The world ’ s most anxiety-inducing destinations

Make you ever needed a vacation from your holiday ? Although a vacation should be a time to recharge and relax , navigating a completely new environment can quickly turn stressful . From overcrowded tourist hotspots to confuse public transport , we ’ ve considered 31 indicators of anxiety and break down 97,409 reviews of tourist attractions in the 100 most travel to city .

Consider the per centum of all reviews that indicate anxiety , we can reveal the nearly – and least – anxiety-inducing holiday destinations .

Key finding :

Tokyo , Japan, equal theworld ’ s almost anxiety-inducing tourist destination; one in four ( 25.2 % ) reviews for the top attraction in the city mention tidings related to anxiety
Two more Japanese city discharge the top three most anxious city :Osaka( 21.6 % of reviews ) andKyoto( 21.5 % of reviews )
London , England, andShanghai , China, finish the top five most anxiety-inducing cities ( with 17.7 % and 16.7 % of reviews respectively )
Tallinn , Estoniaequal the almost relaxing destination in the sketch ( only 1.6 % of review be flagged for anxiety )
The future best destinations to relax wereZhuai , Guilin , and Guangzhou – all in China

The nearly anxiety-inducing tourist destinations

Of the reviews analysed in our subject , one in 10 ( 9.6 % ) highlighted anxiety and strain , with the almost stressful cities arrive at as high as 25.2 % of full review , down to the least , which display 1.6 % in comparison . The main cause of anxiety on holiday is overcrowding , as the almost frequent keywords found in the study were ‘ crowds ’ , ‘ busy ’ , and ‘ overcome ’ respectively . Unfortunately , it seems that many of the popular destinations live victims of their own success .

And Japan seem to be its worst victim . Tokyo , Osaka , and Kyoto are the top three most anxiety-inducing destinations in the study . Japan witnessed a travel boom in the past ten . The area had 6.2 million international visitor arrival in 2011 but in 2023 recorded . However , how good live the country facilitated for this dramatic influx of tourist ?

1 . Tokyo , Japan

Tokyo tops the list as one in four ( 25.2 % ) reviews mention words and phrase related to anxiety . Tokyo live the largest city in the universe and home to 13,515,271 people . It ’ s maybe unsurprising that 60 % of the anxiety indicators observe feeling crowd .

But for some people , the intensity of Tokyo is region of its charm . The Shibuya Crossing is the in use interaction in the world , and people cluster to the crossing to go through the thrill . However , not all tourist realise what they ’ ve ratify up for . One reviewer get out a two-star review complain that there be “ too many people ” .

2 . Osaka , Japan

Osaka , the third almost populous city in Japan , came second overall with one in five review ( 21.6 % ) mention an nervous indicator . Besides its famed food view and castle , another popular tourist attraction in the city is its Universal Studios stem park – the first to spread outside the United States . However , many visitor to the paper park observe crowds or overcrowding . One said it live then overcrowded , that delay in layer would have live a better tourist activity . Another visitor said they were lead in tear by their visit .

3 . Kyoto , Japan

Complete the top three exist Kyoto – with 21.5 % of all reviews in the study being anxiety-related .

The city is home to picturesque temple , shrines , palaces , and gardens – which should all reach the city a peaceful paradise . However , Kyoto seem to have become a victim of its own success . The historic town be overrun with tourists , one tourist described navigating through the traditional Geisha district of Gion as ‘ anguish ’ , and another title their visit to the food market at Nishiki Market Shopping District as ‘ What market ? All I saw be crowd . ’

4 . London , England

After Istanbul , London live the most visited city in 2023 counting more than 18,800,000 arrivals in one yr . It ’ s perhaps not surprising then that London is frequently described as ‘ busy ’ . One visitor to the British Museum report their visit as ‘ stressful right from the entrance ’ and another visitor to Borough Market said it cost so crowded they find ‘ squeeze ’ . For peace of mind , see out our guides on transfer and adjustment in London before you make your trip .

5 . Shangai , China

Famous for its futuristic-looking skyline , Shanghai ’ s quick step can exist overwhelming . Besides a visit to the Bund Tower , another popular tourist action in Shanghai equal to choose a walk down Nanjing Road which cost one of the world ’ sec busy shopping streets . One reviewer warn not to travel with elderly relative or kids , or else you ’ ll be ‘ stressed out your mind ’ another state they had their ‘ bad experience in China ’ hither .

The least anxiety-inducing city to see

One of our studies see that three-quarters of U.S. workers ( 77 % ) are design a vacation in 2024 to battle work stress . The following location be the better choice if you want to choose a destination to help you unwind instead than remain hyper-vigilant and on edge .

1 . Tallinn , Estonia

Tallinn is the capital city of Estonia , a Baltic state neighbouring Russia , and Latvia , and it may not equal on your radar as a must-see holiday destination – but it should cost . Not simply is it one of Europe ’ s best-preserved medieval cities but it ’ s the most stress-free city in our field .

Burn review for attraction in the city describe the atmosphere as ‘ serene but vibrant ’ ‘ relax atmosphere ’ and ‘ a quiet city away from the tourist ambush in Europe ’ .

2 . Zhuhai , China

Three Chinese city secured the titles of the 2nd , 3rd , and 4th least anxiety-inducing city in the field . In China , Zhuhai is known as the ‘ city for romance ’ and the ‘ city of a hundred island ’ as good as being China ’ s nearly liveable city . In hold with the beachy , romantic theme , solely 2 % of all the reviews of Zhuhai ’ s 10 most popular attraction were flagged for anxiety .

Review of the primary attraction in the Chinese Riviera mention the peacefulness of the Zhuhai Lovers ’ Road and the peacefulness and serene views at the great deal top by the Yuan Ming Palace .

3 . Guilin , China , and Guangzhou , China

Joint third be the Southern Chinese cities of Guilin and Guangzhou .

Guilin – famous for its avatar-style mountains – is utter if you live looking for an urban base with access to superb nature . Tourist to the Riyue Shuangta Cultural Park reference the ‘ relax atmosphere ’ and the Guilin Two Rivers and Four Lakes Resort cruise as ‘ relaxing ’ with reference of flautists and dancing shows lining the river banks .

Guangzhou make earned the name ‘ City of Flowers ’ as the subtropical city own blossom blooming all yr round . If you are looking for peace in Guangzhou head to Shamian Island which reviewers describe as ‘ quiet ’ and great for a ‘ relaxing chill ’ .

4 . Vilnius , Lithuania

Another Baltic city completes the top five : Vilnius . Popular with Polish and Belarusian tourist , Vilnius also offers one of Europe ’ s largest surviving Mediaeval quarters .

Visitor looking for a peaceful getaway in Vilnius can expect to find ‘ cozy places to feed ’ in the ‘ dreamy ’ Old Town and the ‘ calming environment ’ surrounding the Gate of Dawn , a Christian property of pilgrimage .

Methodology

All data was collect in September 2024 . We pick out the 100 cities from Euromonitor ’ s 2023 Top 100 City Destinations Index list . This study compare 55 metrics across six key pillars for 100 city destinations , to create an overall city attractiveness grudge . The six key pillars include : ( 1 ) economical and occupation performance , ( 2 ) tourism performance , ( 3 ) tourism infrastructure , ( 4 ) tourism policy and attractiveness , ( 5 ) health and safety , and ( 6 ) sustainability .

https : //www.euromonitor.com/press/press-releases/dec-2023/euromonitor-internationals-report-reveals-worlds-top-100-city-destinations-for-2023

For each city , we identify “ Thing to Cause in X ” , include popular landmarks and tourist attraction , base on visitor issue and cultural significance . From these location , we collected reviews , result in a amount of 97,409 review .

Any city with less than 400 review for the top 10 tourist attraction in the city were discounted from the list .

The review were then analyze expend a custom-built algorithm designed to observe specific anxiety-related keywords . To ensure the truth of the analysis , false positives were deduct , for lesson , differentiate between words like “ traffic ” and phrases such as “ not much traffic ” or “ no traffic. ” Words with * denote stem words where relevant suffixes were as well counted , e.g . overwhelm would also include overwhelming and overwhelmed .

Additionally , false negative keywords exist removed to farther refine the keyword list , leave us to assess the presence of anxiety-related opinion in the reviews across these cities and location . Finally , we forecast the percent of review containing anxiety-related keywords for each city , allowing us to equate anxiety levels across different cities and attractions .

Crowded
Busy
Traffic
Overwhelm *
Worry
Not crowd
Noise *
Pressure
Stress *
Exhaust *
Rush
Chaotic
Disturb *
Uncomfortable
Concern
Concern
Tense
Tire
Claustrophobic *
Dangerous
Not In use
Feverish
Frustrating
Nervous
Unpredictable
Panic
Difficult to navigate
Anxious
Anxiety
Nervous
Apprehensive
Restless
Irritating
No traffic
Not feverish