Travel guide publisher Lonely Planet has released its list of the 10 best places to visit in Europe this year, and the top spot went to the Greek Peloponnese peninsula.

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The Peloponnese is the southernmost region of mainland Greece, renown for its mountainous landscape, breathtaking coastline and historic sites, including Olympia, Mycenae and Mystras. Praising the area as “one of the country’s most diverse, vibrant regions” in Greece, Lonely Planet encourages visitors to hike the new Menalon Trail, dive for shipwrecks off the Navorino coast, and explore the Nemean wine region.

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In second place was the Danish city of Aarhus, which is set to be the European Capital of Culture and a European Region of Gastronomy in 2017. Following closely behind was the famous canal city of Venice in third place, and the Dordogne region of France, home to world-famous caves filled with prehistoric art and the towering cliff city of Rocamadour.

Other destinations included in Lonely Planet’s “Best of Europe” ranking, listed in order, were Ukraine’s Lviv, Warwickshire in England, the Extremadura region of Spain, the east coast of Tenerife, Texel in the Netherlands, and the northern Dalmatia region of Croatia.

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Lonely Planet’s list is compiled each year by their team of experts that base their decision on a number of criteria each year, including whether destinations are deemed “up-and-coming” as well as current and upcoming projects. Last year’s list had Iceland’s Akureyri in first place.

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