Colmar beats Paris in European tourism poll

Colmar has well-and-truly beaten Paris in an online poll of the best destinations in Europe.

The picturesque Alsace town, which is close to the German border and considers itself to be the "capital of Alsatian wine", ranked third in the 10th annual study for the European Best Destinations website, to finish behind Wroclaw and Bilbao, and well ahead of Paris, which came 13th.

Colmar picked up 32,185 votes of the 320,793 cast, well ahead of the capital, which polled 9,456 votes, to complete the French involvement in the list of Europe's 20 'best' destinations for 2018.

Dès le 18 janvier, faites de #Colmar la plus belle destination d'Europe en votant sur https://t.co/moTmsWT5BI @YvesHemedinger @ClaudineGanter @StriebigC @PhilippeLeuzy pic.twitter.com/jtVwz0AQKd

— Ville de Colmar (@villecolmar) January 17, 2018

The popular Haut-Rhin town attracts 3.5million visitors a year. About half make the trip to visit the Christmas Market

A total 260 towns across Europe were among those vying for a place in the annual Top 20 list.