With Valentine’s Day approaching, many couples are planning trips all over the world to celebrate their relationships and enjoy pleasant days with their significant other. But which places are the best and most popular for couples? SpaSeekers analysed cities all around the world and came up with a ranking of the most romantic cities.
The study analysed and ranked 66 cities in the world in terms of how romantic they are. The basis of the research are five factors: biggest likelihood of engagement based on Instagram hashtags, marriage rates, LGBT dating scene, sexual activity in each city, how many people feel romantic based on social media. The maximum score was set at 50 points.
New York City on top
It might surprise many, but Paris isn’t on top of the ranking of the romantic cities. New York City with a score of 46.4 out of 50, ranks first among the most romantic cities worldwide. In the last six months, Instagram data has shown that there have been the most marriage proposals. Moreover, it is also the best city for LGBT dating, with a full score of 5 out of 5. In terms of sexual activity, the American city is 9th, and 4th in terms of marriage rate.
London took second place in the most romantic cities ranking. The capital of the United Kingdom registered more than 1,800 Instagram posts about marriage proposals in the last half a year. The city is also 4th in terms of sexual activity, though only 44th in terms of marriage rates.
The United States have 4 more cities in the top 10 – Los Angeles (3rd), Chicago (5th), San Francisco (7th) and Miami in 9th. Paris, (4th), Berlin (6th), Sydney (8th) and Melbourne (10th) complete the top 10 most romantic cities worldwide.
Some surprisingly low-ranked cities were Rome (31st) with a score of 19.9 or Madrid in 29th place with the same score. Some surprisingly highly ranked cities were Prague in 12th (24.6 points) or Hamburg in 14th place with 23.7 points.
Most marriage proposals
Based on Instagram posts, the Index ranked cities with most marriage proposals. There have been more than 1.7 million #isaidyes posts on the platform up until now. SpaSeekers analysed hashtags such as #heproposed, #engaged etc. as well as their locations. The study showed that New York City is the city most popular for marriage proposals.
Most cities from the general top 10 were also ranked in the top 10 in this particular matter. London came second, followed by Los Angeles, Chicago, Sydney, Paris, Melbourne, San Francisco, Brisbane and Austin.
Most marriages in China
Marriage rates are generally the highest in China, with Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong (all 9.6) being on top of the ranking. They are followed by American cities. Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami and others all have a rate of 6.9.
Meanwhile, in terms of LGBT dating, Chinese cities are not as popular, as all of them have a score of under 3. Cities in the European Union and the US are on top of the ranking in this matter. As mentioned, New York City is ranked the best in this matter, followed by Berlin, London and Paris. But some exceptions confirming this rule are Cardiff (2.28), Utrecht (2.06) and several other European cities.
Most sexually active cities
Data from Lazeeva were the basis for determining the sexually “most active cities”. The erotic company interviewed almost half a million adults (450 thousand) between the ages of 18 and 70 and came up with data about the sexual activity of residents and tourists in respective cities.
Finally, for those surprised that Paris is nowhere to be seen on top of the rankings, this category brings a change. With a score of 9.9, Paris is the sexually “most active city in the world”. The French capital was followed by Los Angeles, Ibiza, London, Berlin, Santiago, Prague, New York City, Zagreb and Sydney.
Top 10 Most Romantic Cities
Rank City Score (out of 50)
1 New York City 46.4
2 London 38.9
3 Los Angeles 37.3
4 Paris 32.5
5 Chicago 30.0
6 Berlin 28.3
7 San Francisco 28.2
8 Sydney 27.4
9 Miami 27.1
10 Melbourne 26.5