A walking tour of Porto’s city centre has been crowned by Tripadvisor as the world’s number one tourist experience.
The accolade comes from the review platform’s 2024 Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best ‘Things to Do’ awards, which rates the world’s best travel experiences based on millions of tourists’ reviews and ratings over the past 12 months.
A private air-conditioned car tour of Ubud in Bali with ‘insider knowledge’ of top attractions takes second place in the experiences ranking, while the third spot goes to a family-friendly river cruise in Amsterdam offering ‘fun facts and stories’ about the Dutch capital.
In the UK, a ‘historical pub walking tour‘ of London is named the country’s best experience. The tour offers a ‘local’s perspective of London’ on a half-day tour to some of the capital’s ‘most historic alehouses’.
As well as recognising experiences, Tripadvisor has also named the best-rated attractions around the world, with New York’s Empire State Building taking first place overall, beating Paris’s Eiffel Tower (second) and Anne Frank’s House in Amsterdam (third) to the crown. Edinburgh is home to the UK’s three best attractions, with the Real Mary King’s Close taking the top spot ahead of the Royal Yacht Britannia (second) and Edinburgh Castle (third).
The winning Porto walking tour is described as an ‘unvanquished’ experience, exploring ‘2,000 years of history’. The tour ticks off 13 of the Portuguese city’s main attractions, with one Tripadvisor reviewer describing it as ‘amazing’.
There is no set price for the tour, with attendees asked to pay based on their ‘level of satisfaction and personal budget’ – the entire experience takes around two and a half hours.
Just outside the top three, a small-group sunrise tour of Angkor Wat takes fourth place in the experiences category. The eight-hour tour of the ancient temple complex in Cambodia is billed as a ‘truly unforgettable experience’.
An all-inclusive combined tour of Mexico’s Chichen Itza, a complex of Mayan ruins, the Chichikan cenote, a natural swimming pool formed by a sinkhole, and the town of Valladolid bags fifth place, followed by a ‘storyteller’ guided Renaissance tour of Florence, Italy (sixth).
Seventh place has been awarded to a classic Inca trek to the 5th-century citadel Machu Picchu, in Peru, led by ‘expert, indigenous guides’, and the eighth spot is taken by a cruise of the Budapest section of the Danube river in Hungary with a ‘buffet dinner, performances and music’.
In ninth is a full-day tour of Vietnam’s Ninh Binh region, which Tripadvisor says is a region known for its green valleys and karst mountains, with the exploration a way to ‘skip the hassle of piecing together boats and bike rental’.
The final spot in the global experience ranking goes to an Icelandic snorkelling adventure. The ‘Silfra- snorkelling between tectonic plates’ experience takes place at one of the ‘world’s most dramatic snorkelling sites’ – a glacier-filled rift between the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.
As for the top ten experiences in the UK, second place is awarded to an ‘immersive walking’ tour of London’s Harry Potter filming locations, while a Beatles Magical Mystery coach tour – looking at Liverpool sights related to the famous band – takes home bronze.
A chocolate tour experience in Edinburgh (fourth) and a tour of Manchester City’s football stadium (fifth) round off the top five. A Loch Ness tour in the Highlands (sixth), a Bristol air-raid shelter walking tour (seventh), London Jack the Ripper tour (eighth), an Edinburgh Castle guided experience (ninth) and an Oxford University tour with an alumni guide complete the top ten.
Worldwide best attractions winner the Empire State Building is described by one reviewer as a ‘spectacular experience’. The Caribbean’s Cayman Crystal Caves rounds off the top five and the remaining spots in the world top ten list are taken by Rome’s Colosseum (sixth), the Louvre Museum (seventh), Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay (eighth), the Duomo of Milan in Italy (ninth) and the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre in Abu Dhabi (10th).
UK attractions winner Edinburgh’s Real Mary King’s Close is celebrated as the city’s ‘deepest secret’ – it’s a warren of underground homes buried deep beneath the Scottish capital’s Royal Mile.
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Runner-up Royal Yacht Britannia, the ship formerly used by the British monarchy, which is moored in Edinburgh, is described as ‘fabulous’ by one reviewer. Bronze medallist Edinburgh Castle, meanwhile, is billed as a ‘world-famous icon’ by Tripadvisor.
The rest of the UK attractions hotlist comprises The British Museum (fourth), the National Museum of Scotland (fifth), The Roman Baths (sixth), Tower Bridge (seventh), the Tower of London (eighth), the V&A Museum (ninth) and York Minster (10th).
Tripadvisor describes its Best of the Best awards as the ‘highest level of excellence in travel’, with prizes awarded to fewer than one per cent of its eight million listings.
For more information visit www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravelersChoice-ThingsToDo.