Harry Styles rarely catches his breath. When the world reopened after Covid in 2021, the man almost immediately went on tour — stayed on it... for nearly two years.
First, he was touring his 2019 album, Fine Line, following stalled promo due to the pandemic. Then he was touring his third album, the two-time Grammy award-winning Harry’s House, released in 2022. Both of these album cycles were rolled into one, forming Love On Tour, which consisted of seven legs spread over the course of 22 months.
That’s one hell of a stint. Oh, and the only substantial gap he had between shows was in mid-2022, in the lead-up to the press tour for Don’t Worry Darling. So that wasn’t exactly a restful period, if you recall correctly.
It makes sense then that he’s taken a well-deserved break over the past year, although it appears he’s embarked on a different kind of world tour entirely.
Harry Styles has been on a glorified gap year throughout 2024 and 2025, often cropping up in the strangest of spots, in a sort of Forrest Gump-style odyssey around the globe.
Most recently, he’s been seen running the Berlin Marathon — and at a very impressive pace, too. The pop star managed to keep his time under three hours, clocking in at 2 hours, 59 minutes, 13 seconds. He ran under the alias “Sted Sarandos” and was praised by Runner’s World for his even splits, with a first and second half time of 1:29:08 and 1:30:06.
He was pictured at the event with Paralympian Richard Whitehead, who called Harry his “pal”. “Anyone know him!!!” he joked in an Instagram post.
Before this, Styles was seem galivanting around London, Rome and New York with new girlfriend Zoe Kravitz. They snogged in Soho, held hands in NYC, and strolled around Roma — all in the space of a few weeks. It’s a stylish relationship... with the air miles to match.
Before this, the 31-year-old was spied at Glastonbury Festival letting loose — because who even are you if you’re not on Worthy Farm in June? It was a landmark moment in the Harry Styles files, as he was papped kissing an unknown woman in the VIP area in the small hours of Sunday, as per footage obtained by The Sun.
In May this year, he was spotted on a very different kind of outing in St Peter’s Square in Rome for the announcement of the new Pope. Clad in his requisite baseball cap and sunglasses, the singer was amongst hundreds of people watching and filming as Pope Leo XIV was elected.
Hilariously unexpected — but not entirely out of place, given that Styles has spent much of his gap year in Rome. Before heading there with Kravitz, he was seen hanging out with his friend Alessandro Michele, the creative director of Valentino.
Harry Styles spotted in Rome for the new Pope announcement. pic.twitter.com/LqERgA7FNL
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 8, 2025
Styles had reportedly been staying with Michele at his house in the centre of the city and in May, the pair were spotted dining with friends at Il Pagliaccio, the city’s only two-Michelin star restaurant.
The Watermelon Sugar singer was seen on another outing to Trastevere’s Porta Portese, the largest flea market in the city. Styles was spotted buying a pair of shoes from one of the stalls in June 2024.
Along with Harry Styles’s adventures in Italy, he’s been cropping up across other parts of Europe, too: he was repeatedly spotted in Berlin, even before the marathon, with sightings reported of him in legendary superclub Berghain. Fitting, seen as the slogan cap he was pictured wearing in Rome read “techno is my boyfriend” (a borrowed item from pal Alessandro Michele).
Berghain is renowned for being eye-wateringly exclusive, and it doesn’t just let in any old celebrity: Elon Musk was famously denied entry in 2022.
According to The Sun, Styles was visiting Berlin to record his next album, apparently inspired by the late, great David Bowie, who recorded a trio of albums — Low, Heroes and Lodger — in the city. “Harry wanted to take some time out following Harry’s House and his massive world tour,” a source told The Sun.
“Now, he is busy finishing up his next record and, like Bowie, Berlin seems to be the city which is inspiring him. Harry loves having a bit of mystery around what he does.”
Styles has been pictured multiple times with Kid Harpoon, the British singer-songwriter who co-wrote Styles’ hit As It Was, further suggesting that new music is on the horizon.
He was also spotted at Soho House Berlin, where a source told DeuxMoi he was working out in the hotel gym for “an hour and a half”. Impressive.
While in Berlin, Styles accidentally went viral on TikTok after he helped a young woman pay for her taxi fare when she realised she didn’t have enough euros to cover it. The woman claimed she offered Styles some dollars in return, to which he replied: “No thank you, I’m not going to America.”
He may not be keen on America, but Styles has certainly ventured out of Europe on his gap year: in another Forrest Gump-esque moment, it was discovered that he had secretly run the Tokyo Marathon in March. And with a pretty good time, too: three hours and 24 minutes. He’s obviously been making improvements ahead of Berlin.
Harry Styles has made some occasional returns to London on his gap year, where he often hails a Lime bike and hangs out with old friend James Corden.
It is unknown if the beloved Englishman will ever return to his Hampstead Heath lodgings for good. According to the Daily Mail, he was recently given the go-ahead to increase his growing property empire in the area. But that hasn’t stopped him from enjoying all that Europe has to offer, plus a bite of the Big Apple.
