Barcelona’s Mediterranean weather, cosmopolitan offerings, beaches and pulsing music and outdoor festival scene have made the Spanish city the top summer destination for users of the popular crowd-sourced travel guide Gogobot.
After the community of 2.5 million users were asked to name their favorite summer destination, the Catalonian capital emerged the top-rated destination for its trendy, urban atmosphere, food scene, and plethora of summer activities.
For example, as the largest annual citywide street party, the Festa Major de Grazia held in August attracts more than a million party-goers a year and is described by Lonely Planet as part art exhibition, part outdoor rock concert.
Likewise, the city becomes a heaving den of beats in June when revelers descend on the city for the Sónar electronic music festival, while movie buffs are able to enjoy films al fresco at the Sala Montjuic.
Gogobot’s results fall in sync with travel patterns among Britons. According to figures from the UK’s Office for National Statistics, visits to Spain among Brits increased 4.3 percent between 2011 and 2012, around the same time that Spain’s economy experienced a battering.
After Barcelona, Gogobot users named Chicago, New Orleans, Alaska and Honolulu their favorite summertime destinations.
Meanwhile, editors at National Geographic named Marseille, France; Crimea, Ukraine; and Raja Ampat, Indonesia among some of their top travel destination picks for 2013.
Here are the top 10 places on Gogobot’s Best Summer Destinations list:
1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Chicago, US
3. New Orleans, US
4. Alaska, US
5. Honolulu, US
6. Helsinki, Finland
7. Seattle, US
8. Vancouver, Canada
9. Ibiza, Spain
10. Bali, Indonesia
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