Say goodbye to tried and tested holidays and hello to curious new experiences as WhichBudget.com, leading destination finder and flight search engine, reveals those places that are leading the charge and emerging as 2011's most searched travel destinations in Europe.

Unsurprisingly, sunny locations are most desirable and like a moth to a flame, tourists are attracted to sun-drenched shores.  Based on thousands of searches from the UK [we used the UK as the test base, but the results are similar from other Northern European countries] since the start of the year, WhichBudget.com found Crete, Dubrovnik, Split, Paphos and Larnaca to be the destinations generating the most interest from Brits keen to swap grey skies for some Mediterranean flavour.

WhichBudget.com CEO and founder Martino Matijevic comments:

"What is interesting to note is that the main motivation for travellers - the sun - hasn't changed.  What is also made evident, based on searches on our site, is that places like the ancient cities of Crete, and Split and Paphos, which until recently haven't been as high on the tourism radar, are generating more interest.  This suggests that intrepid travellers are seeking cultural experiences along with their sunshine fix.

"While in previous years cities such as Athens and Barcelona have been the focus of searches on WhichBudget.com, now it appears the wonder of exploring somewhere a bit left of centre has sparked the trend toward searches to more unusual travel destinations."

Also featured on WhichBudget.com's list of emerging travel destinations are Budapest, Warsaw, Krakow and Dalaman, areas not traditionally on the well trodden path but all with histories vivid enough to entice travellers.

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