San Diego has just topped a new list – are we surprised? This time, international eSIM provider Holafly analyzed various data to name the most relaxing city in the world. The list featured many popular names, but there was only one winner: America’s Finest City.
What makes San Diego the most relaxing city in the world
Great question! Most of us don’t really picture cities when we think of relaxation. We picturenature escapes, mountains, beach views, camping, hiking…pretty much any other alternative. But wellness and ‘chilling’ is becoming key when it comes to all travels nowadays, also when considering city breaks. Not many places can make this list, but here’s how San Diego topped it.
Holafly looked into access to nature reserves, air quality, wellness centers, average sunshine hours, traffic congestion, and general public happiness levels (according to the 2025 Happy City Index).
San Diego’s access to the great outdoors – from beaches, to unforgettable hikes – made a huge difference. Moreover, our city has more parks and nature reserves than any other on the list…266 of them, to be exact! San Onofre State Beach, a surfing paradise, was mentioned as a highlight. We’re also home to 359 spas and wellness centers. Is it even worth talking about the sunshine hours? In case you were wondering, we get an average of 3069 hours of sunshine annually.
When it comes to the happiness index, San Diego is what’s called a ‘Silver City’. This is due to its position as 34th happiest in the world, with a total score of 831 points. If you’d like to learn more about the methodology used, check out this link.
Other relaxing cities worldwide
When it comes to the top 5, Australia claimed 2 spots, with Melbourne coming in 5th, and Sydney in 4th. The 3rd place was taken by beautiful Vienna, while Singapore claimed 2nd.