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10 European Countries with the Most Tourists

Which countries in the continent of Europe receive the most tourists annually?
For the year 2018, according to the UN World Tourism Organization
Quiz by Quizzer6794
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Last updated: September 24, 2019
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First submittedJanuary 4, 2017
Times taken82,458
Average score90.0%
Rating4.96
1:30
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# Arrivals
Country
89.4 m
France
82.8 m
Spain
62.1 m
Italy
38.9 m
Germany
36.3 m
United Kingdom
# Arrivals
Country
30.8 m
Austria
30.1 m
Greece
24.6 m
Russia
22.8 m
Portugal
19.6 m
Poland
+25
Level 76
Aug 31, 2017
The Vatican must also get a huge proportion of those 52.6 million who visit Italy - not to mention Italians who go there themselves.
+46
Level 63
Sep 1, 2017
There's a lot more to Italy than Rome and the Vatican. I've only been to Lake Garda and the Tuscany - never to Rome. Then there's also Sardinia, Sicily, Milan, Naples, Venice... Since it interested me: About 8.7 m people visited Rome in 2014.
+12
Level 79
Nov 3, 2017
If you've been to Italy but not to Rome you are missing out. It is a glorious, fabulous city.
+7
Level 75
Nov 3, 2017
And I'll be there again in 8 days :-)
+17
Level 75
Aug 14, 2018
And again in another 8 days!
+6
Level 55
Sep 1, 2017
Usually these kind of stats consider overnight visits only, and Vatican doesn't really get those since most of the visitors stay in Rome.
+11
Level 88
Sep 1, 2017
Even when counting day trips, the Vatican doesn't even come close.
+3
Level 90
Sep 1, 2017
No hotels. So pretty much all (excluding personal guests of the pope, I suppose).
+2
Level 62
Jan 22, 2022
I've been to different parts of Italy about ten times, but only once in Vatican. Why would I go to Vatican several times?
+7
Level 76
Oct 20, 2017
Bit surprised Austria receives almost as many tourists as Germany considering the size difference of the two places, and how much more well known Germany is.
+10
Level 65
Nov 3, 2017
27 of 28 million Austrian tourists are skiers.
+14
Level 51
Nov 3, 2017
That's surprising since more tourists go to Austria in the summer (15,1 mio) than in the winter. Wonder what all those skiers are doing here in the summer ;)
+8
Level 68
Nov 3, 2017
Glacier skiing in July ;-)

Anyway, Austria is also a pretty country for hiking and Vienna isn't that uninteresting, too...

+4
Level 67
Nov 4, 2017
They all go to Salzburg to sit in gazebos in dirndls.
+4
Level 57
Dec 22, 2019
@cerealkiller Don't know where you got that information but as a German who visits Austria regularly both in winter and summer I made the experience that there are far more people in winter. At least in regions like Tyrol and Salzburg which are hotspots for German and Dutch skiers and Styria and Upper Austria for Czechs, Slovaks and Hungarians. In summer Austria pretty much becomes a transit country meaning the roads are still packed but that's because everyone has to cross it to get to Italy and Croatia.
+4
Level 90
Nov 3, 2017
I thought the same thing. It might have something to do with the Vienna airport being the major airport for Slovakia and parts of Czechia and Hungary. In addition I wonder how much of it includes people doing weekend cruises on the Danube where Vienna is the point of origin or terminus.
+1
Level 46
Apr 12, 2018
+1
+7
Level 59
Nov 3, 2017
Yeah, it's all those 90 million Germans coming for a holiday.
+2
Level 79
Dec 25, 2019
80 million*.
+3
Level 82
Nov 3, 2017
Austria surprised me, too. Lovely country, though.
+2
Level 66
Jul 9, 2019
What can you do in germany what you cant do in austria..? (besides oktoberfest)
+3
Level 53
Dec 29, 2019
Many things
+1
Level 44
Jun 4, 2020
hear proper German ;)
+3
Level 68
Oct 3, 2020
Swim in the sea.
+2
Level 61
Mar 22, 2022
be in germany
+6
Level 60
Nov 3, 2017
I know several people who visited Russia. I don't know anyone who went to Poland... Poland ???? I could take Romania or Turkey, with beach holidays etc. But Poland ?
+6
Level 79
Nov 4, 2017
I am guessing that a lot of the tourists are people that emigrated and come back home to visit family. While Poland is a beautiful country and has a fascinating history, I don't think it has the same destination draw as others on the list.
+12
Level 82
Nov 4, 2017
I've been to Poland three times and met many people on vacation there each time I went. Lovely seaside area around Gdansk, Sopot, and Hel; tons of drunk Europeans filling up the hostels of otherwise lovely Krakow; WW2/Holocaust tourism going to nearby Auschwitz; and many other good reasons to visit in between those places. Plus, it's cheap and easily accessible from many big tourist source countries: sharing a border with Germany and Russia and having cheap flights coming in from France and the UK all the time..
+6
Level 82
Nov 4, 2017
why are people always surprised by this? It's not even that high on this list. If you include domestic tourism Poland is actually #3 in Europe behind only the UK and France.
+3
Level 37
Mar 3, 2021
Poland is very touristic but just to make a precision it is not #3 in Europe in terms of domestic tourism but #5 ;)

#1 France, #2 Germany and #3 Spain, then Italy #4 and Poland #5.

+1
Level 44
Dec 5, 2017
Yeah, Poland was the only answer I didn't get. I've been there myself and it's a beautiful country but it isn't known as a major tourist destination. I expected Turkey, Romania (cheap beach vacation) or the Czech Republic (internationally famous for cheap beer) to be on the list instead.
+2
Level 66
Jul 9, 2019
I was very surprised by poland aswell. And no matter how interesting or great or kind people others have met there or had a good time. Those are all things you experience once you are there, and not things which interest atttracts people beforehand. Poland wouldnt occur to me as aholiday destination. not before many others, though it might be greater than others.
+2
Level 68
Oct 3, 2020
Poland is awesome in about every way - except current politics.
+1
Level 51
Nov 4, 2017
In what way is the UK part of the European CONTINENT???
+10
Level 30
Nov 5, 2017
Because of It being close to the continent, it's the same with Indonesia, Japan, and The Philippines, it's all because of them used to be connected to these continents
+10
Level 51
Nov 7, 2017
And things get ridiculous if you exclude islands from continents. Like how, say, Long Island wouldn't be part of North America.
+13
Level 29
Nov 15, 2017
In that it rests on the same tectonic plate that forms the European continent, maybe?
+2
Level 28
Jan 20, 2019
The UK OR United Kingdom is more closer to the european continent than all other continents Isn't it????
+1
Level 28
Jan 20, 2019
Visit this website for more info.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom#Geography

+1
Level 37
Feb 14, 2019
ColoHarpare: Thank you! - I always wonder why it's considered European. It's incredulous how most quiz makers on this site strain themselves to lump countries into continents to which they don't belong (UK, Cyprus, Egypt) And keep countries out of continents to which they do belong (Trinidad, the ABC islands). . I also have a problem with Cote d'Ivoire being used on "C" quizzes when a "C" is needed and Ivory Coast being used on "I" quizzes when needed. Seems very random and disingenuous!
+8
Level 61
Oct 8, 2019
You shouldn't need to wonder why the UK is European. It's been officially placed in that continent because it is legally and culturally part of it.

Continents are not completely based off of how land has formed. It that were the case, Afro-Eurasia would be a continent and countries like Japan and Madagascar who have strong ties to the mainland nearby would be considered continent-less.

While I would agree that continental borders are a bit arbitrary, they're there for a reason, and its not like the quizmakers are deciding to put countries officially considered part of certain continents with those continents because they want to. Even arbitrary facts are still facts.

+6
Level 50
Dec 26, 2019
Divantilya, so let's get this straight: The UK should not be considered part of Europe, because it is an island, but Trinidad and Tobago should be considered part of South America - Because it is also an island????
+6
Level 61
Oct 8, 2019
If you've ever attempted a geography quiz or even ever thought about international geography you would understand that island countries which are legally, culturally, and by proximity close to a continent are officially part of that continent. To say that Japan isn't Asia or that Madagascar isn't Africa wouldn't make any sense, so how could the UK possibly NOT be European?
+2
Level 84
Feb 16, 2020
To be fair, there is more ambiguity to this than people are making out. From wikipedia: "Continental or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and by some, simply the Continent."

So the UK is in the continent of Europe, but not in continental Europe, and may or may not be part of the European continent, depending on who you're talking to. In other news, the People's Front of Judea has entered into talks with the Judean People's Front...

+2
Level 84
Feb 16, 2020
To be fair, there is more ambiguity to this than people are making out. From wikipedia: "Continental or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and by some, simply the Continent."

So the UK is in the continent of Europe, but not in continental Europe, and may or may not be part of the European continent, depending on who you're talking to. In other news, the People's Front of Judea has entered into talks with the Judean People's Front...

+3
Level 31
Apr 12, 2018
Surprised Portugal isn't there
+4
Level 34
Apr 12, 2018
Agree - surely loads more go there than Poland!! Thought Switzerland would also attract far more visitors than Poland.
+4
Level ∞
Sep 24, 2019
Now it is. Portugal tourism has exploded in the last few years.
+4
Level 28
Jan 20, 2019
How on earth could i forget Greece???????????
+2
Level 75
Feb 23, 2019
How on Mars could you not?
+2
Level 75
Feb 23, 2019
Those who do not go to Luxembourg are missing out big time
+2
Level 77
May 16, 2019
Norway and Iceland are beautiful (albeit expensive) but clearly many people are missing their charms.
+5
Level 44
Jun 4, 2020
That might be a good thing. Iceland has a population of ~300000 so getting millions of tourists would cause structural problems. Locals are already complaining about more tourists coming to visit during the last couple of years.
+3
Level 51
Sep 5, 2019
surprised portugal,sweden, and switzerland are not is this list
+5
Level 70
Sep 24, 2019
I am surprised that the Netherlands did not make the list.
+2
Level 62
Dec 26, 2019
I think the figures for Poland are high because of the millions of Poles working abroad who visit their family etc
+1
Level 64
Jan 13, 2020
SuperT, I live in the Netherlands and nearly all tourists only go to Amsterdam or maybe to another big city.
+1
Level 33
Mar 21, 2020
mm easy
+1
Level 74
Mar 23, 2020
That's easy, it's all 0 now
+1
Level 51
Apr 27, 2020
The only country that I did not get is... no, not the one I live in. Just the one from which I live in walking distance. Embarassing!
+3
Level 54
Feb 8, 2021
I'm surprised Spain gets more than Italy, let alone 20 million more.
+1
Level 67
Jun 4, 2021
Same
+1
Level 67
Jun 4, 2021
34 seconds
+1
Level 56
Apr 26, 2022
k
+1
Level 59
May 9, 2022
Surprised UK is ahead of Greece tbh but if these stats can include business travellers and not just tourists then it makes sense
+1
Level 47
Mar 10, 2024
What is there to even do in Austria? I didn't expect the visitor count to be so high.