The Hottest Gig-Tripping Destinations For 2024
Whether you’re a bit of a live music aficionado, or you’ve got that core group of favourite artists that you just have to see every time they’re on tour, you’ve probably heard the term gig-tripping being thrown around in recent months. Naturally, if you’re active in the music scene, you might already be aware of what gig-tripping is, and you might already indulge regularly in this sort of holiday. But for those just hearing about it, gig-tripping is a growing music and travel phenomenon that’s set to become the top travel trend in 2024! So, to find out where in the world are the best locations for new and old gig-trippers alike this year, we analysed 40 of the biggest and best music cities in the world, ranking them on 5 core factors to see how they stood up against one another. That way, you can start planning your next big trip today!
What is Gig-Tripping?
If you’ve never heard the term gig-tripping before, you might be slightly unsure what exactly this hobby covers, and whether or not making such a trip could be on the expensive side. Fortunately, the concept is very simple.
At its core, gig-tripping is all about travelling to new and exciting destinations to see your favourite artists, to attend music festivals, and immerse yourself in the musical culture of famous cities. You can spend as much or as little money as you want outside the music part of the trip, using it as an excuse to also see the local sights while you’re there, or you can book yourself into a hotel and head straight to the venue; the choice is yours, it’s simply about going somewhere interesting and enjoying the local live music scene.
The Best Cities in the World for Live Music in 2024
When it comes to the best places to see live music around the world, there’s certainly a lot of locations to choose from. However, when it comes to the number one city on our list, you might be a little surprised to learn just where it is.
1. Glasgow
With an overall score of 3.33 out of 5, it seems that the best location to go gig-tripping this year is, of all places, Glasgow in the UK! Boasting 7.02 live music bars (6th highest), 4.31 music arenas (1st), and a whopping 61.94 gigs (1st) per 100,000 people, there is absolutely no doubt Glasgow is a hub of music potential just waiting to be plugged into.
However, when you then also take a moment to combine such a huge range of venues and performing artists with a reasonable average hotel price of only $153, it’s not hard to see why this city ended up ranking number one on our list! Want to head to Glasgow to see your favourite band? Our British isles cruises will get you there!
2. Lyon
Hopping over the channel for our next gig-tripping destination, the French city of Lyon came in at number two with a total score of 3.32 – literally missing out on the top spot by just 0.01 points!
But much like Glasgow, Lyon is the place to be if you want your pick of music bars, arenas, and festivals. In fact, Lyon had the second-highest number of live music bars and festivals on our list (15.68 and 9.94 per 100,000), as well as the third-highest number of arenas (3.25).
And while it does fall a little behind on the number of regular gigs available (9.94), Lyon more than makes up for this with an average hotel cost of just $114. Discover our selection of France cruise deals, and enjoy a getaway with unforgettable entertainment, sightseeing and more!
3. Zurich
Next up, in third, we have Zurich, Switzerland. Holding a great score of 3.06, there’s a lot to like about Zurich, especially when it comes to live music bars and gigs.
As our results show, Zurich is actually the number one spot on our list for live music venues, with a total of 17.88 per 100,000 people, while also coming third for gigs (29.79) and second for arenas (3.9).
Overall, it seems like the only area holding Zurich back from a higher spot is the average price of hotels, which comes in at a pricey $199. Still if budget is not too much of an issue for you, then Zurich is a must-visit location.4. Oslo
Returning to Northern Europe again, our number four spot was claimed by Oslo, one of three Scandinavian cities to make it into our top ten thanks to a score of 2.17. But while this is a noticeably lower total than our top three cities, that’s not to say Oslo isn’t great for music lovers.
For starters, Oslo ranks third overall for festivals, with 0.56 per 100,000 people, as well as placing 5th for the number of gigs happening regularly (25.56). It also has 5.64 live music venues per 100,000 people, which still places it in the top ten of this category.
Best of all though, those visiting Oslo for music can enjoy low average hotel prices of around $117 – which is more than reasonable in the sometimes pricey cities of Scandinavian. And, if you’re already in Oslo, then you might as well head on one of our Norway cruise deals, and soak up the beauty of the fjords!
5. Marseille
Last, but not least, the final city in our top five sees us paying a visit back to France and the Mediterranean city of Marseille, which landed itself a respectable overall score of 2.05.
As you might expect, Marseille ranks well in all five of our categories, placing 4th for the number of live music bars per 100,000 people (8.61), 5th for music arenas and festivals at 1.72 and 0.34 respectively, and reasonable hotel prices of $113.
Overall, the only place this city falls down is the number of gigs being held on a regular basis, sitting at only 3.79 per 100,000 people. Not bad by any means, but it does place Marseille outside of the top 10.
Other Highlights From our Rankings
So, we’ve looked at our top-position cities to visit for those seeking a new music experience this summer. But what were some of the other stand-out highlights from the overall ranking?
First off, you may have already noticed that France alone claimed two of the top five spots, proving its popularity overall when it comes to live music. But if we also add Paris (39th) to this, that means France appeared on our list a total of three times – tying it for the second most common country we analysed alongside the UK and Italy.
But as for the most common country we saw overall, that position goes to the US, which claimed 6 spots on our list with 6 US cities from 6 different states! Interestingly though, none of these placed in our top 10 or top 20, despite the US being home to so many big-name artists.
Alongside this, cities renowned for their famous music venues, such as London, Sydney, and Berlin didn’t squeeze into our top 20 either, perhaps hinting that lower accommodation and venue prices, as well as musical variety, are far more important factors for music lovers than city fame alone.
Where in the World Should You Head For Festivals in 2024?
As fun and exciting as live music in local venues can be, if you’re really into your music and seeing as many bands as you can in one go, then we’ve no doubt that you want to know where in the world to go to experience the most renowned festivals happening in 2024.
Well, looking at Europe first, you’ll naturally want to head over to the UK to attend big hitters like Glastonbury and Boomtown, but for somewhere with a tad more sun, Primavera Sound in Spain might be more to your liking. All three of these festivals cater to a broad range of music tastes meaning you’re sure to find something you like.However, if you want festivals that are just as much a spectacle as a non-stop concert, then Coachella and Burning Man in the US will certainly hit the spot. Or, if your tastes are a little more niche and heavy, then you can join the thousands of metal-heads who descend on the tiny German town of Wacken at Wacken Open Air every year to see the biggest bands of the genre.
So, now you know exactly where to visit if you’re planning on gig-tripping this year to really get your money’s worth. Of course, if you’re planning on heading to multiple destinations in one go, then you might want to look at our range of cruise deals and cruise destinations to see which cruise itineraries include the specific gig destinations. With plenty of exclusive offers and promotions to enjoy, you’re sure to find a memorable trip well within your budget!
Methodology
This dataset ranks 40 locations, based on how good they are for travelling music lovers. To do this, 5 different factors were used:
- Number of Live Music Bars - The number of live music bars on Google Maps with the prompt 'Live Music Bars in X'
- Number of Music Arenas - The number of music arenas on Google Maps with the prompt 'Music Arenas in X'
- Number of Festivals - The number of festivals within a 5km distance of each city
- Number of Concerts/Gigs - The number of concerts/gig's within a 1km distance of each city
- Average Hotel Price - The average hotel price in USD, for each city using Oct 23 - Jan 24 historical data
- Once the data for the factors was collected, the factors were then normalised, to provide each factor with a score between 0 and 1. If data was not available, a score of 0 was given.
- Number of Live Music Bars - High values get a high score. Low values get a low score
- Number of Music Arenas - High values get a high score. Low values get a low score
- Number of Festivals - High values get a high score. Low values get a low score
- Number of Concerts/Gigs - High values get a high score. Low values get a low score
- Average Hotel Price - High values get a low score. Low values get a low score
- The normalised values were then summed, to give each location a total score out of 5. The locations were then ranked from highest to lowest, based on their total scores.
The factors were indexed as follows:
All data is correct as of 24/01/24. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of real life. All data is accurate with regard to the sources provided.