<select>
<option selected disabled>Choose one</option>
<option value="sydney">Sydney</option>
<option value="melbourne">Melbourne</option>
<option value="cromwell">Cromwell</option>
<option value="queenstown">Queenstown</option>
</select>
Using selected and disabled will make “Choose one” be the default selected value, but also make it impossible for the user to actually select the item, like so:
