal puts travellers two kilometres from the hustle and bustle of the city, within a close distance of sights such as the Leaning Tower. At the other end of the scale, Reykjavik (KEF) ranks last, with travellers facing a 45-minute bus and a $45.49 AUD fare across 50 kilometres of lava field before they reach Hallgrímskirkja.
The findings also highlight a gap that’s likely to surprise travellers: some of Europe’s most popular cities are among the worst performers for arrival experience. Milan (MXP), Munich (MUC) and London (LGW) are all placed in the bottom 10.
Paul Ryan, CEO and Co-Founder of Inspiring Vacations
“After a 20-plus hour flight, the last thing anyone wants is a complicated, expensive airport transfer,” says Paul Ryan, CEO and Co-founder of InspiringVacations.com.
“This data shows that the choice of arrival city can make the difference between dropping your bags and exploring within 30 minutes, or losing the first part of your holiday to logistics. For our premium travellers in particular, being able to have a seamless arrival is often the moment they realise the trip has actually begun.”
Europe’s Top 10 Easiest Airport Arrivals
Locations across Italy take three of the top ten spots, while Switzerland and Lithuania deliver standout performances for value and speed.
| Rank | City (Airport) | Fastest transfer | Cost (AUD) | Distance to centre |
| 1 | Pisa, Italy (PSA) | 5-min PisaMover train | $10.70 | 2 km |
| 2 | Vilnius, Lithuania (VNO) | 7-min LTG Link train | $1.19 | 6 km |
| 3 | Geneva, Switzerland (GVA) | 7-min SBB train | $5.46 | 5 km |
| 4 | Bologna, Italy (BLQ) | 7-min Marconi Express | $18.22 | 7 km |
| 5 | Copenhagen, Denmark (CPH) | 13-min DSB Metro | $8.66 | 8 km |
| 6 | Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) | 10-min SBB train | $12.38 | 10 km |
| 7 | Malaga, Spain (AGP) | 12-min Cercanías C1 | $2.98 | 8 km |
| 8 | Tallinn, Estonia (TLL) | 20-min direct bus | $3.31 | 4 km |
| 9 | Lisbon, Portugal (LIS) | 20-min Metro Red Line | $2.73 | 7 km |
| 10 | Naples, Italy (NAP) | 15-min Alibus | $8.28 | 6 km |
“Copenhagen, Zurich and Lisbon are standouts for travellers because they combine fast, direct transfers with some of the best connected networks in Europe,” Ryan says. “They’re the kind of arrivals that make a 20-hour flight feel worth it within minutes of landing.”
Europe’s 5 Most Stressful Airport Arrivals
At the opposite end of the ranking, long distances, premium fares and poor direct-service availability combine to create arrival experiences that can eat into the first day of the holiday.
- Reykjavik, Iceland (KEF): No direct train, 45-minute Flybus, $45.49 AUD, 50 km to the city centre.
- Milan, Italy (MXP): 52-minute Malpensa Express, $21.53 AUD, 49 km to the city centre.
- Ljubljana, Slovenia (LJU): No direct train, 45-minute GoOpti bus, 26 km to the city centre.
- Munich, Germany (MUC): 45-minute S-Bahn, $28.00 AUD, 37 km to the city centre.
- Palermo, Italy (PMO): 50-minute Trinacria Express, $11.43 AUD, 32 km to the city centre.
“Travellers often assume that the bigger the city, the easier the arrival, but it’s usually the opposite,” Ryan says. “Paris, Rome and London all have fast express trains, but they come at a premium, and the total journey still takes time. When travellers are building European itineraries, the first and last cities of the trip matter most as that’s where exhaustion meets arrival.”
Planning a Seamless ‘Euro Summer’
“For many of our guests, Europe is the trip of a lifetime,” Ryan says. “Starting in Pisa, Geneva or Copenhagen, where you’re at your hotel within 30 minutes, sets the tone for the entire holiday. Our European tours are designed with these practicalities in mind, so that from the moment travellers land, every logistic is taken care of and they can focus on the experience ahead.”