Sober Getaway: The Booziest Cities to Avoid For an Alcohol-Free Holiday

As many as a quarter of Brits are now shunning alcohol according to YouGov data, and Gen Zers are reigning as the ‘most sober generation’ with 39% of 18 to 24-year-olds not currently consuming any booze at all.

In fact, recent research conducted by Heineken 0.0 has highlighted that Gen Z’s alcohol consumption has dropped by 25% over the last four years, 

Consultant Counselling Psychologist, Dr Ritz, shared: “I think that there has been a rise in people adopting a more sober-curious lifestyle as people educate themselves more on the impact of alcohol on the brain and body. They are becoming more self-reflective and thinking about the consequences of alcohol cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally. For example, a theme that often comes up with my clients is the potential for a wasted day and how pointless a person can feel from consuming alcohol.”

Wasted days are one thing when you can cuddle under a duvet at home, but it’s something that you don’t want to risk on a well-earned and probably long-saved-for holiday!

And as people embrace a more sober lifestyle, we can assume that they’re going to be looking for getaways that prioritise their well-being over more hedonistic pleasures.

So, using data, we have found out which destinations around the world are best to visit for a holiday that doesn’t revolve around alcohol.

The Best Cities For A Sober Holiday

1. Muscat, Oman

The city that ranked as the best to visit for those looking for a sober holiday is Muscat, Oman’s capital and up-and-coming tourism destination. According to TripAdvisor, Muscat only has nine ‘things to do’ that relate to nightlife, which equates to just a mere 2% of all of the possible activities in the city. There is definitely no shortage of things to do, with its rich history and traditions and contemporary high-rise districts offering much to explore.

This is perhaps unsurprising considering that a mere 8.3% of the country’s population consumes alcohol. And of those who do drink, only just over a quarter had engaged in a ‘heavy session’ in the last month, meaning that the majority of people who do consume alcohol in Oman do not do so in an excessive capacity – so you’re unlikely to be influenced into drunken revelry here!

2. Abu Dhabi, UAE

Taking second place is its Arabian neighbour, Abu Dhabi. The capital of the United Arab Emirates is renowned for its glitzy and glamourous lifestyle in towering high-rises and shopping megacentres. And the majority of thing to do here definitely don’t revolve around alcohol – shopping, watersports, dune buggying, and Ferrari World to name a few. All are alcohol-free – which is perhaps unsurprising considering only 18.5% of the country drink.

Also, it is pretty difficult to justify getting drunk in Abu Dhabi too, considering that the average price of a pint in the city is £10.33 – the most expensive in the study! The legal drinking age is also 21-years-old, three years older than the UK, so that might throw a spanner in the works for some too.

3. Marrakesh, Morocco

Marrakesh rounds up the top three best destinations to visit for a sober holiday. While beer, wine and cocktails are commonly found in tourist bars and restaurants, only 2.6% of Morocceans consume alcohol themselves as the majority of the population are Muslim. And of those who do drink, only 18% had engaged in a ‘heavy session’ within the last 30 days – the lowest of any country in the study. No peer pressure here!

As a result, less than 2% of the ‘things to do’ in the city relate to nightlife activities so there is plenty on offer to teetotalers. Beautiful palaces, bustling souks, and desert adventures await, with the city boasting almost 4,000 activities on Tripadvisor.

And what about on the other side of the… bottle?

The Booziest Cities To Avoid For A Sober Holiday

1. Prague, Czech Republic

For those looking to avoid alcohol on holiday, Prague is not the place, with Czechs clearly enjoying a good drink. In fact, the country consumes the most booze per capita of any in the study (and the world) at 14.45 litres of pure alcohol per year. Bear in mind that one pint of beer (at an average 5% ABV) only has an alcohol content of around 0.03 litres according to data, so that’s around 481 beers a year per person!

Prague also has an impressive amount of nightlife establishments per capita too, being beaten by only Las Vegas and New Orleans. Also, as many as 18.8% of all Tripadvisor ‘things to do’ in the city are typically boozy, late-night activities. Of course, you don’t have to drink when visiting Prague, but its bustling evening roster might be too hard to resist.

2. Dublin, Ireland

Home of Guinness, Ireland’s capital is also up there with the booziest holiday destinations. One of the main reasons is that it’s hard not to be influenced by the Irish, considering that as many as 81.3% of its population consume alcohol – the highest percentage of any country in the study. Thankfully though, the average price of beer is not too cheap as the city sees an average of £5.59 a pint.

However, these prices aren’t enough to stop some people from getting on the sauce, with almost half of Irish alcohol drinkers having had a heavy session in the last month. Ultimately, the city is well-regarded as a boozy destination, with one of its top attractions, The Guinness Storehouse, seeing more than 1.1 million visitors in 2022.

3. Berlin, Germany

Another destination that we don’t recommend visiting for a sober holiday is Berlin. As many as four in five Germans drink alcohol, and of these, almost half admitted to having a ‘heavy session’ in the last thirty days – so it might be hard not to be influenced by those around you! Berlin is also home to a lot of nightlife establishments, 637 in total, according to Tripadvisor.

It’s likely to be tempting to have a quick beer too, with average prices in Berlin costing £3.87 – not expensive at all for a major capital city! There are plenty of drinking establishments to choose from too, as almost a fifth of all Tripadvisor things to do in the city are related to its nightlife.

Methodology

To compile the index first collated a list of all of the main cities in each country in the world and then analysed each on the below factors:

• Annual amount of pure alcohol consumed per capita per year
• Share of adults who consume alcohol
• Share of drinkers that have had a heavy session in the last 30 days
• Average price of a pint of beer
• Number of people per nightlife establishment
• % of things in the city, relating to nightlife

We used a variety of credible sources to find data for each of the above categories including World Data Bank, Tripadvisor, and Numbeo, and then ranked the cities from first to last based on this data.

Cities, where a full dataset was not available, were omitted from the index.

The data was gathered in January 2024. The full dataset and source list are available upon request.