Travel magazine has come out with its annual list of most favoured cities in the world by its readers

FLORENCE, Italy has been named the world’s favorite city by readers of CN Traveler magazine, scoring the highest approval rating for its beauty, architecture and food.

In the 2014 edition of the publication's annual Readers’ Choice Awards, Florence edged past rivals like Charleston, South Carolina, and Budapest, Hungary, to achieve a razor-thin victory in the Top 25 Cities in the World index.

In fact, after the United States – which landed the most cities on the list with five spots, Italy was the second most represented country, with Rome and Siena also cracking the ranking to give the country three spots.

Austria and Thailand tied for third place with two cities each.

The results also suggest that travellers are particularly smitten by South-East Asia, which is heavily represented at east Asia’s expense. The only east Asian city to crack the list – and in last place, at that – is Kyoto, Japan.

The remaining four Asian destinations hail from the sun-soaked Southeast Thailand, Laos and Cambodia.

Europe snagged 10 spots, notably with performances from cities in the east, including Budapest, Hungary, Prague in the Czech Republic and Krakow, Poland.

The list is conspicuously absent of British and French cities.

More than a million votes were cast from 77,000 readers around the world.

Here are the Top 25 Cities in the World, according to readers of CN Traveler magazine

1. Florence, Italy

2. Charleston, South Carolina, USA

3. Budapest, Hungary

4. Cape Town, South Africa

5. San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

6. Prague, Czech Republic

7. Rome, Italy

8. Siem Reap, Cambodia

9. Barcelona, Spain

10. Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

11. Krakow, Poland

12. Luang Prabang, Laos

13. Bangkok, Thailand

14. Beirut, Lebanon

15. Vienna, Austria

16. Siena, Italy

17. New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

18. Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

19. Sydney, Australia

20. San Francisco, California, USA

21. Chiang Mai, Thailand

22. Salzburg, Austria

23. Chicago, Illinois, USA

24. Bruges, Belgium

25. Kyoto, Japan

– AFP Relaxnews

Sources : The Star
http://www.thestar.com.my/Travel/Malaysia/2014/11/17/CN-Travelers-top-cities-of-2014/

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