Edinburgh: The UK’s favourite city … bar one

EDINBURGh has been voted second favourite city in the UK by readers of a leading travel magazine – having been pushed off the top spot by London.

Last year Condé Nast Traveller readers crowned the Scottish capital the best city in the UK but this year the 40,000 voters put it in second place overall.

However, the city was voted top for culture – one of the categories used to choose the overall winner. And two Scottish hotels received a boost by being named as among the best in the UK.

The prestigious Balmoral in Edinburgh was the only non-London hotel to make it into the top 15 UK business hotels, coming in 11th place.

And The Spa at Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire came second in the UK hotel spas category, while the hotel itself was voted the UK’s fourth best leisure hotel.

Edinburgh has been in fourth position or above since the awards began 14 years ago. It has reached the top spot four times.

Arch rival Glasgow has made the top spot twice but this year came in at ninth place, its worst performance to date.

Cities were judged on criteria including their architecture, cleanliness, culture, environmental friendliness, food and restaurants, nightlife, hospitality, accommodation, safety and value for money, with readers scoring them out of 100 for each.

As well as scoring highest overall, London came out top for its nightlife and entertainment, food and restaurants and range of accommodation.

Bath, in third position, was rated the cleanest city, Liverpool the friendliest city and Oxford scored highest for aesthetics and architecture.

Sarah Miller, editor of Condé Nast Traveller, said: “Edinburgh unsurprisingly came out on top for culture.

“Anyone who has experienced the National Galleries of Scotland or the Edinburgh Festival will understand why readers rate this city so highly.”

Malcolm Roughead, chief executive of VisitScotlanvd, also praised the city’s achievement.

“Edinburgh is famed for its arts and culture, and as another successful Festivals programme draws to a close, it is tremendous to see that the city has been named as Britain’s favourite cultural destination,” he said.

“Although Edinburgh has moved to an overall number two placing, it is still a fantastic achievement to be named as one of the UK’s favourite cities.”

And Franck Arnold, general manager of Rocco Forte Hotels’ The Balmoral, said: “It is an honour to be recognised as the top UK Business hotel outside of London by the readers of Condé Nast Traveller and in particular as the only Scottish hotel with a presence in the top 15. This is the third consecutive year we have appeared on this prestigious list and it is a true reflection of the dedication and passion for five star service delivered by our staff at The Balmoral.”

The Condé Nast Traveller 14th Annual Readers’ Travel Awards ceremony took place on Wednesday night at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in London.

Readers’ favourite Low-cost Airline was Bmibaby and British Airways won the Best Business Airline category.

This year’s winner of the Travel Website category, used to research or book a trip, was mrandmrssmith.com.

Italy was voted the favourite country, followed by America and Turkey. Italy received top marks for its culture and its food and restaurants.

New York was the favourite overseas city, followed by Paris and Barcelona, while Cunard Line was the best cruise company, Hong Kong International was the best airport and ITC Classics was the best tour operator.

Questionnaires were sent out in the April edition of the magazine and the replies analysed by the independent market-research company Market Management.