Bordeaux Takes Title as 'European Best Destination 2015'

Bordeaux, famous for its fantastic selection of wines and having recently been made a UNESCO World Heritage site, proves that it can compete with travel destination top dogs Paris, London, Rome and Barcelona.

The online poll conducted by Brussels based European Best Destinations group, drew hundreds of thousands of votes from people in 113 countries. With 42,396 votes out of nearly 244,700 from around the globe, the city of Bordeaux beat some major competition to take the title.

According to Maximilien Lejeune, Executive Director of European Best Destination: "this victory is due to the highly energetic promotional team at the Bordeaux Tourist Office as well as powerful communication in social medias and press, partnerships with sports clubs, hotels, restaurants, local and regional authorities, celebrities and… the Bordelais!” 

Since being declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007, because of its “outstanding urban and architectural ensemble”, the the number of visitors to the city of Bordeaux has risen by about 35% to 5 million a year. 

Their new title is expected to boost these figures yet again by an estimated 16%.

Here are the top 10 European destinations for 2015:

1. Bordeaux, France
2. Lisbon, Portugal
3. Athens, Greece
4. Valletta, Malta
5. Riga, Latvia
6. Zagreb, Croatia
7. Ljubljana, Slovenia
8. Innsbruck, Austria
9. Milan, Italy
10. Brussels, Belgium