Athens Proclaimed Europe’s Third Best Destination

Syntagma Square, Athens. Photo: © Maria Theofanopoulou

Athens, Greece, came in third place in the prestigious electronic pool for best European destination, organized by the European Best Destinations (EBD) organization.

For three weeks, 20 “must-see” destinations were in competition to win the prestigious title of “Best European Destination 2015”: Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Istanbul, Innsbruck, Lisbon, Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Reykjavik, Riga, Rome, Valetta, Vienna, Zagreb.

Bordeaux came in first place with 17.32% of votes (42,396 votes), followed by Lisbon with 37,621 votes. The Greek capital received 28,184 votes.

The 2015 best European Destination will use the title and affix the “European Best Destination” logo on all its communications, adverts, website and photos; it will also have the right to authorize its own public and private partners to use the logo.

The next nine destinations with the highest number of votes will be announced through EBD’s communications, website and social networks throughout the whole year as being one the best European destinations to visit in 2015.

Top 10 European best destinations 2015

1. Bordeaux (42,396 votes)
2. Lisbon (37,621)
3. Athens (28,184)
4. Valetta (21,658 votes)
5. Riga (15,627 votes)
6. Zagreb (15,583 votes)
7. Ljubljana (13,114 votes)
8. Innsbruck (12,023)
9. Milan (11,122 votes)
10. Brussels (10,814 votes)

According to EBD, this year’s competition was a record edition with a massive increase in participation (+6%) and voters from 113 different countries to elect the Best European Destination 2015.

“With more than 24,980 shares on social networks and thousands of comments and tweets and hundreds of newspaper articles, this competition was a success: it broke all records with 244,696 votes collected during the 21 days competition.”

The European organization “European Best Destinations” is based in Brussels and aims to promote culture and tourism in Europe.