Where to next?
Discover inspiring destinations, recommended by our in-house travel experts. Know the best places to go, who to book with and how to pay less.
Join Which? TravelUsually £49 - save 25%, £36.75 for a year, offer ends 3 August 2026
We asked almost 1,000 people to tell us where in the world they had their best holiday
France and Spain were not in the top 10
For the holiday of a lifetime, Japan might be your best bet.
Hundreds of Which? members were asked to name the country where they’ve had their best holiday in the past 10 years, and Japan came out as the clear winner.
An impressive 37% of people who had visited the country picked it as their favourite trip.
It was followed by Canada (31%), New Zealand (30%), Vietnam (29%) and Australia (26%).
Nobody picked Japan, New Zealand or Vietnam as the worst holiday they’d had in the past 10 years.
The world’s best holiday destinations?
Long-haul destinations took nine of the top 10 positions in our table, but 10th on the list came the Nordic countries Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland (22%).
The next highest short-haul holidays were Turkey and Greece (both 19%), Italy (18%) and then, unexpectedly, the UK and Channel Islands (17%).
That saw the UK rated higher than France (16%), the Canaries (12%), Mainland Spain (10%), and Portugal (9%).
Hungary came bottom, with only one of the 70 people who had visited naming it as their best holiday.
Destinations | Overall visitors | The percentage who had their best holiday of the past 10 years. |
Japan | 51 | 37% |
Canada | 115 | 31% |
New Zealand | 84 | 30% |
Vietnam | 55 | 29% |
Australia | 113 | 26% |
South Africa | 73 | 25% |
India | 72 | 24% |
Indian Ocean (Maldives, Mauritius, etc) | 32 | 22% |
Scandinavia / Nordic | 151 | 22% |
United States of America (including Hawaii) | 202 | 22% |
Turkey | 72 | 19% |
Caribbean islands (Cuba, Jamaica, etc) | 125 | 19% |
South America | 47 | 19% |
Greece and Greek Islands | 205 | 19% |
Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily) | 302 | 18% |
Sri Lanka | 40 | 18% |
Thailand | 71 | 17% |
UK (and Channel Islands) | 517 | 17% |
France (including Corsica) | 367 | 16% |
China (including Hong Kong) | 48 | 13% |
Spain – Canary Islands | 225 | 12% |
Central America | 52 | 12% |
Spain – Mainland and Balearics | 356 | 10% |
Portugal (including Madeira and Azores) | 237 | 9% |
Iceland | 79 | 9% |
Morocco | 47 | 9% |
United Arab Emirates (including Dubai) | 52 | 8% |
Croatia | 122 | 7% |
Czech Republic | 56 | 7% |
Singapore | 73 | 7% |
Austria | 115 | 6% |
Germany | 198 | 6% |
Slovenia | 33 | 6% |
Malaysia | 38 | 5% |
Ireland (Republic) | 138 | 5% |
Gibraltar | 60 | 5% |
Poland | 70 | 4% |
Cyprus | 101 | 4% |
Switzerland | 88 | 3% |
Malta | 100 | 3% |
Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, etc) | 139 | 2% |
Egypt | 52 | 2% |
Hungary | 70 | 1% |
The worst holidays
Fewer people named a ‘worst’ holiday, but Egypt had the most disappointed visitors in our survey. While only one person out of the 52 who had visited said that it was the best holiday they’d had in the past 10 years, while 13% named it as the worst.
The US, the UAE and the UK came joint-second for the ‘worst holidays’ with 8%.
For the UAE, that was exactly the same percentage as those who picked it as their best holiday.
Destinations | Overall Visitors | The percentage who had their worst holiday of the past 10 years |
Egypt | 52 | 13% |
United States of America (including Hawaii) | 202 | 8% |
United Arab Emirates (includig Dubai) | 52 | 8% |
UK (and Channel Islands) | 517 | 8% |
Morocco | 47 | 6% |
Portugal (including Madeira and Azores) | 237 | 6% |
Malta | 100 | 6% |
Gibraltar | 60 | 5% |
Spain – Canary Islands (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote etc,) | 225 | 5% |
Caribbean islands (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, etc) | 125 | 4% |
Central America | 52 | 4% |
Iceland | 79 | 4% |
Czech Republic | 56 | 4% |
Spain – Mainland and Balearics (Majorca, Ibiza, etc) | 356 | 3% |
Ireland (Republic) | 138 | 3% |
Hungary | 70 | 3% |
India | 72 | 3% |
Turkey | 72 | 3% |
Sri Lanka | 40 | 3% |
France (including Corsica) | 367 | 2% |
South America | 47 | 2% |
China (including Hong Kong) | 48 | 2% |
Italy (including Sardinia and Sicily) | 302 | 2% |
Germany | 198 | 2% |
Greece and Greek Islands | 205 | 1% |
Poland | 70 | 1% |
Thailand | 71 | 1% |
Singapore | 73 | 1% |
South Africa | 73 | 1% |
Switzerland | 88 | 1% |
Cyprus | 101 | 1% |
Australia | 113 | 1% |
Austria | 115 | 1% |
Canada | 115 | 1% |
Croatia | 122 | 1% |
Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) | 139 | 1% |
Scandinavia / Nordic (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) | 151 | 1% |
Indian Ocean (Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, etc) | 32 | 0% |
Japan | 51 | 0% |
Malaysia | 38 | 0% |
New Zealand | 84 | 0% |
Slovenia | 33 | 0% |
Vietnam | 55 | 0% |
The best world cities
When we asked Which? members about the best world cities for a holiday, Japan also did well, with Kyoto and Tokyo in the top five.
Krakow was named the highest-rated European city break, despite Poland not featuring highly in our table above.
We’ve also named the best cities for a UK break
Our research
In February 2026, 850 members of Which’s Connect Panel told us about the best and worst holidays they had taken in the past 10 years.
This article uses insights from the Which? Connect panel, collected from research activities with our members. Find out how to get involved
