Bordeaux named Best European destination for 2015

The French city of Bordeaux has claimed the number one spot in a ranking of 2015’s best European destinations.

As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and France's wine capital it's not hard to see why 17% or 42,396 of poll participants were happy to cast their vote in the city's direction.

In all, thousands of votes from 135 countries were totalled up as part of the awards organised by European Best Destinations (EBD) - a travel organisation based in Brussels and developed to promote culture and tourism in Europe.

Commenting on Bordeaux's win, Maximilien Lejeune, Executive Director of European Best Destination said:

“This victory is due to the highly energetic promotional team at the Bordeaux Tourist Office as well as powerful communication in social medias and press, partnerships with sports clubs, hotels, restaurants, local and regional authorities, celebrities and… the Bordelais!”

One fan of the city described its charms in the following way:

“Bordeaux has everything of a capital city without the disadvantages of it. I like Paris a lot, but Bordeaux is like Paris but with more nature, landscapes, and a relaxed rhythm of life.”

Now in their sixth year, the top 10 award listing continued with the following destinations on the continent:

2. Lisbon, Portugal

3. Athens, Greece

4. Valletta, Malta

5. Riga, Latvia

6. Zagreb, Croatia

7. Ljubljana, Slovenia

8. Innsbruck, Austria

9. Milan, Italy

10. Brussels, Belgium

An independent study revealed that last year's winner- the city of Porto in Portugal - benefitted from continent-wide publicity of more than 10 million euros as a result of scooping the award. It seems as the winner of this year's competition, Bordeaux could be set to benefit from similarly powerful media coverage.

If you are planning a visit to Bordeaux or any other destinations on the continent, it is important to organise European travel insurance in advance.

Date Created: 17/02/2015