New research reveals that Budapest is Europe’s favourite UNESCO site!
In 2023, there are over 1,100 UNESCO heritage sites in the world and Europe is home to 503 of them. In fact, searches for “UNESCO sites Europe” went up by +129 % in the past 12 months. With so many options to visit in every corner of the continent, online travel agent loveholidays has released a new ranking of Europe’s most popular UNESCO heritage sites to visit this spring.
By analysing data from Twitter and TripAdvisor, each UNESCO site was ranked based on the number of total five-star reviews and the number of online posts mentioning the sites.
- The Budapest-based Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue was named Europe’s most popular UNESCO heritage site in a new ranking by online travel agent loveholidays.
- Overall, sites in Germany and Spain are especially popular, with both countries appearing twice in the top 10.
Check out the top 30 UNESCO sites in Europe below:
| Rank | Site | Location | Twitter posts | TripAdvisor 5* reviews | Total score |
|
1 |
Budapest, inc. Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter & Andrássy Avenue | Hungary | 124763 | 4393 | 53.7543 |
|
2 |
Hanseatic City of Lübeck | Germany | 127602 | 1355 | 51.5011 |
|
3 |
Tower of London | UK | 2090 | 45133 | 50.8190 |
|
4 |
Works of Antoni Gaudí | Spain | 29 | 41382 | 45.8559 |
|
5 |
Alhambra, Generalife & Albayzín, Granada | Spain | 40 | 34912 | 38.6925 |
|
6 |
Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn | Austria | 2 | 28539 | 31.6173 |
|
7 |
Acropolis, Athens | Greece | 598 | 27080 | 30.2345 |
|
8 |
La Grand-Place, Brussels | Belgium | 12 | 25651 | 28.4218 |
|
9 |
Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum & Torre Annunziata | Italy | N/A | 21916 | 24.2794 |
|
10 |
Cologne Cathedral | Germany | 14216 | 16293 | 23.6204 |
|
11 |
Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon | Portugal | N/A | 19413 | 21.5064 |
|
12 |
Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville | Spain | N/A | 18486 | 20.4795 |
|
13 |
Paris, Banks of the Seine | France | 66 | 16714 | 18.5422 |
|
14 |
Palace and Park of Versailles | France | 283 | 14768 | 16.4714 |
|
15 |
Historic Centre of Vienna | Austria | 2 | 14839 | 16.4400 |
|
16 |
Historic Centre of Brugge | Belgium | 0 | 14067 | 15.5839 |
|
17 |
Old City of Dubrovnik | Croatia | 19 | 13793 | 15.2878 |
|
18 |
Auschwitz Birkenau | Poland | 5710 | 11666 | 15.1615 |
|
19 |
Archaeological Area of Agrigento | Italy | 0 | 13427 | 14.8749 |
|
20 |
Plitvice Lakes National Park | Croatia | 74 | 12412 | 13.7795 |
|
21 |
Old and New Towns of Edinburgh | United Kingdom | 2 | 11859 | 13.1386 |
|
22 |
City of Verona | Italy | 31536 | 0 | 12.3572 |
|
23 |
Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn | Estonia | 0 | 11093 | 12.2892 |
|
24 |
Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay | France | 1473 | 9854 | 11.4938 |
|
25 |
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites | United Kingdom | 7727 | 7486 | 11.3210 |
|
26 |
Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau | Germany | 26826 | 208 | 10.5116 |
|
27 |
Mount Etna | Italy | 231 | 8712 | 9.7420 |
|
28 |
Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines | Poland | 0 | 8733 | 9.6747 |
|
29 |
Historic Centre of Warsaw | Poland | 0 | 8706 | 9.6448 |
|
30 |
Old Town of Segovia and its Aqueduct | Spain | 0 | 8331 | 9.2294 |
The city of Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter & Andrássy Avenue, is officially Europe’s most-loved UNESCO heritage site, with 124,763 posts mentioning the city and 4,393 five-star TripAdvisor reviews. Germany’s city of Lübeck, known for its delicious marzipan, follows in second place, while the UK’s famous Tower of London comes in third.
The majority of the top-ranking sites are located in Germany or Spain with both countries bringing two heritage sites to the top 10: The city of Lübeck and Cologne Cathedral in Germany, and the work of Antoni Gaudí and the famous Alhambra in Spain. Likewise, both Spain and Italy even appear four times in the top 30
Other sites that just missed the top 10 but appear in the top 30 include historic cities like Vienna, Bruges and Dubrovnik, as well as nature sites like Mount Etna, Stonehenge, and Plitvice Lakes National Park.
Al Murray, Chief Marketing Officer at loveholidays comments on the research: “Europe is home to some of the most magnificent architectural sites in the world, as recognised by UNESCO. Every location on the list tells a tale which is rooted in history and celebrated by visitors from all over the world. With hundreds of heritage sites to choose from, our ranking is designed to make it that bit easier to decide which to visit and when.”
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