MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

London the best city but also the most expensive & dirtiest

London was voted the best European city to visit by international travelers in a TripAdvisor survey, despite also being voted the most expensive and dirtiest. In a poll of 1,100 travelers worldwide, London retained its place as the number one city in Europe for nightlife and was also voted the best in Europe for public parks.

Despite being expensive, London was the runner-up city in best for shopping with 26% just coming second to Paris (28%). Brussels was voted the most boring city, Zurich the cleanest and Dublin the friendliest in Europe. The survey predicted a good year for Europe's tourist industry, with 65% of travelers saying they are planning to travel to or within Europe in the next 12 months, nearly equal to last year. Despite the weak dollar, half of US respondents said they intend to visit Europe this year, the same as last year. When asked which month they are most likely to visit, 20% of travelers said September, while 29% said they are most likely to save money by going during the off-peak season. "It may be considered expensive but it seems that London's still the best for travelers and the canny ones will always find good value", said Ian Rumgay TripAdvisor European communications manager. "Meanwhile Public Parks is a new category in our survey and London's top place is a well deserved testimony to the volume and variety of green space that visitors can enjoy in the city". Here are the survey results: Best Bargain European City: 1. Prague 2. Budapest 3. Lisbon Most Expensive European City: 1. London 2. Paris 3. Rome_ European City with the Most Friendly and Helpful Locals: 1. Dublin 2. Amsterdam 3. London European City with the Best Cuisine: 1. Paris 2. Rome 3. Florence European City with the Best Shopping: 1. Paris 2. London 3. Rome European City with the Best Night Life: 1. London 2. Amsterdam 3. Paris European City with the Best Public Parks: 1. London 2. Paris 3. Barcelona_ Most Romantic European City: 1. Paris 2. Venice 3. Rome European City with the Most Attractive Locals: 1. Rome 2. Paris 3. Stockholm Cleanest European City: 1. Zurich 2. Copenhagen 3. Stockholm Dirtiest European City: 1. London 2. Paris 3. Rome European City with the Most Unfriendly Hosts: 1. Paris 2. London 3. Moscow Most Boring European City: 1. Brussels 2. Zurich 3. Warsaw. TripAdvisor has over 30 million visitors per month looking for comments and info on hotels, cities, tourism facilities and special places to visit all over the world. Actually it's the travelers on their return that contribute with their criticisms and opinions in the internet pages. With over five million registered members and over 10 million comments, TripAdvisor has information on over 280.000 hotels.