Most and least relaxing cities in Asia

Hong Kong took eighth spot, while Kuala Lumpur came in 10th.

As we wrap up the first half of the year and settle into a new half, now is as good of a time as any to indulge in planning your next holiday.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of work, nearly half of global consumers go on holiday to find a space for relaxation — but, which cities around the world are the most ideal for optimal relaxation?

New research by PayingTooMuch analysed 50 of the happiest global cities to determine which are the most relaxing destinations to visit for 2024.

The rankings were determined based on a range of metrics, including the number of parks and walking trails, noise and light pollution, traffic levels, population density, and the happiness scores of residents in each city.

In Asia, the top 10 most relaxing cities were as follows:

• Kyoto, Japan
• Taipei, Taiwan
• Singapore
• Tokyo, Japan
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Osaka, Japan
• Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Hong Kong
• Bandung, Indonesia
• Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kyoto, Japan was the most relaxing place to live in Asia, recording the lowest score of noise & light pollution at 41.67, with a 78.70 traffic index (out of 200).

Not too far behind, Singapore ranked the third best Asian city to chill out, with one of the lowest noise and light pollution rates of the ranking (50 out of 100), the highest quality of green spaces (79.17 out of 100), and 284 parks to choose from. It also had the highest happiness scores (1544.2).

In the eighth spot, Hong Kong recorded the highest number of walking trails (437).

Making it into the list, Kuala Lumpur ranked 10^th. It scored a 55 in terms of noise and light pollution.

Globally, Sydney, Australia, took the first spot as the most relaxing city, which can be attributed to its abundance of green spaces and a distinct lack of crowds. The top 10 were:

• Sydney, Australia
• Vienna, Austria
• Melbourne, Australia
• Honolulu, US
• Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Kyoto, Japan
• San Diego, US
• Berlin, Germany
• Dublin, Ireland
• Prague, Czech Republic 

On the other end of the spectrum, according to the study, Mumbai, India was the least chilled-out city — though it does offer plenty of green space with 263 parks to relax in. Similarly, Jakarta, Indonesia came in third, with a high traffic index of 252.

• Mumbai, India
• Marrakesh, Morocco
• Jakarta, Indonesia
• Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Chennai, India