A new study conducted by the car rental company Avis has uncovered the European cities where tourists waste the most and least of their holiday time, placing Luxembourg at the top of the list as the European city where tourists squander the least time waiting at the airport or queueing for popular attractions.
Europe’s most and least time-efficient cities
With a 12-minute car journey from the airport to the city centre and the lowest Tripadvisor Queue Score on Avis’ index, the research found thatLuxembourg is the best city for travellers looking to make the most of their time away. Following Luxembourg is Vilnius and Stuttgart. Both destinations have relatively few airport passengers annually (4.4 million and 8.4 million) and a low Tripadvsior Queue Score of 9 and 7 respectively.
Greece’s capital Athens was uncovered as the European city where tourists face the longest waits, the city scoring worst overall for airport waiting times (2.25/5) and recording a Tripadvisor Queue Score of 164. Athens is closely followed by Istanbul and Berlin, two popular European tourists hubs where queues and waiting are an inevitable part of everyone’s trip.
Europe’s most and least time-efficient airports
Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino airport received a Skytrax waiting times rating of 4.25/5, making it the most time-efficient European airport. Alongside a quick 35-minute drive from the airport to the city, the capital of Italy is a great destination to make the most of your holiday time. Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport (ESB) and Budapest’s Ferenc Liszt International Airport (BUD) follow closely with a Skytrax airport waiting times rating of 4/5 and lower airport traffic compared to most European holiday destinations.
The airports rated with the lowest Skytrax score are Athens’ International Airport (ATH), Nice Côte d’Azur Airport (NCE), John Paul II International Airport Kraków–Balice (KRK), suggesting the longest waiting times for visitors.
Europe’s quickest and slowest cities for local attractions
The shortest attraction queues can be found in Luxembourg, Belgradeand Ankara, where TripAdvisor reviews barely mention any need for queuing and waiting. On the other hand, cities that host some of the biggest European attractions (Istanbul, Barcelona and Paris) are the places where tourists wait the longest, according to TripAdvisor reviews. For those interested to see the Blue Mosque, a wait of 30 minutes to 1 hour is to be expected whereas for Barcelona’s Sagrada familia waiting time can go up to 2 hours. Paris’s Louvre can set visitors back up to 40 minutes on a less busy day or up to 2 hours on weekends.
Martin Gruber, International Commercial Vice President at Avis, commented on the recent research findings:
“At Avis, we understand that time is one of the most precious commodities when you’re on holiday. Our new research highlights that travellers are spending an average of 5 hours and 45 minutes in queues or waiting at the airport, which can significantly cut into the time they should be enjoying their destination. It’s all about maximising your experience so you can focus on what really matters so planning in advance and exploring priority services is the best way to maximise your holiday time.”
For full research on the most time-efficient European cities, please visit: https://www.avis.co.uk/drive-avis/driving-guides/time-wasted-travelling
