Sozopol overtakes major European capitals in the prestigious ranking of “European Best Destinations”. The Bulgarian seaside town received more votes than the French capital Paris, the capital of Spain Madrid, the Italian – Rome, and Vienna in Austria. It took sixth place in the race for the best European destination. For Sozopol voted 20 690 people.

The purpose of the ranking is tourists from all over the world to determine by online voting the best places for vacation next year in Europe. The leaders in the race are advertised throughout the year as the most fashionable places to visit in Europe. Experience shows that after inclusion in the prestigious competition, these places recorded minimum 15% increase in visitors.

Sozopol nomination contest was made after last year first place won the Castle in Ravadinovo “In love with the wind.” The Bulgarian landmark native took first place in the category of attraction, having received the support of travelers from around the globe. For all sections in the competition, this year voted nearly 430,000 people from 174 countries. The competition “European Best Destinations” is organised with the support of EDEN – network for promoting sustainable tourism, created by the European Commission.

First place in the ranking of destination ranks Porto in Portugal with a record number of votes in the 8-year history of the competition – 138 116. The second position is for Milan in Italy. In the top five are also Gdansk /Poland/, Athens /Greece/ and San Sebastian /Spain /. After Sozopol remain Vienna /Austria/, Stari Grad /Czech Republic/, Basel /Switzerland/, Madrid /Spain/, Rotterdam /Netherlands/, Rome /Italy/, Paris /France/, Bonifacio /France/ and Wild Taiga /Finland/.