A new Jet2holidays survey among 1,000 UK adults revealed details of their holiday plans. The UK’s third largest tour operator asked holidaymakers which is the friendliest European city to visit and top cities to travel for a city break. Amsterdam topped the poll, although big bustling cities like Paris and Rome, which may seem intimidating to the uninitiated, also made the top five.
- Amsterdam (27%)
- Barcelona (10%)
- Paris (7%)
- Rome (7%)
- Venice (6%)
The average person has been on seven European city breaks and 11 UK city breaks. Only 10 per cent of people have never taken one and yet a handful of lucky globetrotters (2%) have been on 51 or more!
When questioned about why they like to take city breaks, the overwhelming response was to make the most of sightseeing opportunities (71 per cent), to enjoy the culture (60 per cent), for the food (43 per cent), to learn more about its history (43 per cent), and to partake in a spot of shopping (38 per cent). However, just over one million people (2 per cent) admit the thought of getting the ultimate show-off selfie in front of a famous landmark is also a reason to book.
The research revealed that city break locations are mainly influenced by recommendations from friends or family (19 per cent), a bucket list (16 per cent), TV programmes or films (14 per cent), books or magazines (10 per cent) and seeing where other people have been on social media (seven per cent). Social media envy is much more likely to impact the under 25s, with 15 per cent of this age range admitting that spurs them on to book a break.
The top 10 European cities Brits would like to visit are:
- Rome (42%)
- Venice (42%)
- Barcelona (38%)
- Amsterdam (36%)
- Paris (33%)
- Vienna (32%)
- Prague (28%)
- Budapest (25%)
- Pisa (20%)
- Cologne (17%)
Research conducted on a nationally representative sample of 1,011 people in March 2015.
