When it comes to a city break, there are a few things we all look for – interesting tourist spots, plenty of entertainment and a great atmosphere are chief among these.
It also helps if the people are friendly, which is where the latest research from TripAdvisor could come in very handy.
The travel website has revealed the friendliest and rudest cities in the world as part of its 2012 Cities Survey, and our own capital hasn’t fared too well.
Despite our bumper summer of Olympic excitement and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, it seems that London’s reputation as an unfriendly city still exists.
The capital was found to be the second rudest city in the world, beaten only by Moscow for unfriendliness.
The Olympic Games were associated with friendliness from start to finish, with the Olympic volunteers greeting everyone with smiles and happy faces.
“While London hasn’t ranked particularly highly by those that have reviewed the city this year, it’s important to remember that many of the respondents may have experienced London before major changes were made or post the events of the summer,” said Emma Shaw, a TripAdvisor spokesperson.
London also fared pretty badly elsewhere in the survey, falling in the bottom five for value for money and ranking 26th for cleanliness.
But it wasn’t all bad news! The capital was found to be the fourth best city for shopping, and the fifth best for taxi services.
“The popularity of London as one of the most visited cities in the world remains and travellers will continue to rave about it as a loved destination,” said Emma Shaw, a TripAdvisor spokesperson.
“Indeed, this year London was voted the best city in the world in the 2012 TripAdvisor Travellers Choice Awards.”
Moscow was one of the worst performers in the survey. As well as being the rudest city in the world, it was also deemed to have the rudest taxi drivers and the worst taxi services.
If that wasn’t enough, the Russian capital was also voted the worst for shopping and second worst for value for money – not exactly a glowing review!
