# Most visited European city



## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

yes, I think there is much more passion in our relation with our three other big neighbors, the UK, Italy and Spain.


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## Francisco91 (Jun 14, 2007)

TOP 10

Londres 47.800.000
Paris 33.700.000
Roma 16.600.000
Berlín 14.600.000 
Madrid 12.300.000
Barcelona 11.300.000
Praga 11.200.000
Lisbon 9.500.000
Wien 8.700.000
Dublin 7.700.000


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## wierdo_and_me (Aug 23, 2007)

xAKxRUSx said:


> I don't care that its the "lingua franca."
> When in Rome, do as Romans do.


 Moscow isn't Rome and never will be.


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## Metropolitan (Sep 21, 2004)

Francisco91 said:


> TOP 10
> 
> Londres 47.800.000
> Paris 33.700.000
> ...


This list has already been posted several times in this thread as well as the comments about it.

London is ahead of Paris for the city proper (the Greater London being 90% of the urban area), but the Ile-de-France region is ahead of London (the city of Paris representing about 20% of the urban area). So all in all there's a tough call between both.

The simple thing I remember having read in June was a report stating that Paris was still the most visited city in the world. Maybe Paris is ahead with tourists and London catch back with business travellers, I don't know.


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## Veinticinco (Sep 13, 2005)

London/Paris
Berlin/Rome
Barcelona
Madrid

Just guessing really. I feel sorry for ze Germans, Berlin doesn't get enough recognition, I think it's because Germany has so many cities all with similar economies, populations (berlin, frankfurt, munich, hamburg...) etc where as London and Paris dominate the UK and France respectively.


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## beta29 (Sep 30, 2004)

Francisco91 said:


> TOP 10
> 
> Londres 47.800.000
> Paris 33.700.000
> ...


Berlin is the 3rd in Europe, Rome was left behind  

If you don´t believe, use google....


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## Pincio (May 30, 2007)

beta29 said:


> Berlin is the 3rd in Europe, Rome was left behind
> 
> If you don´t believe, use google....


Yes, in 2004, but now we are in 2007.


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## beta29 (Sep 30, 2004)

I talk about 2007 not 2004:nuts:


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## Pincio (May 30, 2007)

beta29 said:


> I talk about 2007 not 2004:nuts:


And where is the google link? Rome had 23millions of tourists in 2006


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## Federicoft (Sep 26, 2005)

Rome had 23 millions tourists in 2006.

If you read Italian: http://www.turismoefinanza.it/step.jsp?page=47343


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## Giorgio (Oct 9, 2004)

Athens had 7 million tourists, not in top 10.


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

Paris, then London.


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## poshbakerloo (Jan 16, 2007)

London, Paris, Barcelona


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## Bitxofo (Feb 3, 2005)

Francisco91 said:


> TOP 10
> 
> Londres 47.800.000
> Paris 33.700.000
> ...


You must add 2,000,000 cruisers for Barcelona.
:yes:


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## Pincio (May 30, 2007)

Bitxofo said:


> You must add 2,000,000 cruisers for Barcelona.
> :yes:


This list is old (2005)


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## Evil Bert (Feb 20, 2003)

I think its a hard thing to measure but would make sence that London , Paris tops the list because they are by far the two largest cities in europ (bar russia and turkey cities)

What I do find suprising is London leading the list, surely the physical boundaries of being part of an island country has limited convienience travelers who going through continetal europe could travel by car and stop off in cities easier. (yes i have heard of eurostar and the ferry but can you see the point)


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## the spliff fairy (Oct 21, 2002)

London is the worlds biggest air hub^ with 5 international airports (and a few private jet ones)


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## DiggerD21 (Apr 22, 2004)

Evil Bert said:


> What I do find suprising is London leading the list, surely the physical boundaries of being part of an island country has limited convienience travelers who going through *continetal europe could travel by car and stop off in cities easier.*


But how do you want to measure this reliably?


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## Skyman (Jan 4, 2006)

Guess Paris is the leader


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## MasonicStage™ (Dec 30, 2006)

Skyman said:


> Guess Paris is the leader


only love fools go there, it's no wonder then  :jk:


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

Paris is far to be the city of love. 
I know a lot more romantic cities than the busiest city in western Europe










That's weird how people have false idea about Paris.
It is a great city but definitively not romantic.


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## Bitxofo (Feb 3, 2005)

Pincio said:


> This list is old (2005)


Any lists for 2006?
:?


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## Darryl (Jan 14, 2007)

Yawn... London-Paris, Paris-London. Who cares?


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## Pincio (May 30, 2007)

minato ku said:


> It is a great city but definitively not romantic.


Why not?


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## Bitxofo (Feb 3, 2005)

^^Romanticism depends on you and your partner.


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## Dtje (Feb 10, 2007)

Italy Venice


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## KVentz (May 2, 2006)

Darryl said:


> NO ONE in Russia speaks English even in Moscow.


Does many people speak Russian in America? So why all Russians should speak English?


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## brisavoine (Mar 19, 2006)

Again a thread about the most visited European city? I thought this had already been discussed and archived last year...

Here are some official figures. Greater Paris welcomes 44 million tourists every year and the Greater Paris council estimate that the number of tourists to Greater Paris will increase to reach 54 million in 2020. You can see the source of both figures on page 64 of this long pdf: http://213.251.184.171/dev/sdrif192/IMG/pdf_SDRIF_may_2007.pdf

As for London, the 47 million figure that I read on a previous page is completely inflated. According to the very own Greater London mayor's office there are nearly 30 million tourists a year in Greater London (source). Other official sources I've seen say there are 27 million tourists yearly to Greater London (source).

Paris is not the most visited city in the world though, contrary to common belief. Cities like Kyoto and Las Vegas attract more tourists than Paris, due to domestic tourism essentially. In the future, big Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing should become the most visited cities in the world, if that's not already the case, due to domestic Chinese tourism (i.e. Chinese people visiting their own country).

Note that the internationally-agreed definition of a tourist is someone who visits a place either for leisure or business reasons and stays at least one night.


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## Darryl (Jan 14, 2007)

KVentz said:


> Does many people speak Russian in America? So why all Russians should speak English?


I never said they should. I said they don't. 

If Russia wants to remain foreign-tourist-unfriendly that is their perogative. It is helpful information for a foreign tourist to know that they will have big language issues if they consider going to Russia. I recommend that they get a Russian guide if they don't know anyone in Russia that will help them get around. There were not even English speakers available to help us in the International Airport in Moscow!


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## Brummyboy92 (Aug 2, 2007)

London/ Barcelona/ Berlin possibly Amsterdam not sure. And Birmingham<<<I wish


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## KVentz (May 2, 2006)

Darryl said:


> I never said they should. I said they don't.


I thought you think they should, sorry.



> I recommend that they get a Russian guide if they don't know anyone in Russia that will help them get around.


Good idea. Bitxofo did this way last year. I think he had a wonderful trip 



> There were not even English speakers available to help us in the International Airport in Moscow!


Well, Sheremetievo is a cloak, you will not find English speakers there even if they are there.


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## futureproof (Nov 2, 2006)

if i was a parisian living in paris, i would hate so much tourists, specially the american ones.

definately, has to be paris, such a cliche city, still, beautiful


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## SilesianSkyscraper (Aug 14, 2007)

Cracow - 16 milions turistm every year


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## refluS (Aug 14, 2007)

Amsterdam 4,5 million people visited Amsterdam in 2005
and its stills growing

More then 16 million people visits the ciy one day

Its standing in the European top five on the 5th place


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## Slartibartfas (Aug 15, 2006)

Evil Bert said:


> I think its a hard thing to measure but would make sence that London , Paris tops the list because they are by far the two largest cities in europ (bar russia and turkey cities)
> 
> What I do find suprising is London leading the list, surely the physical boundaries of being part of an island country has limited convienience travelers who going through continetal europe could travel by car and stop off in cities easier. (yes i have heard of eurostar and the ferry but can you see the point)


Being two hours away from Brussels and 2 and a half hour from Paris now by eurostar that enables you to get their quite conveniently in comparision to flying and far faster than a ferry. I think this "Island" factor is quite on the decrease.

Thats my guess. Of course I could err.


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## gincan (Feb 1, 2006)

I think for some cities the figures are way of, for example most lists would rank Madrid ahead of Barcelona because they only count people that spend
at least one night in a hotel inside the city, the reality is that Barcelona probably receive dubble the amount of tourists that visit Madrid when factoring in the ones staying on hotels within practical reach of the city. You have some 4-5 million going to the resorts north and south of Barcelona and the majoriy of them also visit the city itself. Then you also have about a million cruisers staying only over the day.


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## Metropolitan (Sep 21, 2004)

futureproof said:


> if i was a parisian living in paris, i would hate so much tourists, specially the american ones.
> 
> definately, has to be paris, such a cliche city, still, beautiful


Well, frankly, Parisians don't see that many tourists in their everyday life. The only places of the city where crowds are dominated by tourists are specific spots where Parisians don't go that often anyway: Ile de la Cité, Montmatre, rue de la Huchette in Saint-Michel. In the rest of the city, you can of course see tourists, but local people always represent 90% of the crowds so you don't really bother. Even on the very touristic Champs-Elysées, tourists only represent a third of the crowds, not more.

Paris population density is similar to the one of Manhattan. As a result, there are really people everywhere. I think it's true to say that Parisians don't pay attention on other people, but it's mostly because they spend their whole day in huge crowds. When most people are surrounded by crowds, they mentally put themselves in some kind of protective "bubble" where they get lost in their own thoughts and forget abou their environment.


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## futureproof (Nov 2, 2006)

Bitxofo said:


> False! It is London.


80 millions in France per year

Paris no doubt


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## cernoch (Aug 7, 2007)

I think it is Prague because there is nearly no one else but foreign visitors in the city centre.


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## Cymen (Jan 27, 2003)

Pincio said:


> Why not?





Bitxofo said:


> ^^Romanticism depends on you and your partner.


And me and my partner never found it romantic. I think the problem with Paris is that it's solely for tourists and rich people. The city is not booming with young people like Berlin, Manchester, Amsterdam, Barcelona etc etc.



SimsPlanet2 said:


> I can't believe Londen has more tourist every year then Paris. Paris is the most known city in the world after NY I think.


It depends on what you count as a tourist. The number Amsterdam is listed with is foreign visitors only, day visitors from Holland would triple that number. Also, a lot of tourists are located in hotels outside the city and travel by bus towards the city, so counting the numbers of tourists is a near impossible thing.


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## zazo (Dec 5, 2005)

city_life said:


> According to The Economist pocket world in figures 2007 Edition: Fance in at the top of the list for most tourist arrivals with 75,121,000 then Spain 53,599,000. Italy in 5th with 37,071,000 and the Uk in 6th with 27,755,000. Not too sure about a particular city though


But those 75 million of France and those 53 of Spain tourists, are foreign people, so, the 12 million of tourists of Madrid are a mix of national and foreign people, so....


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## _Sha_ (Sep 13, 2006)

Istanbul of course 
Original, different :cheers:


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## Луиc (Oct 4, 2007)

Numbers numbers...so many statistics and it seems that there is no consistent in the facts!


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## Eagles (Nov 10, 2007)

The most visited cities:

_Paris
London
Rome_


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## Federicoft (Sep 26, 2005)

I still don't get what is this thread about.
Wishes? Personal opinions? Facts?


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## Darryl (Jan 14, 2007)

federicoft said:


> I still don't get what is this thread about.
> Wishes? Personal opinions? Facts?


Lots of wishes and personal opinions. Very few facts.


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## HelloMoto163 (Aug 13, 2005)

London
Paris
Berlin

"After one already displaced Rome of the third place years ago, now Paris is to be overhauled."

http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/Tourismus;art270,2421719


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## x-boy (Feb 17, 2007)

my list::
London
Paris
Rome
Berlin
Barcelona
Athens


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

HelloMoto163 said:


> London
> Paris
> Berlin
> 
> ...


I don't think. 
Paris is only 86 km² compared with 800 km² of Berlin, so it will be better to include inner suburbs of Paris. Paris would have 700 km² and 6.5 million inhabitants.
In the next years Paris have high chance to be fusioned with its inner suburbs.


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## HelloMoto163 (Aug 13, 2005)

no! iam talking about the number of tourists!! not the size of the city
wrong topic^^


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## Minato ku (Aug 9, 2005)

Yes I know.
A high number of tourists have an hotel in inner suburbs because it is less expensive.
Don't forget the high number of bussiness tourist which stay in la Defense area.
Also the tourists wich stay at Saint Denis area near Stade de France.

They are not include in Paris overnight because they don't sleep in Paris city proper.


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## Federicoft (Sep 26, 2005)

Overnights 2005
Source: European CITIES Tourism ECT

PHP Code:
London 47.800.000
Paris 33.700.000
Rome 16.600.000
Berlin 14.600.000 

BTW tourism boomed in Rome in the last two years, in 2007 there were recorded 23 millions overnights (http://www.turismoefinanza.it/step.jsp?page=47343).


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## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

Yep, but as it was just said these stats compare what is uncomparable.

They should not resort to official city limits figures but urban (or metropolitan) areas, using the same methodology for all cities of course.


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## Federicoft (Sep 26, 2005)

eklips said:


> Yep, but as it was just said these stats compare what is uncomparable.
> 
> They should not resort to official city limits figures but urban (or metropolitan) areas, using the same methodology for all cities of course.


Well, as regards London, Rome and Berlin I think they are comparable. City limits encompass the whole urban area, and most part of the metropolitan area too.
The problem is Paris, cause the actual city is much bigger than its city limits. I don't know the criterion used for those figures.


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## agnwstos (Oct 18, 2007)

In my opinion most visited cities/islands in Europe are:

London
Paris
Athens
Berlin
Rome
Mykonos

Checkout favourite tourist attractions by yahoo:

```
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-bestof-9094160-cat-tourist
```
First of all not lots of you think that Athens is at TOP European Attractions,wrong,especially after the Olympics it gets millions of tourists even Japanese who want to see the Parthenon.


















The satellite view of Athens:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/Images/athens_ast_2004120_lrg.jpg
And that's not the whole Athens,in this image you can't see some districts near the sea from both right and left sides.



Also I have been to Mykonos this Summer and it's FULL of tourists and I mean it.
Lots of Clubs and Hotels and lots under construction it's something like Hawaii for America. 

btw I have seen that Greece is the top tourist attraction of people from Britain and I think it's true.


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## flex (Apr 30, 2003)

1-Barcelona 
2-Paris
3-Brussels
4-Madrid
5-Rome
6-Milan
7-Valencia
8-Stockholm
9-London
and ofcourse Amsterdam lots of times! And allot of other smaller cities like Marseille etc.


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## arun' (Apr 21, 2007)

Paris
London
Roma
Barselona
Athens
Vienna
Berlin
Lisbon


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## nuevo-chicago (Nov 24, 2007)

Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Istanbul, Tbilsi,Warsaw


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## Marek.kvackaj (Jun 24, 2006)

Prague was in year 2005 6th most visited city in Europe....I guess now Prague has similar position..


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## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

sreeja said:


> Dublin is known as one of the most beautiful and culturally rich cities in Europe. It is estimated that more than three million people visit the city each year. This makes tourism a major industry in the Irish capital.


Number alone don't count, sorry. Ireland is a beautiful country with astonishing cities, but Dublin is for sure NOT the place to visit there, one of the biggest disappointments I ever saw - and most of the people I know as well. It's really a pity, it could offer much more


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