How Prague Ranked Second in a New Passion-Based City Index

A new ranking by digital travel company Holafly has placed Rome at the top of the best cities to visit for travellers who plan holidays around their personal interests, with Prague securing a close second place. The index evaluated 50 cities across five passion categories – creative and cultural interests, music and performing arts, sport and adventure, gastronomy and drinks, and literature – using 15 indicators sourced from platforms like TripAdvisor, GetYourGuide and OpenStreetMap.

Rome earned a near-perfect 99.9 points in gastronomy and drinks, alongside 79.6 points in literature, pushing it to the number one spot. Prague’s runner-up position was driven by its outstanding score in creative and cultural activities, a category that weighs heavily for travellers seeking art, architecture and hands-on cultural experiences. London, Vienna and Berlin rounded out the top five, each leading in different passion areas: Vienna dominates in music and performing arts, while Berlin appeals strongly to readers, gallery-goers and art lovers.

The index is grounded in a Holafly survey that found 72 percent of international travellers had taken at least one trip specifically to pursue a hobby or deep personal interest. Among Generation Z, that figure rose to 84 percent, signalling a powerful shift away from generic sightseeing. As Harry Deacon, content manager at Holafly, put it: “The cities that topped this list aren’t just well-rounded tourist destinations – they are places where a certain type of traveller will feel truly at home.”

Why Passion-Driven Travel Is Reshaping Tourism

Passion-driven travel, once a niche, is now a mainstream force reshaping how destinations market themselves. The Holafly numbers suggest that for a large majority of travellers, the decision about where to go is no longer made by browsing a generic list of “must-sees”; it starts with “What do I really love?”. This has real consequences for city tourism boards and the hospitality industry.

Prague’s Cultural Capital in the Spotlight

Prague’s high score in creative and cultural activities reflects the density of its museums, galleries, architecture and live performances – assets that few other cities can match. While the index does not track visitor spending, the ranking is likely to reinforce the city’s appeal among culture-focused tourists, especially from Europe and North America, who plan longer stays and are willing to pay for guided art tours, classical concerts and behind‑the‑scenes workshops. The challenge for Prague will be to convert this ranking visibility into off‑peak bookings, smoothing out the seasonal crush that already strains the city centre.

A Trend with Commercial Teeth

For the broader travel industry, the 72‑percent figure is a signal: packaging trips around hobbies – whether it’s running a city marathon, attending a book festival or taking a cooking class – is no longer a niche product line. Online travel platforms that can tag experiences by “interest” rather than just by location stand to capture the next wave of search traffic. Meanwhile, cities that lack a clear strength in any of the five passion categories may need to invest more in cultural infrastructure or risk being treated as a skip‑over stop.

It is important to note that the index is commercial research commissioned by Holafly, a company that sells travel data packages; the survey sample and exact methodology for the passion scores have not been audited independently. The results should be seen as a well‑constructed narrative tool that makes a legitimate point: today’s travellers increasingly demand trips that mirror who they are.

Using Your Interests to Plan a Better Trip

  • Start with your own interests before scrolling for flights. The survey shows that 72 % of travellers already do this, yet many still default to “Top 10” lists. Ask yourself whether you’d rather spend a week cooking, hiking, attending concerts or exploring galleries – then match the destination to that activity, not the other way around.
  • Use the Holafly categories as a shortcut for 2026 planning. If creative and cultural activities rank high for you, Prague’s near‑perfect score in that category makes it a natural candidate. Food lovers have a quantitative reason to try Rome, and music enthusiasts can lean on Vienna’s dominance in performing arts. Even a quick check of the five passion categories can save hours of generic research.
  • Check event calendars before you book. Passion travel works best when a city’s calendar aligns with your hobby. For instance, a literature buff heading to Berlin could time the trip around the city’s International Literature Festival; a runner could link up with a local race. Many of the data sources used by the ranking (TripAdvisor, GetYourGuide) let you filter by activity type – use them to find scheduled events that match your interest.