In a recent report prepared by iVisa, and featured on the BBC, Lisbon has been ranked the happiest city in the world to visit.
The report took 5 factors into consideration:
- life expectancy
- number of sunny days
- working hours
- cost of living
- friendliness of the locals
Interestingly, this contrasts with the last time the BBC ran an article about Lisbon, entitled 'The European City That Loves Being Sad.
In 2019 the average life expectancy in Portugal was 80.68 years.
The Portuguese capital receives 2,801 hours of sunshine per year.
Lisboa locals work an average of 31 hours per week - with plenty of time to enjoy its many rays of sunshine.
Lisbon also ranks as the second friendliest city in the world, so a great place to make new friends.
The complete Top 10 happiest cities to visit
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Barcelona, Spain
- Athens, Greece
- Rome, Italy
- Sydney, Australia
- Madrid, Spain
- Toronto, Canada
- São José, Costa Rica
- Istanbul, Turkey
- Bangkok, Thailand
Europe dominates the list. There's only one North American city in the Top 10, and none from the United States of America. The highest ranking form the United Kingdom is Brighton, which came in 13th.