New Zealand travellers have never been short of ambition when it comes to the European grand tour. London, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam: the usual suspects fill the bucket list and the Instagram grid in roughly equal measure. But for those who want to add a little extra edge to their city-hopping, a new question is worth asking. Which cities actually deliver when it comes to casino culture?
A study by Bookies.com, leading experts on online casinos in New Zealand, ranked the top-rated casino in each of Europe's ten most visited cities, using Google Review scores to separate the best from the rest. The results offer a useful travel companion for Kiwis planning their next big overseas trip, whether their interests run to a flutter at the tables or simply soaking up the atmosphere of some of the world's most storied gaming venues.
London leads the ranking, with the Grosvenor Casino St Giles earning a near-perfect Google Review score of 4.8 out of 5. Set in the heart of London's theatreland, it sits a short walk from Covent Garden and Soho, making it a natural addition to any evening out in the city. The gaming floor covers American roulette, blackjack, three-card poker, Punto Banco and Shoot Dice. For New Zealanders who enjoy a night at SkyCity Auckland or a visit to one of Queenstown's resort properties, this kind of compact city venue offers a pleasantly different experience: all pace and polish, very little of the resort sprawl.
Paris comes in second, with Club Circus Paris scoring 4.5. Tucked in the 16th arrondissement, it is within walking distance of Roland-Garros and the Parc des Princes, which gives it obvious appeal for sports-minded travellers. Thirty-one tables for poker and dealer games, a restaurant and bar on site, and a setting that is quietly chic rather than overwhelming: this is Paris casino culture stripped of the tourist gloss.
Vienna completes the podium with Casino Baden scoring 4.4. This is one of the oldest and most architecturally impressive casinos in Europe, located about 26 kilometres south of the city centre in the spa town of Baden bei Wien. Kiwis doing a wider Austria itinerary, particularly those who have already ticked off Salzburg and Innsbruck, often find Baden a rewarding half-day detour. The casino itself is a culturally protected building, which gives the whole visit a weight that the average gaming floor cannot quite replicate.
Madrid's Casino Gran Via I Poker Room sits in fourth place with a score of 4.2, just ahead of Amsterdam's Holland Casino at 4.1. The Madrid venue, positioned on the city's grandest boulevard, leans into classical elegance. Amsterdam's Holland Casino, by contrast, is modern and purpose-built, reflecting the practical Dutch approach to leisure. Both cities are firmly on the New Zealand traveller's radar, and both now have a concrete casino recommendation to go with the usual gallery-and-canal itinerary.
Barcelona's Casino Barcelona and Rome's Slot Palace Le Palme Roma are tied in sixth place with a score of 4.0. The Barcelona venue is probably the better-known of the two internationally, occupying a prominent position near the waterfront and drawing a younger, livelier crowd than the more traditional European casino model. Rome's entry is a smaller operation but benefits from the sheer footfall of one of the world's most-visited cities.
The bottom three are Athens (Regency Casino Mont Parnes, 3.9), Milan (Casino di Campione, 3.9) and Venice (Casino di Venezia, 3.8). The Venice casino deserves a mention purely for setting: it occupies a 15th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal and has been operating as a gaming venue since the 1600s, making it one of the oldest in the world. The score is lower, but the context is extraordinary. For travellers making their way through northern Italy, a visit to the Casino di Venezia qualifies as a cultural experience as much as a gambling one.
New Zealanders are well-travelled by any measure. The distance between Auckland and London is roughly 18,000 kilometres, which means that when Kiwis make the trip, they tend to make it count. Packing a city itinerary tightly, combining rooftop bars and city views with a wider slate of evening experiences, is a well-established approach. The casino angle adds another option, particularly in cities where the venues themselves are architectural or cultural draws in their own right.
London remains the clear recommendation for first-timers. The Grosvenor St Giles sits in a part of the city that is easy to reach and easy to fold into an existing evening plan. For repeat visitors who have already done the standard circuit, Vienna's Casino Baden offers something genuinely different: a trip outside the capital, a historic building, and a gaming experience that does not feel interchangeable with every other European city.
The study covered Europe's ten most visited cities, with Istanbul excluded due to its legal prohibition on casino gambling. Paris and London each recorded more than 20 million inbound tourist arrivals in 2019 and 2023, making them the continent's most-trafficked casino destinations by some margin. For New Zealanders building their next European itinerary, the ranking gives a useful starting point. Pair it with a read through the best rooftop bars in Europe and the evening options across every city on the list start to look very full indeed.
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