LONDON, U.K. – 3 May, 2009 – It may be home to some of the world’s finest chefs, but London’s cuisine has been voted the worst in Europe, in a survey of travellers’ perceptions of European cities by TripAdvisor®, the world’s most popular and largest travel community.

Yet whilst the capital’s food may fail to whet travellers’ appetites, its feast of cultural sights and open spaces meets with approval. London emerged as the best European city for both free attractions and public parks in the survey of 2,376 European travellers. As one TripAdvisor reviewer writes, “I have travelled quite a lot and there are NO parks in the world like the ones in London, especially St James’ Park.”

Copenhagen took the accolade of Europe’s cleanest city, whilst London was crowned the dirtiest, for the second year running. One TripAdvisor reviewer writes, “When I went to London last I was looking for a bin at Victoria Station. I couldn’t find one so asked security and they told me to just throw it on the floor.”

Travellers also ranked London the most expensive city in Europe, whilst Prague was voted the best bargain. And when it comes to architecture, Barcelona boasts Europe’s finest, whilst Warsaw has the ugliest, with one TripAdvisor reviewer noting that, “There really isn't much to see architecturally... The castle, which is located in the square, was uninteresting. There was also this huge ugly building, which is the Ministry of Sciences – that was ugly but BIG.”

BRITONS STILL PLANNING TRIPS TO EUROZONE

Despite the strength of the euro, the survey reveals that a staggering 93% of British travellers intend to travel within Europe in the coming year (beyond their own country) – higher than their Spanish counterparts (90%), the French (91%) or Italians (91%).

However, when it comes to travel budgets, Britons exercise the most caution. More than one in two Brits (57%) will stick to a tighter budget than on previous European jaunts, compared to 30% of French travellers, 38% of Italians and 48% of Spanish.

Luke Fredberg, TripAdvisor spokesman, says, “Europe’s capital cities all have their highs and lows, but no other continent offers travellers’ such a wealth of culture and sights within such short distances. Despite London emerging as the dirtiest and most expensive city, its fantastic free attractions prove that you don’t need to be a millionaire in order to enjoy the capital.”   

TRIPADVISOR’S EUROPEAN CITIES SURVEY: RESULTS OVERVIEW

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Amelie Hurst – 07791 605 888

ahurst@tripadvisor.com

Notes to editors

2,376 European travellers participated in the survey, including 638 British travellers