FROM must-see sights to dream beaches and quality restaurants, many guides and rankings promise to pinpoint the trendiest destinations where great vacations are guaranteed. Yet they never seem to measure how travellers' well-being is taken into account on the ground, despite this being essential for a successful stay.
In the wealth of research offering recommendations on the trendiest destinations or those proposing the best value for money, the well-being of visitors is rarely taken into account. The main criteria are always – and rightly so – focused on must-see places or good places to eat out. Rarely is there any consideration of how a tourist might potentially be treated.
To this end, VisaGuide.World recently conducted a survey among 1,200 travellers from 32 different countries regarding the things they value most when travelling to Europe. According to this research, the main thing that most of the travellers surveyed want when visiting a country is to feel welcomed and safe, notably by being able to communicate effectively with locals.
As a result, VisaGuide.World went on to compile a list of Europe’s capital cities and compare them in several aspects, based on criteria including safety, friendliness, non-native English proficiency, prices, etc. By agglomerating these criteria, this analysis gives the destinations an overall score to find out where travelers were most likely to keep smiling throughout their stay.
All in all, Amsterdam tops the list as Europe's best capital city to travel to as a tourist. The Dutch's good command of English plays a big part in this, while the wealth of tourist attractions ensures that visitors never get bored, from the Anne Frank House to the Rijksmuseum or the Rembrandt House Museum. In second place comes Rome, which scores highly on friendliness, boosting its position in this ranking.
In this top 10, there's no logic to the preconceived idea that southern countries might be more welcoming than those in the north, since London (4th) comes ahead of Madrid (6th). However, Zagreb in Croatia takes bronze, coming in third place. Paris (8th), Berlin (9th) and Vienna (10th) are at the bottom of the pack.
Europe's best capital cities to be a tourist in, according to VisaGuide.World research:
- Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Rome (Italy)
- Zagreb (Croatia)
- London (UK)
- Lisbon (Portugal)
- Madrid (Spain)
- Prague (Czechia)
- Paris (France)
- Berlin (Germany)
- Vienna (Austria)
– ETX Daily Up, July 26, 2023
