I like that this is a living, breathing document since I first wrote my Top-20 cities back in 2013. Anyway, we're up to 70-now, and in reality, if I remembered more about my trips in 1999-2001 to Europe, I probably could have added quite a bit more.
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The last time I did this was in 2015, and since then I've added a few more cities to the list. Not as many as you would think, but enough to warrant another go at it. I didn't have 5 more to add, but a couple and I'm really opposed to dropping anything off, so I'm just going to go to 32.
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The last time I did this was late in 2013, following my Round the Trip world. I don't know why I'm choosing now to update the list, but it is now expanded to 30 cities, and adds four new places that I've visited the last two years, and then an additional forgotten gem from my Round the World Trip.
Again, these are ranked as cities I would visit (all of them I have visited), not where I would live. I would live in Geneva, but probably not visit again because there isn’t much to do, it is cold, and some other reasons. There are places that I wish I could rank because from what I’ve heard from family/friends that have been there they seem really good, like Moscow, Berlin and Hamburg, and when I visit them, I will update this list. Also irrelevant is the ease of getting to this city. Singapore isn’t hurt because it is the farthest commonly visited location from NYC than any other place, and London isn’t helped because it is 6 hours away.
A city includes sites and destinations that are a reasonable distance away, so Barcelona won’t get credit for the Playas that are 2-3 hours away (and are closer to Valencia), and Athens won’t get credit for Ephesus which is 3 hours away, but London would get credit for Stratford (or whatever it’s called where Shakespeare is from, or Oxford – and Rome gets credit for the Vatican, which for being a different country, is totally part of Rome) which is reasonably close.
The little hamlet high above the Vietnamese hills, Da Lat was probably the most pleasant surprise of any place on my trip. The city itself is modeled after European cities, with parks, downtown circles and even a model Eiffel Tower. The surrounding areas houses more traditional Vietnamese fair, like temples, Buddhas, waterfalls and even roller coasters, all underneath a cool mountain air. Da Lat's hills hide many nice restaurants, bars and clubs. It isn't nearly as loud or as famous as Ho Chi Minh, Nha Trang or Hanoi, but Da Lat may be the most pure mix of Asia and Europe that I have seen. Also, it has an incredibly nice airport given the just six flights that fly there each day.
59.) Kuala Lumpur (2013)
Our first day in Kuala Lumpur, I hated it. We didn't really plan much to do and aimlessly went around. The second day, where we had a plan, it became a lot better. There are a few standout sites, like the Menara KL, the Petronas Towers, the Bird Park. The food was excellent, from down home Malaysian cooking, to fancier places. The shopping is quite nice. There are myriad cooler cities in Southeast Asia, but when you give KL a chance, it really starts to shine.
58.) Phuket (2013)
I was sick for most of my time in Phuket, but the one day I was healthy was excellent, seeing the Phang Nga Bay (about 90 minutes from Phuket, but I'll count it). It was a beautiful bay, with so many incredible rocks and lagoons and caves. The town itself of Phuket is pristine sand and sunsets and everything you would expect, with solid Thai food. It's a beach town, which for me isn't all that exciting, but it is probably the best version of a beach town out there.
57.) Warsaw (2014)
Warsaw may have gone higher had I spent more time there, but like many other European countries, the capital is often a bit too commercial, a bit too gray, than the smaller pearls of cities (like Krakow, for Poland). Warsaw has some great sites, like its main street and clock tower, the palace, and I'm sure a whole host of others I forgot about or didn't have time to visit, but it is a bit lost in a city a bit too big for its own good. The food is decent, but what I really want to commend is its bar scene. There were some great gastropubs and beer bars that littered across the Warszawa Central district.
56.) Belgrade (2017)
In 20 years, Belgrade may deserve a spot well up this list, but for now for a city on the rise it gets on. For advantages, Belgrade is cheap, it houses some nice history, really good restaurants, and a great bar and club scene. For negatives, none of these things are marketed well enough. Belgrade should continue to grow, and as it does it will replace dirty streets with cleaner ones, complete the renovation on its main church, and just overall work on the edges. Then again, I kind of like a city that can still have cool ass floating clubs with affordable bottle service.
55.) Hong Kong (2003)
Hong Kong has little to do in terms of historical sights. With a couple countries claiming ownership of Hong Kong, they have done a nice job removing any ties to any country. Still, it has arguably the best skyline in the world (though after the new WTC complex is finished in all its glory, NYC will have a good claim to that spot), and being situated in front of and on a mountain gives it some excellent views. Their airport in universally hailed as great, and the gambling capital of Asia (Macau) is just a ferry ride away. But still, picking a place to be higher than 15th given its total lack of history, or its lack of any particular brand of brilliance other than its propensity to build really tall buildings just feels wrong.
54.) Penang (2013)
There are positives and negatives to Penang, and depending how important the positives are relative to the negatives to you, Penang could rise or fall on your rankings. Personally, food and culture are really important to me, and Penang has both in spades. It may be a little overrated with food, but the seafood night markets that litter both Georgetown (the main city) and the beaches (all within an hour or so from Georgetown) are wonderful. The Nyonya food in Penang is far better than that in Kuala Lumpur. There is enough to see, including a nice little trek in Georgetown to some interesting historical buildings (the Cheong Fat Tze is a nice highlight). Of course, Penang is also very crowded, slightly dirty and the beaches themselves are quite barren. In the end, I find this fair for what I still consider a great eating spot.
53.) Positano (2019)
Positano may have ranked differently if we went a week later - after the start of their 'busy season'. Maybe it would have ended up higher because that's how most people see Positano, or maybe lower because the crowds and prices would have been unbearable. Anyway, Positano might be one of the prettiest towns I've ever visted, with incredible views from all directions, whether up top looking down and across, or down at sea level looking up to waves and waves of houses. Positano also had a slew of nice restaurants, shops and tourism fare, be it hikes or boating. Positano is also well connected to a bunch of other Amalfi Coast towns, be it Amalfi or Sorrento or otherwise. Nice town, but a bit too overpriced and popular (in the busy season, at least).
52.) Parma (2015)
Italy is the one country where I would love to just visit a lot of their secondary cities. Parma was a fantastic little slice of Italia. The food was excellent, and the eponymous cheese was even better. The balsamic was the cherry on top. Yes, Parma is almost fully a food tourism place. It also was a beautiful little town, replete with nice lanes serving drinks and good times late until the night. I wish I got more time in Parma to experience the life in the city.
51.) Cairo (2018)
My ranking of Cairo definitely includes Giza (about 30-60 min away, depending on traffic), and Saqqara, and adding to those two pyramid and druin complexes, if you add in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo has some truly top notch sites. Of course, my view of cities go beyond sites, and that is where Cairo starts to struggle, be it the lack of truly great food, the restrictive nightlife that puts most fun places out of the reach of solo travelers (the old 'couples only' rule). These things are important to me, particularly the food aspect, and Cairo doesn't stack up. It does with key sites though, and when you add in some nice neighborhoods, there is a chance I am being unfair here.
50.) Jaipur (2013)
I hated traveling in India in my limited tourist experience in India prior to Rajasthan. First was Agra, where the Taj was nice but completely offset by the filth of Agra. Kerala was a mess. Given those two, was not too excited to be going to Rajasthan, but I have to say it was great. Jaipur is slightly too touristy, with most of the city, at least as far as I could tell, built off Forts, Palaces, strange Astronomical objects, and of course shopping. For pure tourism, it is probably the best city in India, even if it gets a bit too hot at times.
49.) Johannesburg (2016, 2018)
I've flown into and out of Johannesburg three different times, but spent a total of one night and about two days in the city, seeing a few of the main sites, but in reality not enough to get a real true sense of the city. What Joburg does have are some nice sites like the Apartheid Museum, a few gentrified neighborhoods, some classy foods and areas, the nice lion safari on its outskirts. The negatives are its sheer size (it takes forever to get from place to place), and the danger. Now, that danger part is being unfair - Cape Town has a higher murder rate, though most of that is localized into slums - but when you drive through posh districts and suburbs and every street has barbed wire it gives a less than stellar impression.
48.) Munich (2000 & 2009)
I have a strange history with quite a few international cities, and Munich is another one. I had both my 9th and 18th Birthday in Munich (in related news, I’m pretty sure where you can find me on April 7th, 2018). The first during my initial trip to that part of the world, and the 2nd on the penultimate day of our Orchestra’s tour of Austria (we flew out of Munich). Berlin is supposedly a great, modern city, but out of all the cities I have been to in Germany, Munich is by far the best. It is incredibly modern, and getting increasingly so, with modern architecture abound. It is the only European city with a skyline that can compare to those in the US (not a crucial factor, but still nice). The downside is there is little to see and that German food isn’t that good. Either way, Munich will always be the place to spend any birthday that is a multiple of nine, and for that alone, it gets on the list.
47.) Hanoi (2019)
If we average out the mess present at times in its clustered old town and the beauty of its large West Lake area, you get a truly great city. Hanoi is a bit more staid than its Vietnamese colleague in the South (further up the list), but it still has its charm. The lakes throughout city create a more atmosphere and some truly stunning temples and pagodas. The food, as it surely is thrughout Vietnam, is excellent. The beer flows well. There's nothing wrong with teh city, but there's no one feature that sets it apart.
46.) Siem Reap (2013)
Siem Reap is a one-stop town, in that the only real thing to see there is Angkor Wat, but do you know what (excuse the pun), that is enough to get it a spot on the list. Looking back at my time there, even the town itself of Siem Reap is quite nice - good restaurants, nice bars, enough to do when not lollygagging around the Angkor Wat complex. Anyway, that's not to say that it would be ranked had Angkor Wat been there. Angkor Wat is one of the better two day tourism sites I've ever been to, a parade of amazing history. It's an added bonus that they've developed the town enough to make the nights fun as well.
45.) Punta Arenas (2017)
It's odd that none of the Patagonia cities are that close to the sites that surround those areas, so they were hard to judge. Punta Arenas is probably the most substantial town of the three we visited, with an actual down-town, with nice ornate buildings and squares, The best part of the city is an unexplainable sense of being so far away from home, from anywhere, with Punta Arenas being the Southernmost city of more than 50,000 people. There are of course some nice restaurants and bars, and a good mix of locals and tourists, which created a nice atmosphere as well. Of course, with the Tierra del Fuego and Isla Magdalena Penguins within driving distance, the tourism isn't too bad either.
44.) Florence (2003)
I’ll admit that Florence should probably be higher on this list, but it is my list of favorite cities that I would recommend. This is a strange combination, because personal favorites are wholly subjective, while cities that you recommend should be somewhat objective. Anyway, my problem with Florence is I’m not really into art, and if you aren’t than there is little to do in Florence. If you like art, specifically really detailed portraits from the renaissance era, then you will love Florence. If you don’t, then it will be something of a bore to a disappointment.
43.) Udaipur (2013)
Our first new city on the list is my 2nd Indian city on the list. As somehow who hated traveling in India, picking a city that is in one of the hottest areas in the country, and a city I visited during their hot dry season, this high might seem surprising. Well, I can't recommend Udaipur, along with Rajasthan as a hole, enough. The city has some beautiful scenery being built on a far more hilly area of the country than you would expect. They have famous lakes that hold famous hotels built on famous castles. They have nice food and street shows that line the corridors of the inner city. THere's the strange love for the movie Octopussy, where screenings are shown nightly. There's a beautiful palace inside the city. And I'll stretch my 'sites withing 1.5 hours count' rule by saying that the Jain Temple at Ranakpur was incredible - and in any modern country it would be within 1.5 hours.
42.) Split (2017)
Both of my two new cities are coastal Croatian outposts, and first comes the bigger of the two cities, in Split. There is so much to like about Split, be it the sprawling old town with enough sites and small alleys lined with shops and restaurant to keep you busy way too long, or the modern clubs and restaurants, or the sites from its hills. I guess in theory I can include the island of Hvar as well as that is within a 1-hour boat ride away, which adds beautiful beaches and mountains to this as well. Split as a whole might be a little too commercialized - they had a lot of stalls selling the normal tourist fares that aren't always appreciated, but the city truly is a beautiful slice of culture deep in Croatia. I do love how varied the drink and food scene is there as well.
41.) Lima (2016)
Lima has a few things going for it. First, its culinary brilliance, with two restaurants ranking in the Top 10 in the World per San Pelligrino's list (the most accepted of that type of list), one being Maido, a Japanese-Peruvian sensation. The sites aren't the best, few major cities are in retrospect, with a few museums and halls. The real sites of Lima are the whisping cliffs, the shops and the eclectic nightlife. The best South American cities combine Andean views with European charms, and few big ones do it better than Lima.
40.) El Calafate (2017)
I have a few inexplicable choices on this list, and El Calafate, a more or less one-road town, might be at the top of those odd choices. I mean, literally 95% of the restaurants and shops are either on, or right off of, the main road. Of course, those restaurants and shops are fantastic, a great number of restaurants with fine Argentinean fare (Parilla's, and more earthern restraurants). Of course, the bars are great as well, from chic library-style cocktails, to an American craft beer oasis. However, none of that would place it on this list, but the irreplaceable Perito Moreno does. One of the greatest tourist joys of my life was walking around and then on that amazing, stunning glacier. A perfect mix of blues and whites, cascading chalks of ice, and the hoth-like conditions when traversing its face. All of it special.
39.) Aswan (2018)
Sadly, I can't list 'The Nile Cruise' as a city, because combining Luxor, Esna, Edfu and Aswan would probably deserve quite a higher spot. However, only the last of those (Edfu) is probably within the 90 minute range. Aswan is a nice city, with open streets, nice restaurants and hotels off of the Nile, architectural marvels both new (the Aswan Dam) and old (Phillae temple complex and Elephantine Island). When you add in the sites within its radius, it starts to glow as Egypt's less cluttered jewel.
38 & 37.) Prague/Budapest (2000)
These two are kind of blended together for me. I visited them essentially right after each other, both 13 years ago so my memory of each is a little hazy. I remember both for mainly positives. They are both beautiful cities, with lovely rivers running through them. They have some stuff to see, but not a whole lot. They are more affordable than the major cities in Western Europe, which is a plus (but also English –at least then – is not very transferrable to there). Budapest has some great food (Goulash!), while Prague is a pilgrimage for Catholics.
36.) Turin (2015)
I was close to picking Parma, as then I could include the Parma cheese factories, but picking Turin allows me to count the Piedmont wine country, and those little towns that dot it. Turin the city though, is a understated version of how incredible Italy is. It has the requisite churches and squares, but also has the open palacial squares and river-fronts that you normally associate with other countries in Europe. It has some incredible little hamlets of food, with great options for eating throughout the day (some excellent tea joints). My favorite place in Turin actually wasn't one of the two main squares, but Piazza Vittorio Veneto, one that borders the river with an amazing view of the city behind it. It was the last place we went to in Turin, an incredible capper to an unexpected amazing day in a great city.
35.) Melbourne (2013)
Melbourne could be a Top-10 city to spend four or five days in. There is not too much to do, but enough to keep you occupied. If you like sports, which I do, then it is even better. Melbourne tries to lay claim to the Sporting Capital of the World, and when you mix together one of Tennis' four main tournaments with the 2nd most famous Cricket Ground (and most famous Aussie Rules ground) in the world right next door, it is hard to argue. Melbourne's riverfront is a beautiful area, with amazing views of the city around it. It's food options are endless, with really good Asian cuisine throughout the city. The nightlife seemed nice enough. It also has some really beautiful scenery around an hour of its boundaries, with beautiful parks, wine regions and the Great Ocean Road. Add into that Philipp Island, which just hits the cutoff to be included with Melbourne, and you get a solid, Top-15 city.
34.) Panama City (2012)
My highest ranking Caribbean city probably could be higher, but I’ve been to a lot of great European cities so I don’t want to get crazy. I went to Panama with really low expectations, and I was blown away. It has a really impressive skyline, one that holds its own even if you forget that it is a poor latin country. It has great food of different cuisines. It has a ton to see, with the Panama Canal and the rainforest both falling into its sights. Other than Calgary (which I talked about in the last list) I don’t know if any trip I’ve gone on has been such a surprise as Panama, the Caribbean’s only truly modern city.
33.) Phnom Penh (2013)
I lied when I said that Da Lat was the biggest surprise of the trip. Phnom Penh was. I wasn't expecting too much from Canbodia's capital, but the mix of history, good and bad, food, nightlife and surprising urbanity made Phnom Penh a real highlight for me. I really loved Cambodian food, and it was at its best in Phnom Penh, a perfect mix of Malay and Thai cuisine. Phnom Penh itself embraced its own history, not shying away from the terrible acts of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, maintaining multiple areas in the city to pay tribute to those who died. The rest of the city pays tribute to the rich culture of Cambodia that preceded the destruction, with large pagodas in beautiful parks and nice museums. Phnom Penh also has a nice riverfront area that is really, really lively at night. Add into all of this that the currency of choice in the Dollar, and you get a really nice, underrated city.
Melbourne could be a Top-10 city to spend four or five days in. There is not too much to do, but enough to keep you occupied. If you like sports, which I do, then it is even better. Melbourne tries to lay claim to the Sporting Capital of the World, and when you mix together one of Tennis' four main tournaments with the 2nd most famous Cricket Ground (and most famous Aussie Rules ground) in the world right next door, it is hard to argue. Melbourne's riverfront is a beautiful area, with amazing views of the city around it. It's food options are endless, with really good Asian cuisine throughout the city. The nightlife seemed nice enough. It also has some really beautiful scenery around an hour of its boundaries, with beautiful parks, wine regions and the Great Ocean Road. Add into that Philipp Island, which just hits the cutoff to be included with Melbourne, and you get a solid, Top-15 city.
34.) Panama City (2012)
My highest ranking Caribbean city probably could be higher, but I’ve been to a lot of great European cities so I don’t want to get crazy. I went to Panama with really low expectations, and I was blown away. It has a really impressive skyline, one that holds its own even if you forget that it is a poor latin country. It has great food of different cuisines. It has a ton to see, with the Panama Canal and the rainforest both falling into its sights. Other than Calgary (which I talked about in the last list) I don’t know if any trip I’ve gone on has been such a surprise as Panama, the Caribbean’s only truly modern city.
33.) Phnom Penh (2013)
I lied when I said that Da Lat was the biggest surprise of the trip. Phnom Penh was. I wasn't expecting too much from Canbodia's capital, but the mix of history, good and bad, food, nightlife and surprising urbanity made Phnom Penh a real highlight for me. I really loved Cambodian food, and it was at its best in Phnom Penh, a perfect mix of Malay and Thai cuisine. Phnom Penh itself embraced its own history, not shying away from the terrible acts of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, maintaining multiple areas in the city to pay tribute to those who died. The rest of the city pays tribute to the rich culture of Cambodia that preceded the destruction, with large pagodas in beautiful parks and nice museums. Phnom Penh also has a nice riverfront area that is really, really lively at night. Add into all of this that the currency of choice in the Dollar, and you get a really nice, underrated city.
32.) Bilbao & 31.) San Sebastian (2021)
The first new entry into the list is another combination. This time not because I can't truly remember the difference (like Prague & Budapest), but because they're similar. Both cities have beautiful little old towns just jam packed with Pintxo Bar after Pintxo bar. Both cities have truly world class restaurants as well, including Azurmendi which was a truly amazing experience. They have nice coasts, great scenery and beaches, and so much else. Gun to my head, I would pick San Sebastian, whose old town is a little more cozy and inviting. Bilbao is slightly bigger, with its larger churches and museums, and open squares, but honestly I would gladly go back to either, two gastronomic capitals of the world. Especially would love to go back in a time where we have some ability to go out at night, as the few instances of being out until 1:30am belied towns with great drinks, pretty good craft beer, and a love of dancing. Honestly, the basque region is awesome.
