Athens in Europe’s top 5 cities

The Greek capital has been voted into the top five European destinations for 2017 in an online competition organised by the European Best Destinations (EBD) organisation.

“Travellers have always ranked Athens at the top of this European competition.  It is a favourite destination for travellers from all over the world who want to discover Europe. Ever since its participation in this competition, Athens has ranked among the 5 favourite destinations of travellers worldwide.

“From the iconic Acropolis, rising above the city, to charming up and coming neighbourhoods and contemporary art galleries, the city of Classic Marathon and Olympic Games is a majestically quirky clash of past and present.

“One of the world’s oldest cities with a recorded history of 3,500 years, the Greek capital is constantly undergoing urban renewals to keep up with the evolution of time. Athens lives up to all the hype!” said the organisers in a statement.

Athens came in fourth, competing amongst twenty selected destinations for the prestigious title of Best European Destination 2017 from January 20.

Upon completion of the voting process, Porto won the title of Best European Destination for the third time with 138,116 votes out of a total of 426,859 votes from 174 countries with the next best destinations as follows:

Milan (52,836 votes), Gdansk (46,852 votes), Athens (38,627 votes), San Sebastian (23,113 votes), Sozopol (20,690 votes), Vienna (18,342 votes), Stari Grad (13,834 votes), Basel (10,989 votes),  Madrid (9,624 votes), Rotterdam (8,981 votes), Rome (8,932 votes), Paris (8,113 votes), Bonifacio (8,087 votes) and Wild Taiga (6,938 votes).

Last year Athens was voted as second Best European Destination.