Citytrip research. The best cities to visit in 2020!

'The best #citytrip destination for 2020! ' and 'The top 10 best city trips for this year! ' are titles that you sometimes see come by on opinion travel blog or website. As the passionate travel blog reader I am, I noticed that I was still reading many similar articles. Several websites claimed to be able to give tips about new 'hip', 'trendy' and 'original' destinations that you will have to visit in 2020! The question was, how original are these lists actually? To take a closer look at this, I went through 10 similar articles, all of which claimed to be the most special places for 2020. The length of the lists ranged from only 6 destinations to 40 destinations.

Interesting results

Of the 115 city trip destinations, 101 unique cities have been named. These lists certainly contain a certain amount of originality. What is striking is that most city trip destinations are located within Europe. Which is not very strange because all the articles analyzed are also written and posted on British or Dutch travel websites. From England or the Netherlands, a city trip is of course more favorable within Europe, because yes flying to the other side for just a city trip is not for most people. The most frequently mentioned city trip destinations outside Europe are La Paz (Colombia, 2x) and Washington D.C (United States of America, 2x).

The city trip toppers for 2020!

It is striking that the two most mentioned city trip destinations are both named the 'European Capital of Culture, 2020'. These are Rijeka (Croatia, 5x) and Galway (Ireland, 4x). For most lists this was also the reason to include these cities in their list. Both cities have special cultural activities on the programme for this year.

Galway has a rich tradition in art, music and literature. Galway is also the birthplace of the Irish language and hosts 4 major Celtic festivals in 2020. In addition to this rich history, Galway is also considered modern, making it a centre for medical equipment and technology. Galway is a dynamic city that combines old with new!

Rijeka is a city on the Adriatic coast and the largest port city in Croatia. Rijeka is known for its tolerance and many festivals. It is sometimes called the 'Port of diversity'. It is therefore also to be expected that this will be reflected in the cultural programme of Rijeka 2020.

What about the rest of them?

In addition to these two cities, no other city has been mentioned more than 3 times. Cities that have been mentioned 3 times;

Porto (Portugal)
Cairo (Egypt)
Bilbao (Spain)
Valencia (Spain)
Bonn (Germany)
Vilnius (Lithuania)
Vienna (Austria)

Striking is that famous city trip cities such as Paris, Berlin and Rome are all mentioned twice. Below is the list of all cities appointed only 2 times;

Wroclaw (Poland)
Girona (Spain)
Berlin (Germany)
Bucharest (Romania)
Edinburgh (Scotland)
Ljubljana (Slovenia)
Valletta (Malta)
Salzburg (Austria)
Washington DC (United States)
La Paz (Colombia)
Skopje (North Macedonia)
Riga (Latvia)
Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Prague (Czech Republic)
Rome (Italy)
Paris (France)

Despite this, Dutch cities still get some love. Leeuwarden, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Arnhem and Amersfoort are all mentioned once. The cities mentioned once range from well-known capitals such as Madrid (Spain) to cities that will be less known among the travelling public, such as Locorotondo in Italy's heel #reizen
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