The world’s most scenic country with the best views has been named in a new study, and it’s close to the UK, being under an hour away by plane from Britain. Europe is home to a diverse set of landscapes – from the fjords of Norway to the sunny coasts of Spain and Portugal to the green islands of Croatia. But there is one country that you may not have suspected that has been named the one with the best views in the world.
DiscoverCars.com surveyed 6,449 tourists to find out which country in the world had the best views and the one at the top of the list might surprise you. Tourists were asked to rank the views of the place they visited on a scale of 1 to 10, and only international visitors’ responses were considered. “We wanted to see where in the world has the most picturesque views according to our customers,” said Aleksandrs Buraks, Head of Growth at DiscoverCars.com. “One of the best parts about going on holiday is taking in the sights and scenery that you don’t see every day.”
The country that was named the most scenic with the best views in the world was Ireland. Located right beside Britain and sharing a border with Northern Ireland, this place is home to many magnificent viewpoints dotted around its coast as well as in the midlands.
“We found that there were several ties in our top 5 ranking, with plenty of locations across Europe making up the majority of the list,” Buraks said. “Ireland took the top spot though, which is no surprise as the Emerald Isle is full of natural beauty and landscapes that wow visitors.”
Some of Ireland’s most famous natural landscapes include the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, which have featured in many Hollywood movies and TV shows. There is also the Sliabh Liag (Slieve League) cliffs in County Donegal which are in fact the tallest sea cliffs in Europe.
Other notable places include the Ring of Kerry and Killarney National Park in the south of the country, Connemara in Galway in the west of the country, and the beaches and cliff walks that surround the country’s capital, Dublin.
Ireland received a score of 9.52 out of 10 from international visitors who took part in the survey. The most popular spot of natural beauty on the island, the aforementioned Cliffs of Moher, has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from people who have seen it firsthand.
One Tripadvisor reviewer wrote: “This was on my ‘must see’ list for our 7 day self-drive tour of Southern Ireland and it was well worth it. Even, with a light rain and cool, windy day it was worth it.” Another said: “Must do in the whole of Ireland! Great gift shop, experience and museum. When I went it was chucking it down and it was so windy and rainy. Great cliffs, great views on a sunny day. Go! It’s brill. Safe paths now too.”
Along the west coast of Ireland, from the south right up until the northern tip of the island, is the Wild Atlantic Way coastal road trip, something that many a visitor has praised for its natural beauty. This is a great way to see some of the top-rated viewpoints in the island.
Taking second place on the list of countries with the best views was New Zealand, which received a score of 9.43 out of 10. Meanwhile, Portugal and the United Kingdom were tied in third place while Croatia and Greece were tied for fourth.
The rest of the top 10 list was made up of Poland and Italy in shared fifth place, Cyprus in sixth place, France in seventh place, Spain in eighth place, the United States in ninth place and Mauritius in 10th place.
The study only included locations that received at least 50 responses from participants. For countries that made the top 10, it only included scores from international visitors.
