The most popular city breaks on Pinterest

Pinterest is one of the most popular ways people like to plan; mapping out their dreams on inspiration boards, whether it’s a new home, a new wardrobe or the perfect holiday. In a post-pandemic world our travel plans remain uncertain, however it doesn’t stop us dreaming and planning where we would love to explore around the globe next. We were curious to find out which city break locations are being dreamed of the most on Pinterest, and so we took a look!

By analysing the number of boards created for over 500 cities across the world which mentioned ‘holiday’ or ‘vacation’ (see full methodology below) we found the most Pinned city break destinations in the UK and across the world.

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UK towns and cities

Naturally London comes out on top as the most Pinned city in the UK (interestingly London comes out on top for all major global cities!) However, after that Pinterest reveals that people are dreaming about the extreme ends of the UK with Edinburgh in Scotland and St. Ives in Cornwall coming out as the most popular. Seaside towns are more popular than cosmopolitan cities, with Whitby, Newquay and Brighton making the top ten, and Padstow, Salcombe, Bude, Hastings and Margate in the top 20. The most popular city break locations that people are pinning include Oxford, Glasgow, Bristol and Cambridge.

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Edinburgh

Edinburgh

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St. Ives, Cornwall

St. Ives, Cornwall

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Brighton

Brighton

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Towns / cities in the UK and the number of boards

1.       London  1992 boards           

2.       Edinburgh  228 boards 

3.       St Ives, Cornwall  140 boards            

4.       Brighton  111 boards               

5.       Oxford  85 boards              

6.       Glasgow 77 boards           

7.       Manchester  69 boards       

8.       Bristol  66 boards              

9.       Whitby 48 boards

10.     Newquay  43 boards      

11.     Weymouth  42 boards              

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12.   Cambridge  41 boards         

13.   Padstow  39 boards              

14.   Birmingham  39 boards 

15.   Falmouth  38 boards     

16.   Liverpool  38 boards

17.   Bude  36 boards

18.   Cardiff  30 boards              

19.   Margate  27 boards       

20.   Hastings  26 boards 

21.   Salcombe  26 boards             

22.   Bournemouth  26 boards        

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Cambridge

Cambridge

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Liverpool

Liverpool

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Bournemouth

Bournemouth

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Global top 20

London is the most popular city on the travel inspiration boards created on Pinterest, followed by Paris and Dubai. North American cities feature prominently, but outside of the States the other frequently Pinned city breaks include Rome, Barcelona and Amsterdam.

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1.       London  1992 boards           

2.       Paris  1981 boards 

3.       Dubai  1911 boards            

4.       Rome  1606 boards               

5.       Barcelona  1053 boards              

6.       Orlando 1001 boards           

7.       New York  999 boards       

8.       Venice  998 boards              

9.       Boston 998 boards

10.     San Diego  998 boards    

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11.   New Orleans  998 boards         

12.   Seattle  998 boards              

13.   Las Vegas  997 boards 

14.   Miami  997 boards     

15.   Chicago  994 boards

16.   San Antonio  982 boards

17.   San Franciso  974 boards              

18.   Charleston  969 boards       

19.   Washington DC  912 boards 

20.   Amsterdam  852 boards

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UK regions

As well as analysing the most popular towns and cities, we also looked at which regions and areas of the UK people are saving on Pinterest for their holiday inspiration. Cornwall comes out top, followed by Wales, Devon and Norfolk.

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Cardiff, Wales

Cardiff, Wales

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Torquay, Devon

Torquay, Devon

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Norwich, Norfolk

Norwich, Norfolk

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1.       Cornwall  988 boards           

2.       Wales  912 boards 

3.       Devon  679 boards            

4.       Norfolk  381 boards               

5.       Yorkshire  364 boards              

6.       Lake District  275 boards           

7.       Dorset  231 boards       

8.       The Cotswolds  180 boards         

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 9.    Suffolk  145 boards         

10.   Somerset  137 boards              

11.   Pembrokshire  126 boards 

12.   Isle of WIght  125 boards     

13.   Peak District  123 boards

14.   Northumberland  120 boards

15.   Kent  108 boards              

16.   Sussex  96 boards

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  • Cornwall: After St. Ives, the most popular holiday towns in Cornwall on Pinterest in descending order are: Newquay, Padstow, Bude, Looe, Fowey, Port Isaac, Penzance, Sennen and Bodmin.
  • Wales: Pembrokeshire takes top spot for holiday boards on Pinterest, followed by Snowdonia, Anglesey, Tenby, Brecon Beacons, Cardiff, St. David’s, Swansea, Cardigan Bay, Newport and Saundersfoot.
  • Devon: Torquay is the most pinned town in Devon, followed by Salcombe, Dartmouth, Woolacombe, Brixham, Croyde, Exeter, Dawlish, Paignton, Totnes and Appledore.
  • Norfolk: Great Yarmouth is the most popular Norfolk town according to Pinterest Boards, followed by Hunstanton, Cromer, Norwich, Burnham Market, Blakeney, Sheringham, Wells-Next-The-Sea, Mundesley and Holkham.
  • Yorkshire: Whitby is Yorkshire’s most popular holiday town on Pinterest, followed by Harrogate, Filey, Richmond, Hull, York, Sheffield, Wakefield, Thirsk and Bradford.
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European cities

After London, the European city that Pinterest-ers are pinning the most on their travel inspiration boards is Paris, followed by Rome, Barcelona and Venice. Find out more about Premier Inn at Gatwick

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1.       London  1992 boards           

2.       Paris  1981 boards 

3.       Rome  1606 boards            

4.       Barcelona  1053 boards               

5.       Venice  998 boards              

6.       Amsterdam 852 boards           

7.       Prague  471 boards       

8.       Berlin  352 boards              

9.       Madrid 356 boards

10.     Lisbon  342 boards    

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11.   Budapest  332 boards         

12.   Istanbul  330 boards              

13.   Athens  319 boards 

14.   Dublin  313 boards     

15.   Florence  301 boards

16.   Vienna  293 boards

17.   Milan  282 boards              

18.   Malaga  215 boards       

19.   Copenhagen  192 boards 

20.   Dubrovnik  173 boards

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Cities in New Zealand and Australia

When looking at cities in Australia and New Zealand, the most popular destinations for travellers according to Pinterest are Sydney, followed by Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Cairns.

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1.       Sydney  596 boards           

2.       Melbournes  480 boards 

3.       Gold Coast  334 boards            

4.       Cairns  248 boards               

5.       Sunshine Coast  235 boards              

6.       Perth  216 boards           

7.       Wellington  211 boards       

8.       Brisbane  184 boards           

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9.     Hobart  118 boards         

10.   Auckland  111 boards              

11.   Adelaide  94 boards 

12.   Nelson  75 boards     

13.   Darwin  50 boards

14.   Rotorua  46 boards

15.   Canberra  40 boards             

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Cities in the Middle East

Of the cities in the Middle East, Dubai is by far the most pinned holiday destination on Pinterest, followed by Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv.

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1.       Dubai  1911 boards           

2.       Abu Dhabi  156 boards 

3.       Tel Aviv  65 boards 

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4.   Amman  31 boards         

5.   Muscat  26 boards              

6.   Doha  22 boards 

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Cities in Asia

Tokyo is the city giving Pinterest-ers the most wanderlust. Followed by Hong Kong, Bangkok and Jaipur.

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1.       Tokyo  530 boards           

2.       Hong Kong  505 boards 

3.       Bangkok  476 boards            

4.       Jaipur  164 boards               

5.       Mumbai  142 boards              

6.       Kuala Lumpur  134 boards           

7.       Kyoto  130 boards       

8.       Seoul  129 boards

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9.     Shanghai  125 boards         

10.   Ubud  104 boards              

11.   Hanoi  99 boards 

12.   Osaka  96 boards     

13.   Chiang Mai  87 boards

14.   Macau  62 boards

15.   Chennai  51 boards

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South American cities

Brazil comes out top for the cities people want to visit in South America, with Salvador and Rio de Janeiro take first and second spot, followed by Cartagena in Colombia and Buenos Aires in Argentina.

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1.       Salvador  118 boards           

2.       Rio de Janeiro  94 boards 

3.       Cartagena  74 boards            

4.       Buenos Aires  60 boards               

5.       Lima  56 boards            

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6.     Cusco  54 boards         

7.     Santiago  48 boards              

8.     La Paz  32 boards 

9.     Sao Paolo  23 boards     

10.   Medellin  22 boards

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Cities in Africa

Egypt’s Cairo is the African city most Pinned on Pinterest, with Cape Town and Marrakech also proving very popular.

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1.       Cairo  795 boards           

2.       Cape Town  410 boards 

3.       Marrakesh / Marrakech  320 boards            

4.       Casablanca  63 boards                    

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5.     Durban  60 boards         

6.     Johannesburg  59 boards              

7.     Nairobi  35 boards

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Cities in the USA

New York was pipped to the post by the city of Orlando (and its Disneyland Resort). The other most Pinned cities in the USA that people are dreaming about visiting include Boston, San Diego, New Orleans and Seattle.

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1.       Orlando  1001 boards           

2.       New York  999 boards 

3.       Boston  998 boards            

4.       San Diego  998 boards 

5.       New Orleans  998 boards 

6.       Seattle  998 boards 

7.       Las Vegas  997 boards 

8.       Miami  997 boards                    

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9.      Chicago  994 boards         

10.    San Antonio  982 boards              

11.     San Francisco  974 boards

12.     Charleston  969 boards

13.     Washington DC  912 boards

14.     Portland  700 boards

15.     Los Angeles  638 boards

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Methodology

We counted the number of Pinterest boards which used the words ‘holiday’ or ‘vacation’ in their title description, in addition with a city name, for over 500 cities across the globe.  We discounted boards that were obviously not related to travel inspiration. Cities in the USA only show ‘vacation’ board numbers due to the linguistic crossover of ‘holidays’ used in American-English. All board count totals correct as of 10th September 2020.

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