Trip Advisor: Twenty Five Best Destination In the World

Well, James E will certainly be distressed. Budapest was No. 25. No doubt the voting was rigged.

While they're fun to look at, these "rankings" are totally meaningless (sorry). Does Tripadvisor even say what its methodology or criteria is for this popularity contest? Do people (then comes the question of "who" voted and what their characteristics are) just nominate some city in open-ended fashion and they sum up the votes, or do they vote from a predetermined list? I wonder how many people have been to all the ranked places and can realistically compare them against one another. Every time I get a top ten list of destinations (from Lonely Planet, etc) from a friend, I pretty much look at it and then ignore it because I can never find how that list was derived in the first place. I'm seeing a scary pattern of lodgings and other travel vendors so clamoring and desperate to get a high rating on Tripadvisor (they are always practically begging you to go online and rate them highly as if it's their only ticket to success). That it makes me devalue the whole thing because it's nothing more than a popularity contest with no science behind it. Tripadvisor doesn't even have any controls to ensure (or at least make very likely) that folks rating a hotel actually stayed there.

Norma, you are absolutely correct!!! Rigged say!!!

London is too cold and wet
Istanbul's toilets are too "exotic"
Paris is too French
Rome is too touristy
Barcelona has too many pickpockets
Lisbon is too impoverished
St. Petersburg is too Putin
Amsterdam is too druggy
That only leaves Budapest!

Now if this attempt of playfulness gets deleted we will know that this is a very uptight group.

But alas, Budapest in the last few years has made the top 10 in most of these things and the tope 2 or three in the Code Nast rankings. But I agree, they are generally designed as vehicles to sell advertising and not much else................ or Budapest would always be first; or maybe second after my home town.

Sorry, James E, but Budapest will always be ranked after London, Paris, Rome and Montreal ( she said light- heartedly).

I am surprised that Sydney isn't ranked higher.

And I would substitute Kyoto for Tokyo.

Woinparis, if you would add Dresden, Leipzig, Krakow, etc. into first 25 destinations you would have to take the same amount out which is already there, so better would be to say: I would take out this, this and this and instead I would put there that, that and that.
I agree with Norma about James being distressed that Budapest is number 25. I don't see any reason for distress; he should be proud that his hometown made it into first 25 in the world :-)
I also agree with Agnes that there is no science behind it. It's just about many people impressions and feelings.
@ Mrs.EB: York, Vienna, etc. are not among 25 best destinations because not every town we like can be among the first 25 in the world but I am sure they would be among the first hundred or two hundred destinations. Besides the ratings are subjective although many subjective ratings make it little bit more objective.
We don't have as many contributors as Trip Advisor but I hoped we could do our own rating to see how much we differ from Trip Advisor.

"Paris ...too French" What? That's the whole idea. I'll let this one go because it's you, James. My ten votes in any order are:

Paris, Berlin, London, Vienna, Krakow, Budapest, (yes, based on the 3 day trips spent there) , Strasbourg, Munich, Salzburg, Lüneburg.

Top ten in Germany, at least for now: Berlin, Munich, Lüneburg, Potsdam, Meißen, Dresden, Lübeck, Weimar, Minden, Hamburg.

Norma; again we agree. That means I need another hot shower to try and wash it off! Among my favorites are Paris and London. In fact if it were to be someone's first trip to Europe I always say to make it London - Paris - Rome.

To my knowledge this ranking is based on the number of searches made for a destination on TripAdvisor, and is not a subjective ranking of each place. So, in essence, the 'most visited' destinations.

"So in essence the most visited ....."

Or perhaps just the most googled.

The UK list goes

1. London
2. Edinburgh
3. Liverpool
4. Llandudno
5. Blackpool
6. Torquay
7. York
8. Bath
9. Glasgow
10. Manchester

Some interesting content and order there.

Hmmm... this list seems to be either "most visited" or "most well known" or "places that other people talk about being great."

Just because they are the most visited, most enjoyed or most dreamed of doesn't make them the best destinations because most people don't know what is best for them!! Most people are going to the wrong places and don't even realize it because they have never been to the right place to have the comparison to recognize the error of their ways. We need to establish a government commission to straighten this out, regulate the industry and help ensure that people only end up in the most desirable destinations. Selling tickets to Lisbon is nothing less than enjoyment expectation fraud.

Totally agree with James, except for helping people end up in the most desirable places. I mean, the good places are already crowded enough as it is!! ;-)

Seriously, many people who are not "travelers" don't know that there are things outside of London, Paris, and Rome. And non-travelers do travel sometimes. I can't tell you how many blank stares I got last year when we were telling people that we were going to Croatia and Bosnia, even from people who have been to London or Paris. I was even asked by one person if it was safe because it was a "war zone not too long ago." Nevertheless, once we were back, people were amazed at our pictures of Plitvice, Dubrovnik, Mostar, Kotor, etc., and had a common reaction of "I never knew that was there!"

But Mike, aren't you afraid of the cannibals?

Only if I'm headed to Papua New Guinea, but there are no plans for that.

So many people have no knowledge of geography, or any idea of history to go along with it. Give them a list of cities and countries and it's a struggle for them to classify as one or the other, let alone match them up. I was filling in a departure card once at Changi Airport, and one of my countrymen asked if Singapore was in Thailand.

Naaaa, it's not that bad: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7SkN1h5fJKM

Not sure if my knowledge of accents is up with my geography and history, but she sounds American.

Internet voting...

What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide

I'm not sure if the internet has actually made people more stupid, or if it's merely exposed the fact that they always were.

David, the term stupid really isn't accurate, and more derogatory than helpful. The ignorance that is so common in society reflects society's failures more than any individual short comings. This is where I will give the RS philosophy a little credit. Travel is one way to impart knowledge and knowledge is the cure for ignorance. Of course there is no excuse for not putting Budapest first.

I loooove the Boaty McBoatface, it makes me laugh every time I hear it. Since it's not vulgar or problematic in a way like that, I think they should go for it. The people have spoken!

Have you seen the big red nose on that boat? I think this name is a deragotoary slur against people suffering from Rhinophyma. I am offended and have reported this thread.