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As Londoners, sometimes it can be easy to forget that this city is one of the planet’s biggest tourist destinations. Stop and think about it, however, and London’s appeal is undeniable. Whatever you want from a city – history, culture, museums, food, drink, green spaces, stuff to see and do – our capital has it in spades.
London often tops rankings of the best cities on the planet (it did so once again in Resonance’s study last November) and it’s just done so again. TripAdvisor has listed the top destinations in the world for 2025, and London came out on top.
The ranking is part of Tripadvisor’s 2025 Travellers’ Choice Awards, which is compiled based on the quantity and quality of reviews on the site. London came third in the same ranking last year.
And London didn’t just do well in TripAdvisor’s overall ‘top destinations’ category. The capital also came second in a list of the planet’s top ‘food destinations’ (behind Rome) and third in ‘culture destinations’ (behind Bali and Hanoi). It topped TripAdvisor’s special 25th Anniversary Destinations list, which is based on all-time reviews since the site was founded back in 2000.
Commenting on London’s placement in the 2025 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards, mayor Sadiq Khan said: ‘London is without doubt the best city in the world to visit, attracting millions of tourists every year who are amazed with everything that our great city has to offer.
‘With our unrivalled mix of cultural attractions, renowned food scene and a sporting calendar that cannot be beaten, I am delighted that TripAdvisor agrees that London is the top destination in the world.’
You can find TripAdvisor’s full list of the planet’s top destinations here.
London and 2025’s travel lists
At the tail-end of last year London was named the world’s hottest-trending 2025 destination by Opodo and crowned a top trending travel spot by Accor. But what’s actually happening in the city this year? Here are eight developments that will change London in 2025 and 25 great new things happening in the city this year – plus, a London museum is officially one of Time Out’s best new things to do in the world in 2025.
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