This past weekend, British daily The Guardian published the Readers' Travel Awards 2012 in 20 categories including best UK city, best European country and best UK hotel. Some of the winners were chosen by the readers, and some were chosen directly by the Guardian's travel editors.
While London is by far the favorite city for international tourists, especially after its time in the Olympic limelight, Edinburgh was the number one favorite city among UK travelers, with London falling far behind to position number 19. After Edinburgh, Brits rated Bath, York, Liverpool and Cambridge.
After a difficult 2011, Tokyo came in first place as the favorite overseas city with The Guardian's readers, followed by San Francisco, Seville, Berlin and Cape Town.
In the favorite long-haul country, Japan came in first place despite falling by 28 percent in 2011, compared to 2010. Japan was followed by Cambodia, South Africa, Argentina and Peru.
When traveling within Europe, Guardian readers picked Iceland, Austria, Germany, Turkey and Greece as their favorite countries.
For the Best Cruise line, international Viking River Cruises and its interior designs came in first place, followed by Swan Hellenic and Cunard.
The Guardian's readership of 209,354 a month can be described as urban, left-wing and perhaps a little bit more adventurous, compared to a more traditional readership of a newspaper like the Daily Telegraph, which tends to be more right-wing and rural-based.
In the Telegraph's latest travel survey, carried out among 23,000 readers in 2011, the US was chosen as the favorite long-haul destination, followed by New Zealand and Australia.
The country's capital, London, was chosen as readers' favorite British city followed by Edinburgh and Bath. The favorite large cruise line was national brand P&O.
New York was chosen as the favorite city followed by Venice and Cape Town. The favorite European country was Italy, followed by France and Spain.
