This Seaside City Was Just Named the Most Relaxing in the World

The majority of people — 59 percent — travel to “relax,” according to a 2021 study by The Vacationer. It may sound like an obvious conclusion, but it still bears repeating. And since “relaxing” is the aim of many it makes sense that PayingTooMuch, a travel insurance company, would want to discover the most relaxing cities in the world. 

In April, the company shared the results of its study analyzing and ranking the most “chilled-out cities in the world,” which it created by measuring everything from noise and light pollution in 50 cities, each destination’s number of walking trails, their happiness scores, and the quality of green spaces. After looking at all these metrics, the team named Syndey, Australia, as the most chilled out in the world. 

“Maybe it’s the sunshine, or maybe it’s just the Australian way of living, but Sydney is also home to some very happy residents,” the findings shared. “The city has been given a happiness score of 1,567 out of 2000, the fourth-highest score in the study.” It added that Syndey is also home to the most walking trails of all destinations in the study, including the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk, “where you can spend the day walking between several beautiful beaches.” It’s also home to nearly 400 parks and plenty of green spaces to enjoy. 

Vienna, Austria, came in second thanks to having the lowest noise and light pollution score of any city, along with having lots of “high-quality green spaces.” 

“While Vienna doesn’t have a huge number of walking trails (41) or parks (172), the quality of its green spaces has been given a score of 84 — the joint second highest in the study,” the findings noted. “For some of the most scenic hiking near the city, the Vienna Mountains are around an hour away. This area offers plenty of trails that take in sweeping valleys, lush forests, and impressive mountain ridges.”

These destinations were joined by another Australian city, Melbourne, in third, which came with a higher-than-average happiness score, Honolulu in fourth thanks to its 75 walking trails, and Amsterdam in fifth thanks also to its high happiness score.

Ready to see more chilled-out, relaxation-ready spots? See the full list at payingtoomuch.com.