Plitvice National Park in Croatia is the #1 ‘must visit’ natural beauty spot in Europe, new research has revealed.
The research, conducted by foreign exchange experts Eurochange, analysed Tripadvisor data, including number of reviews, average review score, and number of 5 Star reviews, for some of Europe’s top attractions. The research included attractions across 4 main categories – including cultural, architectural, historical and natural – to cater to different personal preferences.
When it came to natural attractions, Plitvice National Park in Croatia came on top, with its 16 terraced lakes and 295 square kilometres to explore.
The top 10 ‘must visit’ natural beauty spots included:
| Rank | Attraction | Location / Country | # of Tripadvisor Reviews | Average Tripadvisor review score | # of 5 star Tripadvisor reviews | Attraction Notes |
| 1 | Plitvice National Park | Croatia | 15,062 | 4.5 | 11,821 | The Plitvice National Park has a vast territory of 295 square kilometres covered by forests. It’s mainly famous for its 16 terraced lakes joined by waterfalls, which at the end extend into a limestone canyon. |
| 2 | Blue Lagoon | Grindavik,
Iceland |
18,049 | 4.5 | 10,586 | The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa situated in a lava field near Grindavík, on the Reykjanes Peninsula. |
| 3 | Keukenhof Gardens | Lisse, Netherlands | 11,623 | 4.5 | 8,963 | Keukenhof Gardens is the largest flower garden in the world, and a promotion of the Dutch flower industry at the same time. |
| 4 | Wieliczka Salt Mine | Wieliczka, Poland | 13,249 | 4.5 | 8,266 | The Wieliczka Salt Mine lies within the Kraków metropolitan area, in the town of Wieliczka. From Neolithic times, sodium chloride was produced there from brine. |
| 5 | Mount Etna | Sicily, Italy | 11,519 | 4.5 | 8,208 | Mount Etna is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, in the City of Catania. |
| 6 | Lake Geneva | Switzerland | 7,448 | 4.5 | 4,969 | Lake Geneva (or Lac Léman) is a lake shared between Switzerland and France, on the north side of the Alps. It’s one of the largest lakes in western Europe. |
| 7 | Etretat Cliffs | France | 5,363 | 5 | 4,540 | Étretat is known for its chalk cliffs, including three natural arches and a pointed formation that rises 70 meters above the sea called L’Aiguille/ the Needle. |
| 8 | Jökulsárlón | Iceland | 4,442 | 5 | 3,973 | Jökulsárlón is a large glacial lagoon next to Vatnajökull National Park in southeastern Iceland. It’s still waters are full of icebergs from the surrounding glacier. |
| 9 | The Matterhorn | Switzerland | 3,804 | 5 | 3,491 | The Matterhorn is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak in the Alps. It has a height of 4478 metres, making it one of the highest summits in the Alps and Europe. |
| 10 | Vintgar Gorge | Serbia | 4,860 | 4.5 | 3,253 | Also called the Bled Gorge, is a 1.6-kilometer gorge in northwestern Slovenia. It’s been carved by the Radovna River and is the continuation of the Radovna Valley. |
The wider research also showed that the Sagrada Familia takes the title of top must-visit tourist attraction in Europe with over 160,964 TripAdvisor reviews. The Sagrada Familia also tops the list for architectural attractions, with the Eiffel Tower coming in second place.
Also, Austria’s Schonbrunn Palace ranked as the top cultural attraction, with the State Opera coming in fourth, and the Colosseum was found to be the top historical attraction in Europe and has over 7 million tourists visiting it each year.
