A ranking of the top 25 cities in the world among travellers has been named, with beloved French destinations like Paris and Marseille notably absent. The list was put together by Travel + Leisure as part of its World’s Best Awards survey. Their latest one for 2025, which quizzed travellers on things like resorts, hotels, airlines and cities, was completed by nearly 180,000 respondents, the outlet says.
Cities were ranked on various criteria, including: sights/landmarks, culture, food, friendliness, shopping, and value. Their readers then chose a rating ranging from poor to excellent for each characteristic, from which a score was produced based on average of the responses. San Miguel de Allende, in Mexico’s central highlands took top spot, with one reader saying: “There’s major history, great restaurants, and you can walk everywhere—or grab a $4 taxi.”
The city was also praised for its vibrant art scene and wealth of annual events, and earned a 93.33 reader score.
The highest rated European city was Florence in Italy, which clinched 11th place with a reader score of 90.08.
The capital of the country’s Tuscany region is celebrated for its incredible treasure trove of artisitic masterpieces, including awe-inspiring works by Boticelli and Michelangelo.
Though cities in other European countries featured, including the likes of Granada in Spain, and Porto, in Portugal, Italy was the only European nation with three on the list, with Rome and Siena also included in 18th and 23rd place, respectively.
No city in France made the top rankings for their world survey, with the UK also missing out.
However, two French cities are included in the outlet’s ranking of the 15 European cities, also compiled based on the reader surveys.
Lyon, the capital in the country’s Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region which is famous for its food ranked 10th, with a score of 87.43.
Meanwhile, Aix-en-Provence closed out the top 15, with the university city praised for its beauty with a 86.60 score.
You can find the full European rankings here.