These Are the World's 10 Happiest Places to Travel, Study Finds

Some vacations are relaxing. Others are exhilarating. And every once in a while, we visit a place that simply makes us happy.

A new analysis from JustCover set out to find the destinations where people expressed the most happiness and joy. Researchers examined more than a million travel reviews in 155 destinations, looking for folks who specifically said they felt happiness and joy.

The result is a ranking of the happiest vacation destinations around the world, and the place at No. 1 earned a perfect score.

These Are the 10 Happiest Vacation Destinations

JustCover assigned each destination a Happy Place Score out of 100, based on the share of reviews that included language associated with genuine happiness.

These 10 came out on top:

1. Tulum, Mexico: 100

2. Soufrière, Saint Lucia: 95.2

3. Oaxaca, Mexico: 88.0

4. Las Vegas, United States: 88.0

5. Maui, United States: 84.6

6. New York City, United States: 81.5

7. Cappadocia, Turkey: 77.5

8. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 75.2

9. Chicago, United States: 74.0

10. Toronto, Canada: 71.4

Tulum taking first place isn’t that hard to see. Beaches, Mayan ruins, restaurants, nightlife, and plenty of sunshine give people plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

But, Las Vegas beating Maui? New York City ranking above Cappadocia and Rio? That's where the list gets considerably more interesting.

How Did They Measure Travel Happiness?

Of course, nobody was standing at the airport asking people to rate their happiness from one to ten. Instead researchers turned to something we always leave behind: reviews.

The team analyzed more than a million reviews connected to tourist venues in 155 popular destinations. That included things like:

• Attractions

• Resorts

• National parks

• Scenic locations

Then the team looked at how often people used language to specifically express happiness or joy. Every spot received a score based on the proportion of those happy reviews, compared to its total reviews. 

Then the results were converted to a 100-point scale, with the highest-scoring destination receiving 100 and the others scaled accordingly. So this isn't necessarily a ranking of the prettiest places or the best destinations with the hottest hotels. It's measuring how often people came away talking about how happy they were.

Sunshine Isn't the Only Thing That Makes Us Happy

Looking at the Top 10, beaches certainly had a good showing. Tulum, Soufrière, and Maui all have the combination of warm weather, beautiful water, and dramatic natural surroundings that we picture when someone says “dream vacation.”

But some of the happy travel destinations look very different. For example, New York City came in sixth; Chicago ranked ninth; Toronto rounded out the Top 10. None of them required a palm tree.

That suggests travel happiness may have just as much to do with what we're doing as where we're doing it. A Broadway show, an incredible meal, live music, a museum, or walking through a city we’ve wanted to see for years can produce its own version of vacation joy.

The United States Had a Very Strong Showing

One of the biggest surprises is how much of the Top 10 belongs to the United States. Las Vegas, Maui, New York City, and Chicago all made the cut.  Just outside the Top 10 were Austin at No. 12 and New Orleans at No. 13.

Miami, San Francisco, Nashville, Los Angeles, and Boston also appeared in the overall Top 20 That's nine U.S. destinations in the Top 20. And they're hardly interchangeable.

A week in Maui looks nothing like a weekend in Chicago. Las Vegas and Boston aren't exactly offering the same itinerary, either. It seems there may be more than one recipe for happiness.

Europe Has Its Own Happy Place

JustCover also ranked European destinations separately, and Positano, Italy, came out on top with a score of 100. Santorini followed in second place, while Kotor, Montenegro, took third.

The European Top 10 also included:

• Positano, Italy: 100

• Santorini, Greece: 77.1

• Kotor, Montenegro: 67.9

• Florence, Italy: 67.1

• London, United Kingdom: 64.8

• Funchal, Portugal: 64.1

• Gdansk, Poland: 60.1

• Munich, Germany: 59.5

• Istanbul, Turkey: 54.6

• Rome, Italy: 53.4

That's quite a range, from Mediterranean islands and Italian coastal villages to some of Europe's biggest cities.

Once again, happiness doesn't seem interested in choosing one type of vacation.

Your Happy Place May Look Completely Different

No ranking can tell us which of the best vacation spots will make us happy. Some folks want a beach with nowhere they need to be. Others want to spend the morning in a museum, the afternoon wandering city streets, and the evening finding somewhere wonderful for dinner.

But that's what makes this particular ranking of the happiest places in the world so interesting. It isn't telling us where we should be happy. It's telling us where people already said they were.

Whether that's Tulum, New York City, or somewhere that didn't make the list at all, finding a place that makes you genuinely happy is a pretty good reason to keep traveling.

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