Avignon Ranked Best European City for Fringe Festival Trips

Avignon has been named the best city in Europe for a Fringe festival trip. The French city ranked first after balancing a large programme of 1,780 shows with warmer weather and relatively affordable dining.

The team at Stasher analysed UK and European cities with established Fringe or Fringe-style festivals. Each destination was scored across seven weighted factors: number of shows, festival duration, meal and hotel prices, historical average temperature during the festival dates, and restaurant and attraction density.

The full study and methodology are available here: https://stasher.com/blog/best-cities-fringe-festival-trip

Some key findings from the study: 

• Avignon ranked first with an overall score of 72.64. Its festival features 1,780 shows across 22 days, while visitors can expect an average temperature of 26.1°C and inexpensive meals costing an average of £12.79.

• UK destinations claimed five of the top 10 places, with Brighton second, Manchester third, Edinburgh fourth, London fifth and Durham ninth.

• Edinburgh offered the largest programme in the ranking, with an estimated 3,649 shows, but ranked fourth overall. Its average hotel rate during the festival period was £296 per night.

• Milan, which ranked eighth, recorded the highest restaurant and attraction density in the study, with 418.1 restaurants and 246.8 attractions per 10 km². Its average nightly hotel rate was £406.09.

  
  

The 10 Best European Cities for a Fringe Festival Trip

Other category leaders:

• Biggest programme: Edinburgh, with an estimated 3,649 shows

• Longest festival: Tallinn, running for 32 days

• Warmest festival period: Avignon, averaging 26.1°C

• Highest restaurant density: Milan, with 418.1 restaurants per 10 km²

• Highest attraction density: Milan, with 246.8 attractions per 10 km²

• Cheapest inexpensive meal: Prague, averaging £8.08

• Cheapest hotel rate: Swindon, averaging £50.58 per night

  
  

Jacob Wedderburn-Day, travel expert and CEO of Stasher, commented: “Edinburgh is still hard to beat if you want the widest choice of shows, but there is more to a Fringe trip than the festival programme. Visitors also need to consider hotel and food prices, as well as what they can do between performances.

"Avignon stands out because it offers plenty of shows, warm weather and relatively affordable meals. Brighton and Manchester also show that you do not have to visit the biggest or best-known festival to enjoy a great Fringe city break.”