Like every year, the online vacation rental platform Airbnb offers to discover the top 10 most popular destinations during the summer. Without wanting to spill the beans before presenting you with the complete list of Top 10 cities, we can already tell you that our concierge agency in Rouen is very proud. And this year, this ranking is intended to be radically different from last year's ranking. None of the trending cities in 2022 remains in the ranking and therefore 10 new cities are positioned in the top 10 of preferred destinations in France in 2023. As a reminder, the 2022 ranking was as follows:
- Le Castellet – Var
- Île-Rousse – Upper Corsica
- Honfleur – Calvados
- Deauville – Calvados
- Clisson – Loire-Atlantique
- Quiberon – Morbihan
- Crozon – Finistère
- Vias – Hérault
- Arbanats – Gironde
- Menton – Alpes-Maritimes
The top 10 destinations in France according to Airbnb in 2023 are as follows:
- Nanterre – Hauts-de-Seine
- Rouen – Seine-Maritime
- Nevers – Nièvre
- Saint-Aignan – Loir-et-Cher
- Plougasnou – Finistère
- Mountain – Gironde
- Saint-Brisson – Nièvre
- Arvieux – Hautes-Alpes
- Carhais-Plouguer – Finistère
- Parthenay – Deux-Sèvres
What lessons can be learned from this top Airbnb?
When we talk about the summer season, we very often talk about sun, beaches, mountains and heavenly landscapes. However, we see with the first position in this top held by the city of Nanterre that other motivations lead travelers to choose their vacation destinations. Overall, it appears that travelers above all want to go green. Whether for the contrast with the hectic pace of everyday life or to avoid being in particularly populated tourist destinations, this year's top 10 concerns cities which, if not confidential, generally remain discreet in the tourist landscape. Like the city of Rouen, in which the Rouen concierge service – YourHostHelper was installed a few months ago. This city is indeed touristy and has been able to find its audience for many years, but this bronze medal still comes as a surprise.
We also note a small share of towns in the South of France. If we are to believe the media which regularly broadcast this information during the season, one of the main reasons would be the fear of extreme heat: global warming regularly making headlines alongside summer heat waves, more and more travelers seem to be looking for good weather but while remaining sheltered from extreme temperatures. The northern half of France thus obtains numerous positions in this top 10. Of course, the climate is not everything and the motivations are numerous.
Let's finish this post by putting things into perspective: this top 10 published by Airbnb only aims to transmit the search volumes at a given moment. And anyone who has stayed in the south of France or at least popular destinations will know that, despite this top 10, many historic destinations remain in the hearts of travelers and have been able to retain them over the long term.
