Cheap, quiet and perfectly picturesque: The Spanish city Brits’ have voted their favourite escape

When it comes to sun-drenched European escapes, UK residents are historically quite predictable. The likes of Barcelona, Venice and Malaga are usually most popular, with various Greek islands dotted in between.

However, a recent survey by consumer organisation Which? has revealed that trends are changing.

While Spanish, Italian and Greek cities still made up the bulk of the most popular destinations, the usual suspects weren't as dominant as expected.

Over 3,500 holidaymakers were asked to rate their trips to 44 different coastal towns across Europe.

The destinations were rated in 12 different categories: the town's beach, seafront or marina, food and drink, accommodation, tourist attractions, attractiveness, shopping, entertainment, peace and quiet, safety, friendliness and value for money.

Voters scored the destinations out of five for each, resulting in an overall percentage score that determined the most - and least - popular locations.

Shunning San Sebastian, Alicante and even ever-desirable Barcelona, travellers voted Spain’s third largest city, Valencia, the winner.

Earning a 91 per cent destination score, the city received five stars in eight of the 12 categories, including the ‘beach’ section - perhaps not so surprising seeing as the metropol boasts three separate sandy stretches in the middle of town, and many others each way along the coastline.

According to Which? travellers were thrilled with, “the quality of [Valencia’s] tourist attractions, shopping, friendliness and attractiveness,” proving that the city’s 34 museums, burgeoning gastronomic scene and generous aquarium (the largest in Europe) live up to their hype.

Most notably though, it scored full marks in the ‘value for money’ and ‘peace and quiet’ categories,