Why a new generation of young Muslims is beginning to travel differently.
Somewhere between the pace of London life and the constant movement of work, deadlines and routine, many young Muslims are beginning to search for something slower, richer and more meaningful. Across the city, a generation of Muslim professionals are quietly building lives that stretch beyond their careers alone.
They are hosting book clubs and community dinners, mentoring young people, building charities and creative projects, reconnecting with faith and culture, and creating spaces where identity and purpose still feel present within modern life. Increasingly, that same mindset is shaping the way they travel too.
What began as conversations between two friends working within youth and community spaces across the UK slowly evolved into a wider idea: creating culturally rooted journeys for a generation searching for something deeper from travel. Named after the famed Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi, Evliya Travels draws inspiration from a tradition of exploration rooted not only in places, but in people, stories and civilisation.
Today, many who travel with Evliya join alone. Yet somewhere between wandering Sarajevo’s old streets at dusk, hearing the call to prayer echo across the hills of Mostar, sitting in a café tucked away in Tirana, or walking through the old medinas of Fez long after the evening crowds have faded, strangers quickly stop feeling like strangers. Bosnia remains the heart of the Evliya experience.
There is something about the country that lingers with people long after they return home, perhaps its layered Islamic history, its quiet resilience, or simply the feeling of discovering a part of Europe where faith, memory and everyday life still feel deeply intertwined. That same atmosphere can be felt across Evliya’s wider journeys too, from Albania and Montenegro to Morocco and Southern Spain. Conversations continuing late into the evening. Histories that once felt distant in books suddenly becoming tangible and alive in front of you.
A slower and more thoughtful way of experiencing the world alongside people who arrive as strangers and often leave as friends. At a time when so much modern travel feels transactional and forgettable, a different kind of Muslim travel culture is quietly beginning to emerge, one rooted in history, friendship, curiosity and shared experience.
Evliya Travels is simply one expression of that shift.
Instagram: @evliyatravels
Book your next journey with www.evliyatravels.com