Budapest has more appeal than its more celebrated rivals when it comes to friendliness, according to a poll conducted by the apartment rentals company Housetrip.com– which assessed 130 000 reviews posted to its website to gauge which destinations across the continent are most popular with mini-breakers.
Budapest was the city with the most five-star-rated reviews from pleased customers, inching out Lisbon in second place, Amsterdam in third, and Rome in fourth.
Budapest was also deemed to be the most welcoming city for a large group of friends (12 or more people) heading overseas together, and was the second-ranked option in the list of cities that offer the best welcome for a large, multi-generational family getaway (six to 12 people), behind Barcelona but ahead of London, Amsterdam, Rome and Lisbon.
Other cities to receive a tip of the hat for the way they receive tourists included Paris (most welcoming for couples), Madrid (most welcoming for solo travellers), Istanbul (most welcoming for children) and Lisbon (most welcoming for pets).
The Housetrip study also discovered that travellers’ views of a city vary with the weather.
The survey found that four different cities were deemed “most welcoming” depending on the season, with Amsterdam topping the pile for autumn, ahead of London and Paris.
Paris was voted the most welcoming city for spring – with Berlin taking the honours for winter.
Surprisingly, Rome was deemed to be the most welcoming European city during the summer – a time when tourists consider it wise to avoid the Italian capital, due to its hot weather, long queues and congestion.
- Saturday Star