UK residents have always been quite predictable when it comes to their sun-drenched European getaways. Barcelona, Venice, and Malaga tend to be the most popular destinations, with a few Greek islands scattered in between.

A recent survey conducted by the consumer group Which? Trends are changing, according to a recent survey by consumer organisation Which?

The usual suspects, such as Spanish, Italian, and Greek cities, were not as popular as expected.

Which European beach destination is the most popular among British tourists?
More than 3,500 vacationers were asked to rate 44 different coastal cities across Europe.

Destinations were evaluated in 12 categories, including: beach, marina or seafront, food, drink, accommodation and tourist attractions. Other categories included shopping, entertainment, tranquility, safety and friendliness.

The votes were scored out of five, and the overall percentage was used to determine the most popular and least popular locations.

Valencia was voted the best city in Spain by travellers, who opted to avoid San Sebastian, Alicante, and even Barcelona.

The city scored 91 percent in destination and received five stars for eight of 12 categories. This included the beach section, which is not surprising, given that the metropol has three separate sand beaches in the center of the town, as well as many more along the coast.

According to Which, travellers were delighted with “the quality of Valencia’s tourist attractions and shopping, friendliness, and attractiveness”, proving the city’s 34 museum, burgeoning food scene, and generous aquarium, (the largest in Europe), live up to their hype.

It scored 100% in both the categories of ‘value for Money’ and peace and Quiet’, which may indicate a change in perspective among holidaymakers in these post-Covid and economically volatile times.

Although popular names like Malaga, Dubrovnik, and Barcelona were still highly ranked, they were not as dominant as previous years.

Italy, Greece and Spain dominated the top 10. Porto and Venice tied in second place, each with 88%. The latter received praise for its “magical views” but less for the value for money.

Tavira, Portugal, was fourth. Pollenca, Spain, came fifth. Chania, Greece, was sixth, and Rhodes, Greece, seventh. Syracuse, Italy beat Barcelona for eighth place, and Portugal’s Lisbon came in 10th.

Mykonos, Greece was at the bottom with only 58 percent. Fuengirola in Spain, Portimao in Portugal, Naples and Catania in Italy, and Fuengirola were the island’s closest companions.

Which? Editor Rory Boland acknowledged that the list included some surprising additions. He explained that some of the top-rated places like Nerja, Estepona, and Fuengirola had a more relaxed atmosphere than Fuengirola. This shows how the category ‘peace’ and ‘quiet’ dominated the ratings in this year