Witch-themed travel has quietly become one of autumn's biggest draws, and this year the broomsticks are out in force. A wave of witchy openings and events on both sides of the Atlantic means travellers can now build an entire trip around the occult — no pointy hat required.
The pop-culture push is real. Practical Magic 2 lands in September with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock back as the Owens sisters, Disney's Hexed follows in November, and the first UK flagship Harry Potter store opens in central London the same month. On TikTok, the #WitchTok hashtag has racked up around 9 million posts, dragging tarot, crystals and spell-making out of the fringes and into the feed of anyone remotely curious.
Britain is leaning in. Cornwall's Witch Festival on 24 October packs in workshops on oracle cards, herbal blends and Cornish folklore, closing with a group fire ritual after dark. Lewes hosts its first Witchfest Market on 14 November, mixing spell supplies with esoteric talks. The hottest ticket, though, is The Dreaming, Charlotte Church's former Laura Ashley country house in mid-Wales' Elan Valley, now a healing centre. Her five-day witch retreats — releasing rituals, herbal baths, nightly dream weaving, campfire storytelling — sell out almost instantly, and Church is adding dates to keep up.
Across the Atlantic, Salem, Massachusetts, remains the scene of the ultimate witch pilgrimage. The city where 20 people were executed in the 1692 trials now draws over a million visitors each Halloween, and with its 400th anniversary falling in 2026, the coming season looks set to be its biggest yet. Expect the Haunted Happenings parade in early October, gothic storytelling at the House of the Seven Gables, and new for this year, a second location of The Witchery on the wharf, where you can take broom-making classes or build a crystal-filled spell jar to take home.
Los Angeles has its own coven hub now: the Witch's Cottage, a two-floor café, bar and event space founded by two queer witches as a deliberately inclusive retreat from city life. Pointy-hat lights hang over the espresso machine, the bar pours a protection spell cocktail with agave and smoked black foam, and the calendar runs from sound baths to bewitched burlesque.
For travellers, the appeal goes beyond novelty. The people running these places frame witchcraft as a route back to ritual, community and the natural world — a slower rhythm measured by the moon rather than the clock. Whether that resonates or you just fancy a season of fire festivals and graveyard lore, autumn 2025 is the time to book: retreats and Halloween events sell out early. Story credited to Condé Nast Traveller UK.