For some of us, going on holiday isn’t an excuse to forget about our healthy lifestyles, but an opportunity to enjoy our healthy habits in another country and culture. With this in mind, our health experts at NOWPATIENT wanted to find out which were the best holiday destinations for health and fitness fanatics.
Looking at a range of factors, from the number of healthy restaurants to the average cost of a night in a hotel, we discovered the best cities around the globe for healthy holidays.
You’re planning your next holiday but want it to fit in with your healthy lifestyle, so where should you choose as your destination? Consider one of these healthy holiday destinations and you might just find the perfect city to visit.
Taking the top spot is the Spanish coastal city of Barcelona, a city known for its beautiful architecture and spectacular beaches. In addition to the city’s beauty, it is also the best destination for a healthy holiday.
Scoring an overall healthy holiday score of 8.81/10, Barcelona has plenty to offer fitness buffs, from 76 parks to walk or jog around, to 610 healthy restaurants, equating to more than 6 per km².
Healthy holiday score
In second place is the French capital and city of love, Paris. With an overall healthy holiday score of 8.46/10, the city follows closely behind first place, Barcelona. Paris is home to a whopping 170 parks, meaning there is 1.61 per km². In addition, the city has plenty of hotels with fitness centres, 174 to be precise.
Healthy holiday score
Heading across the pond to the United States, we find the city which places third. Miami is famous for its beaches and beach bodies, so any fitness buff will fit in well here. Hotel prices are relatively reasonable in price as well, with an average night's stay costing £119.
Healthy holiday score
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If you’re hoping to have a healthy holiday, what you eat will play a major factor, so you’ll need to make sure that the destination you choose has plenty of access to healthy restaurants, so where can you find the most?
Our overall second place ranker, Paris is the best destination for healthy eating, and we can’t say that we’re particularly surprised. While it may be famous for its romantic aura, Paris is also well known for its restaurants and fine dining, so where better to find a healthy meal?
Healthy restaurants per km²
While Barcelona takes the top spot in the overall ranking, it is just pipped to the post when it comes to healthy eating, boasting 6.02 healthy restaurants per km². Being a coastal city, you can expect plenty of fresh fish on the menu.
Healthy restaurants per km²
Greece is known for its delicious fresh foods so it is a perfect top three city when it comes to healthy eating. With 137 healthy restaurants across the city, this equates to 3.52 per km².
Healthy restaurants per km²
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Choosing where to stay when you’re on holiday is a big decision, but if you’re looking for a hotel that offers fitness facilities so you can keep up with your fitness regime, these are the cities to consider.
Yet again, Barcelona takes the top spot with a total of 317 hotels having a fitness centre or swimming pool listed as part of their facilities. Whether you want to make sure you can get your morning gym sessions in or you fancy a dip in the pool to cool off, Barcelona offers plenty of options.
Healthy hotels per km²
Athens gets another look in with the top three, boasting 2.08 healthy hotels per km². The hot weather in the city will mean that you are particularly thankful for a hotel pool if you choose one of the 30 in the city that list a swimming pool as part of their facilities.
Healthy hotels per km²
Paris may not have as many hotels with pools as other cities on our ranking, but the 174 hotels that have fitness centres more than makes up for it.
Healthy hotels per km²
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Of course, when you’re on holiday, you probably don’t just want to spend all of your time at the hotel, so what fitness activities are available when you’re out and about?
With a huge number of 170 parks, Paris had to come in at the top spot. The city is also home to 19 sports complexes, so whether you want to get involved in the sport itself or just watch it, you’ll have plenty of choice.
Healthy activities per km²
Barcelona wasn’t going to be left out of this top three. With 76 parks, there is plenty of green space to enjoy and explore when you’re visiting the city.
Healthy activities per km²
The Californian city of San Francisco rounds out our top three, boasting 12 hiking trails across the city. This is a great city to get out and explore, especially with some iconic sights like the Golden Gate Bridge to take in.
Healthy activities per km²
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Looking at the 50 most visited cities according to Euromonitor’s Top 100 City Destinations Index 2021, we discovered the best cities for healthy holidays based on a number of factors.
Tripadvisor was used to collate the number of ‘healthy’ restaurants, hotels with fitness centres, hotels with swimming pools, parks, hiking trails and sports complexes. These numbers were then compared to the total area in km².
We also used Kayak to discover the average price of a night in a hotel during the week in each city.
Using this data, we were then able to assign a relative score out of 10 for each factor before taking an average of all scores to give a final healthy holidays score out of 10.
All data is correct at 22/04/2022.
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