READERS' TRAVEL AWARDS 2007

You can't beat New York for nightlife/entertainment (96.85) but this year's winner, Sydney, is the cleanest (94.78) and most user-friendly (93.68) city abroad. If it's aesthetics/architecture you are after, however, Europe wins the beauty stakes: Venice and Florence both scored perfect 100s, with Rome following closely with 97.78. As to be expected, Paris scored highly for food/restaurants (96.30), although Barcelona, Cape Town and Bangkok all scored above 90 and Sydney licked the competition with 97.56. For the warmest welcome, Buenos Aires scored an applause-inspiring 98.33, followed by Dubai (96.78), while Istanbul tied with Rome for culture (98.57), highlighting your appreciation for both East and West.

Traditionalists one and all, you judged Bath to have the best architecture (95.11, followed by Edinburgh with 93.70) and gave Oxford top marks for culture (93.04). But you were also all agreed that Durham is the most user-friendly (89.49), offers the best value for money (89.15) and is the cleanest city in the UK (89.49). Manchesters northern charm made it the friendliest city (90.85 for people/ hospitality) while, perhaps unsurprisingly, London scored highest for standard/comfort of accommodation (92.20), food/restaurants (94.15) and nightlife/entertainment (94.51). But you marked the capital down on cleanliness, value for money and safety, resulting in a respectable but not chart-topping third place.