The world is full of amazing places for game lovers, and while you can literally travel anywhere to play games, some places are actual meccas; whether you’re into boardgames, e-sports, or gambling.

The same games seem to be popular all over the world, especially as the lines begin to blur between global cultures, but there are usually distinctly different rules or variations depending on the country.

And of course, there’s the potential language barrier, though games are usually a fantastic icebreaker for overcoming this; a great way to bond that often transcends langague!

If you’re keen on working games into your upcoming vacation, beyond playing hang man to kill extra time at the airport, consider the following destinations.

Three Amazing Travel Destinations for Gamers

Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Atlantic City is a mecca for all kinds of games, and while you have coffee culture over boardgames, and chess played in the streets, this is known as one of the major destinations to game for money in the USA.

If you’re into physical games, you can hit up the beach for some football or volleyball, but it’s the casinos which pull most gamers.

Atlantic City is a major casino player, and the top choice is Resorts Casino Hotel, right on the boardwalk (the only year-round beach bar in the city). They have 80,000 feet of casino gaming space, and the slot machines, table games and other gambling is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

There’s also Tropicana Casino and Resort, who also also put on a fireworks performance every Saturday night on the boardwalk during summer, and you can find more fun casino experiences in New Jersey if you want to branch out further.

Stockholm, Sweden

If you’re more into video games than casino games, Stockholm is one of the world’s biggest meccas. Esports is not actually recognized as a sport in the country yet, but that doesn’t stop it from being a huge part of the Swedish culture.

Sweden holds the world’s largest LAN party and computer festival, called DreamHack, which started in the 1990’s and today draws travelers from all over the world.

And Stockholm is home to some of the highest earners in esports history, with several female pro players.

Minecraft was originally developed in Sweden, and if you’re traveling by any form of public transport you’ll fit right in with the locals if you have Candy Crush on your phone.

Sweds also love lotteries and number games, and they have a killer poker face, so be careful if you’re challenging them at cards.

Copenhagen, Denmark

For board games, stay in Scandinavia, but head over to Denmark; Copenhagen have some of the world’s best bars and cafes which offer free boardgames.

It’s a big part of the culture here to bar crawl around the city and share a boardgame before moving on to the next. Hygge is such a strong part of Danish culture (to create intimacy and cosiness), and board games fit right into this!

Danes grow up playing board games, and have a strong sense of nostalgia around this; sitting in a cafe or bar playing a game allows the chance to switch off from technology and share a social moment with others.

Copenhagen is also widely known to be one of the best food cities in the world, so why not take advantage of that while killing it at monopoly?!