When you hear ‘noctourism’, a term coined to describe holidays with fun, cool and weird nighttime activities, your mind might first be drawn to destinations popular for ‘astrotourism’ – that is, stargazing, Dark Sky reserves and celestial events.
However, noctourism is a broad term, and can apply to any destinations primed for after-dark exploration. Stuff like seeing famous landmarks on nighttime city tours, late-night culture and twilight safaris all fall under the umbrella of noctourism.
It’s been a growing travel trend over the past year or so – but where are the best places to experience it in 2026?
Recommended: editors on where you should travel in 2026.
Luggage storage platform Radical Storage has done some research and evaluated 50 destinations on four different factors, which were weighted as follows: experiences (this is the number of night tours and similar activities, weighted at 40 percent), natural factors (light pollution and average daylight hours – also 40 percent), safety (how safe it is to walk alone at night, according to locals, weighted at 10 percent), transport (the affordability and availability of after-dark transport, weighed at 10 percent).
So, where is the best place for noctourism? Well, it’s (drum roll, please) Rome! That Italian capital topped the ranks with an overall index score of 6.07 out of 10, fairing particularly well in the experience category with a score of 9.2. It does, after all, offer 305 different night tours, many of which are well-rated by travellers, such as twilight explorations of the Colosseum, plus open-air cinemas and after-dark markets.
Amsterdam claimed second place, Tromsø in Norway claimed third, fourth was copped by Rovaniemi and Tokyo rounded out the top five. Scroll on for the full top 10 ranking.
These are the world’s 10 best places for noctourism in 2026
- Rome, Italy
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Tromsø, Norway
- Rovaniemi, Finland
- Tokyo, Japan
- Dubai, UAE
- London, UK
- Paris, France
- Marrakech, Morocco
- Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand
While you’re here, have a read of our investigation into why dark sky travel is huge at the moment, plus the best places to experience it.
Did you see that the New York Times has unveiled its top travel destinations for the year?
Plus: A huge collection of rarely seen Matisse paintings has been donated to this European museum.
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