Travel

Two Irish cities ranked in list of happiest places to visit in Europe

TWO Irish cities have been ranked in a list of the 15 happiest cities to visit in Europe.

Dublin and Cork both feature in the list, while the research also shows that Ireland is deemed the second most relaxing country to visit in Europe.

Compiled by the data analytics firm Stocklytics, the findings reveal the top 15 happiest cities in Europe, based on “present life satisfaction, daily emotions, and expectations for the future”, the firm explained.

Finland’s capital Helsinki came out on top as the ‘happiest’ city in 2024.

While Copenhagen has often been regarded as one of the happiest cities to visit in Europe, it places fourth in the list, where Aarhus in Denmark bagged second place, and Zurich placed third.

Bergen, Oslo and Stockholm followed behind.

Dublin made the top 10, taking ninth place, beating Goteburg in Sweden as well as London, Cork, Paris, Prague and Brussels.

Elsewhere the research collated a list of the ‘happiest and most relaxing’ countries to visit in 2024 – where Ireland placed a very respectable second place, beaten only by Iceland.

Malta placed third on that list, while Croatia and Portugal made the top five.

Other countries that found themselves to on the list were Greece, Switzerland, and Spain.

At the lower end of the scale was the UK, Latvia and Slovenia, placing 13^th, 14^th and 15^th respectively.

Looking at the destinations that offer the best quality of life - taking a better climate, feeling safe, and a lower pollution score into account - Luxembourg was revealed as the top location in 2024.

The Netherlands followed closely behind, as Iceland placed third - and Denmark came in fourth.

Lower down on the list, the UK placed 18^th followed by Ireland in 20^th place.