Prague’s Charles Bridge ranked among the world’s most beautiful sights

Beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder, which means ranking a destination based on its outward appearance isn't exactly a scientific endeavor. A new ranking, however, has set out to determine the world's most beautiful sites.

The ranking, compiled by travel site Kuoni took an empirical approach, counting how many times users of travel site Tripadvisor used the word “beautiful” in relation to a particular tourist location.

Prague’s Charles Bridge ranked sixth in a list of the most beautiful sights in the main tourism cities in the world.

The list also limited each city to one entry, so the results are actually the single most beautiful sights not to miss in 267 cities known as tourist destinations.

Using an English word as the criteria creates a bit of bias in the study, and nine of the top 20 listed sights were in English-speaking countries. The only Asian sights were in the United Arab Emirates, and none were in South America.

Charles Bridge was called beautiful by 10,870 users of Tripadvisor, as of June when the survey was made. “[It is] one of the most beautiful bridges in the world. Charming and mysterious at night, with thousands of people by day,” one user said.

Some Tripadvisor users, though cautioned that it is best to come early before the crowds. One person, though, recommended the evening. “I especially recommend visiting it as the sun is setting as it provides a beautiful view of the castle,” they said.

And a few thought the bridge, which was built in 1357, was in need of a good cleaning. Sandstone tends to blacken over time, and keeping the bridge and statues looking presentable is an endless task.

New York City’s Central Park came in first in Kuoni’s list with 22,800 mentions. People seem to be quite impressed by fountains, as they took up the next two spots. Rome’s Trevi Fountain has 18,282 mentions and Las Vegas’ Fountains of Bellagio had 16,750 mentions.

Two churches round out the top five – Barcelona’s Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, at 16,158 mentions, and Paris’ Cathédrale Notre-Dame, at 12,930 mentions. The Eiffel Tower might have seemed like a more obvious choice for Paris, but it only had 11,742 mentions.

Europe took up nine spots in the top 20 overall, with Spain having three places and Italy appearing twice.

While not in the ranking, Prague’s Old Town Square was called beautiful by 8,588 Tripadvisor users, while 4,862 people were struck by Prague Castle and 4,224 by St. Vitus’ Cathedral. The Old Town Hall and Astronomical Clock were praised for their beauty by 2,962 users.