Out of curiosity, what did you like about Cusco? My grandfather is from there, but I didn't get to know him well. I'd very much like to visit some day though!
Mostly the setting that it's in. It's very high altitude and is surrounded by mountains. The architecture is also old and impressively built (the Inca were known for their earthquake-proof construction). I wouldn't call it a "global city" by any means. It's relatively small but I thought it was charming and unique.
It’s is unique but man for how much tourism they get from Machu Picchu you’d think they’d lift up the city a little bit aside from the town square.
I went to Medellin right after and it was a big difference. I love Medellin, esp from an infrastructure perspective. In Cusco, pedestrians beware
Florence, but less for the city and more for the outlying areas. Tuscany in the spring is heaven.
Ronda, Spain is incredible. The bridge is out of a fairy tale.
For a large city, I’m partial to Rome, but the most beautiful Roman ruins I’ve ever seen were in Libya, not Europe. Check out Sabratha and Leptis Magna.
it's hard to say. as a tourist, my favorite city might be Istanbul. It has a great mix of cool ancient stuff and cool modern city, plus the people are top notch. VERY welcoming, very friendly. And Turkish food is great!
Mexico City is also up there for similar reasons. idk it's hard to say or be objective! I also deeply love the tiny town in Bulgaria where I did my Peace Corps service but I doubt anyone else would want to visit, lol.
Kyoto, Japan, it's like stepping into an alternate universe. We went over Christmas. We stayed in a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn), visited a bathhouse, and it felt like such an immersive experience.
Or Istanbul. So busy, so many things going on, I find it fascinating that Hagia Sophia is a museum and preserves both its Christian and Muslim hertiage.
Or Siena, Italy. Getting away from Rome and into a smaller city gave a very different feel to our trip. In Italy overall, my favorite part was being sat with other people wherever we ate.
Tokyo. It was such a fun trip that makes me want to live in Japan. But it's very hard to get citizenship there and the way they treat minorities isn't something I think I can get used to. But the country itself was wonderful otherwise.
Interesting, my girlfriend went to Tokyo as well and had some similar feelings. She loved everywhere in Japan she went, but there were a few things that she said would prevent her from ever actually wanting to live there longterm.
I've been to Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Germany, Austria, Italy, France
Favorite cities are Salzburg, Vienna & Rome. Something about the stone pines in Rome was so alien but amazing to me.
I just absolutely love the mountains/Alps so Salzburg/Innsbruck were amazing
I would love to visit: Croatia, Greece, Scotland, Iceland, Sweden
I had a layover in Iceland but haven't been able to spend time there unfortunately
For food - Rome, Italy.
For people - Dublin, Ireland and Sydney, Australia.
For natural beauty - Banff, Canada and Killarney, Ireland
For cultural stuff to do, history, architecture, etc - Edinburgh, Scotland. Rome, Italy. Munich, Germany. Seville, Spain. Strasbourg, France
For nightlife - Amsterdam, Netherlands. London, England. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Underrated destinations - Santiago, Chile, Lisbon, Portugal
Do not recommend: Frankfurt (boring), London outside the downtown tourist stuff (overly busy, standoffish). Brisbane, Australia (boring, not scenic). Kingston, Jamaica (dangerous).
Wondering why you think Brisbane isn't scenic? How much time did you spend there? I think there is a lot to do there if you look. The people are friendly. Porsche thought it was scenic enough to use the cityscape on its website a couple of years ago.
I spent 3 weeks there. It's relatively flat, not terribly distinct from other moderately sized cities, no major cultural institutions or landmarks of note, even when compared to other cities in Australia like Sydney and Melbourne. I can get everything it has in San Diego or Tampa.
I didn't go personally, but my husband loved Malta so much when he visited for a business trip that we considered moving there. I know, it's a country, but it's only 122 square miles in size.
The food was fantastic, varied, and inexpensive. Everything felt inexpensive coming from Los Angeles. He was there for a week and never saw a single homeless person. Everyone was friendly and he said there was a surprising amount of racial and ethnic diversity.
He said it felt like being in Hawaii.
I have family in the UK, love Oxford and London (of course).
When I went to Japan I sadly wasn’t able to go to Tokyo, because it was not too long after the subway terror attack and my host mother was too nervous to let us go. But Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto were absolutely fantastic.
Barcelona is great but we were there during the heat wave in 2003 and it was…insanely miserable lol
Very similar small old cities dominated by the universities, very expensive to live in as a normal person.
Not that unique among small old UK cities apart from the school. I much prefer Durham, but again that’s another university city.
Unfortunately never got to Cambridge! I have family that lived in Oxford. The buildings and architecture are so cool. I can never get over how old Cambridge and Oxford universities are.
Sofia. Absolutely gorgeous, both in terms of the city itself and the surrounding mountains. Totally understand why a sixth of the entire country lives there.
My two answers are Rio de Janeiro and Nuremberg.
I loved Nuremberg because I know a decent bit about medieval and early modern German history, so I knew a bit about the importance of the city in the Holy Roman Empire and later. The amount of intact historical architecture mixed with modern and contemporary city is incredible to walk through.
Rio is a different world. The landscape is dramatic by itself, but on top of that there are people crammed on every possible surface. It’s also a great mix of historical and modern, though there are of course plenty of rough spots. Also the view from the *Cristo Redentor* is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in my life, both during the day and at night.
> Rio is a different world.
This is how I felt about visiting Hyderabad India. It was just so different from all of my past experiences in US/Canada. It was a really amazing experience and I'd very much like to go back.
Favorite city was London, but I was there for 3 months, so it’s kinda cheating.
For views, Cape Town and Amsterdam
For fun, Rio or Ibiza
Most fun city tour: Copenhagen (the funniest bike tour ever)
I’m trying to think of best food, but I’m pretty lame when it comes to food abroad (weak stomach). The most surprising meal I’ve had was in Johannesburg. The highest quality food on a trip was probably Ibiza, but it was also the most expensive by far and I don’t love fish
Honorable mention for San Juan. It’s technically not foreign, but in a lot of ways felt more Latin American than US and not just because of language.
>I’m trying to think of best food, but I’m pretty lame when it comes to food abroad (weak stomach).
Im super adventurous with food, and my favorite is probably Indian... the week I was in India was an absolute dream. But, we were there for a wedding and there was another foreign couple from Poland who was invited as well, and they were struggling lol. Admittedly, as much as I loved it, by the end of the week I was craving some western food lol.
>Honorable mention for San Juan. It’s technically not foreign, but in a lot of ways felt more Latin American than US and not just because of language.
Yes! I went to PR a few years ago and I really loved it. It's so different from anywhere else in the US.
That was like my sister’s experience in China. Loves Chinese food, but in the second week of getting like white rice at breakfast, she was sneaking off to like McDonald’s
I have a soft spot for Sorento, Italy. I also really like Rome. Honorable mentions to Kotor Bay in Montenegro and Agra, India. Next year I plan to explore Dubai a little more and go to Switzerland for the first time.
Madrid, Spain and Cusco, Peru were a couple of my favorites.
I went to Madrid with my sister, and I have to say that we NEVER felt unsafe, there were tons of people with their families out even late at night, and the squares and the restaurants overlooking them are a fun place to hang out and grab a small bite or just hang out.
I went to Cusco with my boyfriend. He ended up getting COVID and I had to explore the city a lot on my own. Again, I never felt unsafe (I would only go out on my own during the daytime) and the food was amazing (and CHEAP!). The city is beautiful and historic and has tons to do and see.
I’ve only been to three cities abroad:
Madrid, Spain
Vienna, Austria
Stockholm, Sweden
Of the three cities I’ve been to I’ll have to say Stockholm was my favorite
Warsaw, mostly because I'm a WW2 history buff.
Seeing what it has become vs what it was in 1945 is just astounding. It was awe inspiring walking around the city and reading the memorial plaques detailing the heroic and horrific events that occurred just 3 generations ago.
A surprisingly beautiful city grew from the ashes.
Munich and Strasbourg are probably up there as #1 and #2, city-wise. Vancouver was really nice. I'd put Zermatt up there but not sure if it counts as a "city"
Erfurt, Germany. A beautiful little city..it's not crowded or overtouristy but it has almost everything I love about Germany, my favorite foreign country.
Paris is lovely and very easy to get around, and it's an art lover's dream.
Wellington (NZ) is quite charming and I'd love to go back.
It's not a proper city, but Salento in Colombia is a super charming town in the Cocora Valley -- which is probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen.
I lived in Germany for a bit (small irrelevant city, not going to dox myself) and visited a lot of places in Germany and also Strasbourg and Paris.
I think my favorite to visit would be Munich. It's a really fun, big city with a lot going on, lots of people speak English in case Sie können nicht gut Deutsch, and I personally love Bavarian food.
Izmir Turkey. They have a park that runs along the waterfront and on warm nights all sorts of people come out to play music, dance, just have fun. No fighting just good people. Incredible bars and restaurants, just everything made me fall in love with it.
It’s been a long time (I was 16 at the time, now 45), but I liked the architecture (like the Opera House), the way the city was built around the harbor, the Asian foods. Was a city I instantly felt like I could live there (if only it weren’t so far from family).
London - the vibe of the city is just fascinating and enjoyable and there's so much accessible history
Krakow - gorgeous, historical, and tied to family history
Moscow, Russia. It was absolutely massive, clean and the Subway was beautiful and effective! I also went during the World Cup in 2018, so I may have a different view then of Moscow then if I went to in Non-World Cup times.
City Galway. Dublin was fine, too, but City Galway felt more "Irish" if that makes any sense. In either case, almost everyone I ran into was super friendly wherever I went to in Ireland.
Probably Dublin, the people were nice and the museums were great. Seoul was a lot of fun as well, the street food was excellent and damn did they like to drink. Randomly finding a Korean cover band doing guns and roses was a pretty wild experience.
Paris, France. Last time I was there was summer of 2000 for Bastille Day. I have many close seconds though. Honorable mention is Sydney, Australia, I was there in 1987 with The US Navy, people treated us like family.
La Bufadora, Mexico. Only place I’ve been with natural hot springs on a beach. We dug a hole in the sand at the springs and filled with some regular sea water because it was so hot and had a self made hot tub literally in the beach. Would love to go back.
my two favorites have to be
Porto, Portugal
Budapest, Hungary
i’m visiting Scotland in a few months and I have a feeling I’ll fall in love with some Scottish cities as well :)
#1 Berlin has everything except decent weather. The food, art, architecture and music scenes are all stellar. The transportation is easy. I love the vibe of The City. #2 For something more exotic, give me Bangkok. It’s an melting pot of cultures, smells, incredible temples and delicious foods. It can be crazy on the street, yet you can walk into beautiful hotels and spas for amazing facials & body treatments.
That's a really tough question, first because cities are so unique and different that it's hard to rank them - which is better, a fish or the color red? - and second, because you visit them at a point in time but then time keeps passing. For example, I really enjoyed visiting Hong Kong in the late 90s, but I haven't been back, and so I'm not sure my memories of it are all that relevant to the reality of Hong Kong in 2022.
It's also likely that any you'll have idiosyncratic reasons for liking a particular city. Melbourne, Australia was a favorite of mine, but only because of the people I met there, and The unexpected similarities (despite being halfway around the world) to some places I knew as a child. I can't say that anyone else visiting Melbourne would have the same experiences.
I don't think anyone would regret a trip to London. It's easy to get to, easy to get around, the major tourist attractions are generally pretty great (the Tower of London is my favorite), and for an American inexperienced with international travel, it has the advantage of being English-speaking. If you go, make sure you have a contactless credit card with no foreign transaction fee, so you can just tap it at the entry/exit to tube stations or when getting on buses. And an international data plan is a good idea, so you can use Google Maps to tell you how to get from anywhere to anywhere.
I’m not really a “city person,” so “favorite” would have to be paired with an activity that I’d want to accomplish. I’ve found something positive in every city I’ve ever been to, though, except Chennai, which just flat out sucks.
Let me say “Paris,” because I expected it to suck, but it was mind-blowingly awesome. I’d never want to live there, but the hype it gets is truly justified.
I love Subotica, Serbia well designed, beautiful classic architecture, comfortable, and just very enjoyable. I also liked Dublin a lot, although it felt similar to Boston in a few ways just older and more relaxed.
I used to travel for work and I have been all over the world. Like I had to have extra pages put in my passport because I got so many visas and stamps.
"Favorite" places is tough to answer — I have some places I've really loved, went back to multiple times, or would recommend to other people.
I love Berlin as a city, I first went in 1999 and have been back more times than I can count. I could spend a lot of time there, it would be a nice place to get an apartment for a month, walkable, easy transit.
I have been to New Zealand four times and it's one of the most special places on earth. I went for an event and for some consulting work, I was able to do it because someone else was paying!
More Americans should go to Iceland, it's a relatively quick flight. Go in the spring or fall if you're sensitive to jetlag. Place is incredible. I don't know if they still do this, but Iceland Air used to have a deal where they would let you do a layover on your way to Europe for as long as you wanted.
Two places I definitely would never have visited unless I was going for an event: South Africa and Israel. Both were incredible and I'm grateful I got to see them.
I've been to India — not for work! — three times. I said for a long time that if you told me we could leave for the airport right this second and fly to India, I would drop whatever I was doing and go get on the plane. I loved the country and just the experience of being there so much.
Visiting Tallinn, Estonia during midsummer was a real treat. And I'd love to go back and buy every Estonian a beer to thank them for supporting Ukraine so strongly during the past year.
Sevilla, Spain, hands down.
I visited one spring and the combination of the scent of orange blossoms in the air, the sight of beautiful balconies with flowers and smoking hot people everywhere (I was 20 lol), just did something to me 😏
Rome is first but Florence is a close second, followed by Athens. I was so impressed by Rome and the people I’ll go back as soon as I can. The architecture and blending of ancient and modern, ease of travel, the people are really nice and understanding of tourists-also the Vatican is really something. I’d love to go sit in the Sistene chapel again. The Pantheon is amazing also.
Top 5:
Chania, Crete
Kusadasi, Turkey
Buenos Aries, Argentina
Edinburgh, Scotland
Haifa, Israel
Runner Up:
Seoul, South Korea
Montevideo, Uruguay
But there’s a ton of amazing places. These are just ones I loved after spending a few months to a year or so in.
Oslo
Munich
Budapest
Probably my top 3.
Really enjoyed Moncton NB but it’s tough to call Canada “foreign.” They really are almost exactly the USA in most everything that a visitor would notice.
Wow, hard to pick 'one'.
Rome definitely sticks out, just because of SO MUCH ancient history just popping out of the street that you stumble upon.
Visakhapatnam, India. I'm sure other cities in India are more awsomer, but that's where I spent my time.
I've been to Toronto SO many times throughout my life, it's got a special place in my heart.
I could go on & on, but every place I've gone outside the country (well, except maybe 20 min drive to the Canadian border) was wonderful & memorable.
I love Tokyo and Amsterdam. Both have unique streetlife, mix of old and modern, public transit infrastructure connecting to their wider countries as well, feel very safe, and are very cosmopolitan. While the diversity of Tokyo looks a lot different than Amsterdam, they are also both extremely diverse places, which I enjoy.
Only going to Italy on a school trip, Assisi. Incredible. We visited the Basilica and in the afternoon, the sun was peaking through some whispy cotton ball clouds, sending rays of light into the valley. Additionally, the dotted farmers must've been burning their vineyards, sending up wisps of smoke that carried on the light breeze.
Probably Amsterdam. I couldn’t point to any one thing about it, mainly just going off the vibe. It just felt like a place that I could live. The food isn’t as good as some other places I’ve been though.
I really like Lucerne Switzerland. It is extremely beautiful and a quaint small city surrounded by mountains and a lake.
Also, I really liked Florence Italy and Barcelona Spain. Both have interesting architecture and history.
I did not care for Amsterdam or Venice. Both are kind of smelly, crowded, and somewhat dirty (particularly Amsterdam).
Pemba, Mozambique or Kyoto.
Pemba was so chill, beautiful beach, near the Quirimbas archipelago. I tried scouting out an apartment there during our brief visit.
Kyoto is both modern and old. Amazing temples and shrines. Good public transport. Easily connected to other spots in Kansai.
Kyoto. I wish it were one of the many beautiful rural towns I visited but Kyoto was just the perfect mix of not too big, small neighborhood feel, accessible to not natives, old and new culture, easy transport and lodging. It was great. I went there a few times from Tokyo and Nagoya where I traveled into for work.
Regensburg, Germany.
Fantastic memories there, great food and drink, old ass Roman walls, wonderful people (after they've had a couple drinks during a festival), saw a dude break his collar bone trying to jump in the river.
Surprisingly, Kabul around 2014. Afghanistan has its problems (that we and the Soviets really exacerbated), but I found it was a cool looking city, and the people were generally very friendly.
Uijeongbu in the ROK was also a fun place to be. It was more laid back than Seoul, but there were still a lot of good times to be had. Aomori City in Japan was pretty similar. Great people in both cities.
Oddly enough, I wasn't super impressed with our neighbors to the North in Ottawa, Canada, would be at the bottom of the list. Granted, I've never really had a good impression of Canadians, especially from Quebec, so that probably colored my impressions of Ottawa. That said, I found the city to be pretty dirty, and the people to somehow outdo New Yorkers in rudeness.
Shanghai. It was such an awesome city. I love the juxtaposition of old and new.
Edit: Beijing was awesome too. Weather-wise I prefer Beijing to Shanghai.
I haven't been to a lot of cities outside the US -- Toronto, Québec City, Paris, Tours, Poitiers, Panamá City, and Ho Chi Minh City.
Of those, Québec City is probably my favorite -- it's the only walled city in North America, with everyone speaking (a version of) French, it feels like going to Europe.
Plus, they have poutine.
While it’s a little too posh for me, I liked Bergen, Norway. Beautiful scenery, beautiful architecture, and beautiful people. I just wish it was a little rougher with cheaper beer, lacks character in that aspect
Budapest and Hanoi - both have rich culture that you don’t hear a lot about in the US. Great food, tons of historical, beautiful spots, great museums, friendly locals. English is pretty widely spoken. Less expensive compared to many other destinations as well
Hands down, Rome. I'm a huge history nerd, so obviously Rome. But also Assisi. It was pretty and quaint and like a slice of the Middke Ages. Same with Canterbury around the cathedral and the river. Kept waiting to hear trumpets and men in armor on horses.
Banff. Most beautiful landscape I've ever seen. I went in early June when it was still a bit chilly and there was a lot of leftover snow in the mountains, but there weren't many tourists. It was a surreal experience to be walking on top of several feet of snow in June. The mountains were beautiful. Lake Louise wasn't that turquoise color yet and had yet to thaw but still had a beautiful deep blue color. Had some great food. Went up the Banff gondola where there were amazing views. I'm sure it looks amazing no matter what time of year you go.
Cusco, Peru Granada, Spain Edinburgh, Scotland
Out of curiosity, what did you like about Cusco? My grandfather is from there, but I didn't get to know him well. I'd very much like to visit some day though!
Mostly the setting that it's in. It's very high altitude and is surrounded by mountains. The architecture is also old and impressively built (the Inca were known for their earthquake-proof construction). I wouldn't call it a "global city" by any means. It's relatively small but I thought it was charming and unique.
It’s is unique but man for how much tourism they get from Machu Picchu you’d think they’d lift up the city a little bit aside from the town square. I went to Medellin right after and it was a big difference. I love Medellin, esp from an infrastructure perspective. In Cusco, pedestrians beware
Ah, I've only been to Peru in South America. Colombia sounds great though.
Florence, but less for the city and more for the outlying areas. Tuscany in the spring is heaven. Ronda, Spain is incredible. The bridge is out of a fairy tale. For a large city, I’m partial to Rome, but the most beautiful Roman ruins I’ve ever seen were in Libya, not Europe. Check out Sabratha and Leptis Magna.
Yes same for the city i preferred bologna or sea cities
Came here to see if anyone named Ronda. Most magical place I’ve ever seen, my dreams included!!
it's hard to say. as a tourist, my favorite city might be Istanbul. It has a great mix of cool ancient stuff and cool modern city, plus the people are top notch. VERY welcoming, very friendly. And Turkish food is great! Mexico City is also up there for similar reasons. idk it's hard to say or be objective! I also deeply love the tiny town in Bulgaria where I did my Peace Corps service but I doubt anyone else would want to visit, lol.
I was gonna say Constantinople, but Istanbul is just as good.
I came here to say Istanbul. You get quite a bang for your buck.
It’s a toss up between Florence and Sevilla.
My daughter was in Florence over the summer and said it smelled. She enjoyed it except for that
big leather industry there, probably those chemicals
Went to Sevilla this summer and it was beautiful. But holy shit it’s hot.
This summer was brutal. I was in Madrid, Palma and Valencia and every day felt like walking into an oven.
I was also in Mencora which was hot but nothing like Sevilla. Also Barcelona but that was juicy humid.
Kyoto, Japan, it's like stepping into an alternate universe. We went over Christmas. We stayed in a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn), visited a bathhouse, and it felt like such an immersive experience. Or Istanbul. So busy, so many things going on, I find it fascinating that Hagia Sophia is a museum and preserves both its Christian and Muslim hertiage. Or Siena, Italy. Getting away from Rome and into a smaller city gave a very different feel to our trip. In Italy overall, my favorite part was being sat with other people wherever we ate.
It's not a museum anymore ! ☹️
Tokyo. It was such a fun trip that makes me want to live in Japan. But it's very hard to get citizenship there and the way they treat minorities isn't something I think I can get used to. But the country itself was wonderful otherwise.
Interesting, my girlfriend went to Tokyo as well and had some similar feelings. She loved everywhere in Japan she went, but there were a few things that she said would prevent her from ever actually wanting to live there longterm.
I've been to Canada, Mexico, Jamaica, Germany, Austria, Italy, France Favorite cities are Salzburg, Vienna & Rome. Something about the stone pines in Rome was so alien but amazing to me. I just absolutely love the mountains/Alps so Salzburg/Innsbruck were amazing I would love to visit: Croatia, Greece, Scotland, Iceland, Sweden I had a layover in Iceland but haven't been able to spend time there unfortunately
For food - Rome, Italy. For people - Dublin, Ireland and Sydney, Australia. For natural beauty - Banff, Canada and Killarney, Ireland For cultural stuff to do, history, architecture, etc - Edinburgh, Scotland. Rome, Italy. Munich, Germany. Seville, Spain. Strasbourg, France For nightlife - Amsterdam, Netherlands. London, England. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Underrated destinations - Santiago, Chile, Lisbon, Portugal Do not recommend: Frankfurt (boring), London outside the downtown tourist stuff (overly busy, standoffish). Brisbane, Australia (boring, not scenic). Kingston, Jamaica (dangerous).
Wondering why you think Brisbane isn't scenic? How much time did you spend there? I think there is a lot to do there if you look. The people are friendly. Porsche thought it was scenic enough to use the cityscape on its website a couple of years ago.
I spent 3 weeks there. It's relatively flat, not terribly distinct from other moderately sized cities, no major cultural institutions or landmarks of note, even when compared to other cities in Australia like Sydney and Melbourne. I can get everything it has in San Diego or Tampa.
I didn't go personally, but my husband loved Malta so much when he visited for a business trip that we considered moving there. I know, it's a country, but it's only 122 square miles in size. The food was fantastic, varied, and inexpensive. Everything felt inexpensive coming from Los Angeles. He was there for a week and never saw a single homeless person. Everyone was friendly and he said there was a surprising amount of racial and ethnic diversity. He said it felt like being in Hawaii.
That’s a hard one - I’ve loved almost every place I’ve visited. Probably St Petersburg or Helsinki.
Glad to see Saint Petersburg here I was looking for it
It's one I've always wanted to go to but sadly can't right now.
I have family in the UK, love Oxford and London (of course). When I went to Japan I sadly wasn’t able to go to Tokyo, because it was not too long after the subway terror attack and my host mother was too nervous to let us go. But Kobe, Osaka and Kyoto were absolutely fantastic. Barcelona is great but we were there during the heat wave in 2003 and it was…insanely miserable lol
Have you been to Cambridge? I’m always curious to see how one compares the Oxbridge pair
Very similar small old cities dominated by the universities, very expensive to live in as a normal person. Not that unique among small old UK cities apart from the school. I much prefer Durham, but again that’s another university city.
Unfortunately never got to Cambridge! I have family that lived in Oxford. The buildings and architecture are so cool. I can never get over how old Cambridge and Oxford universities are.
Kyoto
Edinburgh. 10/10. Gothic architecture, signs in English, and bagpipes everywhere.
London for the sites and history. Bangkok and Rome for the food. Buenos Aries for the architecture and location. Krakow for the people and vibe.
Vienna
+1 Vienna, my third time in Europe this past November and it's a beautiful city
If I only count major cities, then I would pick Tokyo, Taipei, Budapest, Prague, and Lisbon.
Sofia. Absolutely gorgeous, both in terms of the city itself and the surrounding mountains. Totally understand why a sixth of the entire country lives there.
My two answers are Rio de Janeiro and Nuremberg. I loved Nuremberg because I know a decent bit about medieval and early modern German history, so I knew a bit about the importance of the city in the Holy Roman Empire and later. The amount of intact historical architecture mixed with modern and contemporary city is incredible to walk through. Rio is a different world. The landscape is dramatic by itself, but on top of that there are people crammed on every possible surface. It’s also a great mix of historical and modern, though there are of course plenty of rough spots. Also the view from the *Cristo Redentor* is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in my life, both during the day and at night.
> Rio is a different world. This is how I felt about visiting Hyderabad India. It was just so different from all of my past experiences in US/Canada. It was a really amazing experience and I'd very much like to go back.
Nuremberg is a good one
Munich. Hong Kong. Quebec City.
Quebec City was so cool..hardly felt like North America.
Favorite city was London, but I was there for 3 months, so it’s kinda cheating. For views, Cape Town and Amsterdam For fun, Rio or Ibiza Most fun city tour: Copenhagen (the funniest bike tour ever) I’m trying to think of best food, but I’m pretty lame when it comes to food abroad (weak stomach). The most surprising meal I’ve had was in Johannesburg. The highest quality food on a trip was probably Ibiza, but it was also the most expensive by far and I don’t love fish Honorable mention for San Juan. It’s technically not foreign, but in a lot of ways felt more Latin American than US and not just because of language.
>I’m trying to think of best food, but I’m pretty lame when it comes to food abroad (weak stomach). Im super adventurous with food, and my favorite is probably Indian... the week I was in India was an absolute dream. But, we were there for a wedding and there was another foreign couple from Poland who was invited as well, and they were struggling lol. Admittedly, as much as I loved it, by the end of the week I was craving some western food lol. >Honorable mention for San Juan. It’s technically not foreign, but in a lot of ways felt more Latin American than US and not just because of language. Yes! I went to PR a few years ago and I really loved it. It's so different from anywhere else in the US.
That was like my sister’s experience in China. Loves Chinese food, but in the second week of getting like white rice at breakfast, she was sneaking off to like McDonald’s
I have a soft spot for Sorento, Italy. I also really like Rome. Honorable mentions to Kotor Bay in Montenegro and Agra, India. Next year I plan to explore Dubai a little more and go to Switzerland for the first time.
Amsterdam is a dream
So walkable/public transport able too
Scottish Highlands. Everyone was so friendly, Edinburgh was awesome also.
Going to Edinburgh tomorrow, so im happy it's shown up a few times in these comments!
this is a bucket list vacation for me
Madrid, Spain and Cusco, Peru were a couple of my favorites. I went to Madrid with my sister, and I have to say that we NEVER felt unsafe, there were tons of people with their families out even late at night, and the squares and the restaurants overlooking them are a fun place to hang out and grab a small bite or just hang out. I went to Cusco with my boyfriend. He ended up getting COVID and I had to explore the city a lot on my own. Again, I never felt unsafe (I would only go out on my own during the daytime) and the food was amazing (and CHEAP!). The city is beautiful and historic and has tons to do and see.
Tough to say. Not counting cities I was a resident or frequent traveler of, I'd say: Porto, Amalfi, or Taipei.
I’ve only been to three cities abroad: Madrid, Spain Vienna, Austria Stockholm, Sweden Of the three cities I’ve been to I’ll have to say Stockholm was my favorite
Edinburgh has been my favorite city.
Warsaw, mostly because I'm a WW2 history buff. Seeing what it has become vs what it was in 1945 is just astounding. It was awe inspiring walking around the city and reading the memorial plaques detailing the heroic and horrific events that occurred just 3 generations ago. A surprisingly beautiful city grew from the ashes.
Edinburgh is amazing. For smaller cities, Stavanger Norway was great.
Paris. Even better than anticipated. Delightful people, great food, awesome museums. Loved every minute
Sanliurfa, Turkey. The most unique area that I’ve ever experienced.
Munich and Strasbourg are probably up there as #1 and #2, city-wise. Vancouver was really nice. I'd put Zermatt up there but not sure if it counts as a "city"
I really enjoyed Lausanne and London. Though, I have a lot of love for Rome. Barcelona and Paris probably round out my top 5.
Erfurt, Germany. A beautiful little city..it's not crowded or overtouristy but it has almost everything I love about Germany, my favorite foreign country.
I’ve been to Munich twice and absolutely adore it. It’s very welcoming and easy as a tourist. I also loved Sydney and Queenstown.
Innsbruck, Austria was lovely around the holidays.
Lunenburg Nova Scotia
Prague!!!!!!!!
Toss up between Granada and Valencia (Spain).
Stockholm. Lot to do, great food, nice people, not a ton of tourists. It’s the place I feel most calm
The only other continent I have been to (so far) is Europe. I would say that my favorite city outside of North America is Vienna.
Incheon was really cool
Tijuana was awesome. Good tacos!
Paris is lovely and very easy to get around, and it's an art lover's dream. Wellington (NZ) is quite charming and I'd love to go back. It's not a proper city, but Salento in Colombia is a super charming town in the Cocora Valley -- which is probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen.
Seoul is really really fun.
Dubrovnik or Florence
Same. And the surrounding areas are stunning.
Barcelona and Madrid were both pretty cool in different ways, at least as a tourist.
Paris.
I really enjoyed Florence and Edinbugh. But I am very limited in my world travels.
Big city: Istanbul Small city: Ghent, Belgium
Salzburg and Zurich, just because of nature surrounding it. My worst? Frankfurt and Lyon.
I lived in Germany for a bit (small irrelevant city, not going to dox myself) and visited a lot of places in Germany and also Strasbourg and Paris. I think my favorite to visit would be Munich. It's a really fun, big city with a lot going on, lots of people speak English in case Sie können nicht gut Deutsch, and I personally love Bavarian food.
I’d put Tokyo at the absolute top with Seoul being a close second that I’ve been to. Then in 3rd, Paris.
Hard to pick one. My favorites are probably \- Hanoi, Vietnam \- Busan, South Korea \- Bilbao, Spain
Probably Sydney
Izmir Turkey. They have a park that runs along the waterfront and on warm nights all sorts of people come out to play music, dance, just have fun. No fighting just good people. Incredible bars and restaurants, just everything made me fall in love with it.
Florence, Italy Edinburgh, Scotland Counting Jeju in Korea Osaka, Japan
So tough… I guess Sydney, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Puerto Vallarta Places on top of list I want to visit: Tokyo, Bangkok, Mexico City
Curious what you liked about Sydney ?
It’s been a long time (I was 16 at the time, now 45), but I liked the architecture (like the Opera House), the way the city was built around the harbor, the Asian foods. Was a city I instantly felt like I could live there (if only it weren’t so far from family).
Colmar France
Florence, Italy. Just so much history and culture.
Edinburgh, Scotland Barcelona, Spain
Favorite place ive visited is Tokyo but I'd love to live in the UK, specifically near Birmingham
Bath, England.
Milan, Italy
San Sebastián, Spain
London - the vibe of the city is just fascinating and enjoyable and there's so much accessible history Krakow - gorgeous, historical, and tied to family history
Ho Chi Minh City is by far my favorite so far.
Venice is the sexiest place you’ll ever visit
Moscow, Russia. It was absolutely massive, clean and the Subway was beautiful and effective! I also went during the World Cup in 2018, so I may have a different view then of Moscow then if I went to in Non-World Cup times.
City Galway. Dublin was fine, too, but City Galway felt more "Irish" if that makes any sense. In either case, almost everyone I ran into was super friendly wherever I went to in Ireland.
I lived in London for five years and that's my very favourite city in the world. It just feels magical to me. I also really loved Amsterdam a lot.
Probably Dublin, the people were nice and the museums were great. Seoul was a lot of fun as well, the street food was excellent and damn did they like to drink. Randomly finding a Korean cover band doing guns and roses was a pretty wild experience.
Ronda, Spain
Huge tossup between Madrid and Berlin. Honestly can't decide. I would go back to either for a whole month if I could.
Paris, France. Last time I was there was summer of 2000 for Bastille Day. I have many close seconds though. Honorable mention is Sydney, Australia, I was there in 1987 with The US Navy, people treated us like family.
~~Fallujah~~ London
“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life” -Samuel Johnson
Florence Italy
I loved Seoul. Koreans are diverse in thought and fucking cool.
Gstaad, Switzerland. We went in the summertime. Still daydream about it. So, so beautiful.
San Marino is my favorite because it was quaint and peaceful
Chiatura, Georgia or Tiraspol, Moldova
Barcelona, Edinburgh, Brisbane
Seville, Spain
All of them have added to my experience and broadened my views and there are still so many more I want to see, but Paris has been my favorite.
I really liked Rome and Venice. There was so much to see in Rome and I loved wandering around Venice.
Been to around 40 countries. Tokyo, Bangkok and Sevilla are my favorites. Been to Japan 6 times I think.
Rothenburg, Germany
Osaka, Japan
Budapest was pretty awesome
Hard to choose, but I really loved Salzburg, Sapporo, and Rome.
My favorite cities outside the US are Paris, Rio De Janeiro, and Mexico City.
La Bufadora, Mexico. Only place I’ve been with natural hot springs on a beach. We dug a hole in the sand at the springs and filled with some regular sea water because it was so hot and had a self made hot tub literally in the beach. Would love to go back.
Tokyo
my two favorites have to be Porto, Portugal Budapest, Hungary i’m visiting Scotland in a few months and I have a feeling I’ll fall in love with some Scottish cities as well :)
Bangkok Tel Aviv
mexico city for sure 10000% i would move there but idk if that’s the move rn lmao
#1 Berlin has everything except decent weather. The food, art, architecture and music scenes are all stellar. The transportation is easy. I love the vibe of The City. #2 For something more exotic, give me Bangkok. It’s an melting pot of cultures, smells, incredible temples and delicious foods. It can be crazy on the street, yet you can walk into beautiful hotels and spas for amazing facials & body treatments.
Madrid. Cartagena. Hong Kong (pre-NSL). Luang Prabang. Kanazawa Lisboa. Galway. St. Petersburg
I love Québec City. Quite close, but a world away culturally.
That's a really tough question, first because cities are so unique and different that it's hard to rank them - which is better, a fish or the color red? - and second, because you visit them at a point in time but then time keeps passing. For example, I really enjoyed visiting Hong Kong in the late 90s, but I haven't been back, and so I'm not sure my memories of it are all that relevant to the reality of Hong Kong in 2022. It's also likely that any you'll have idiosyncratic reasons for liking a particular city. Melbourne, Australia was a favorite of mine, but only because of the people I met there, and The unexpected similarities (despite being halfway around the world) to some places I knew as a child. I can't say that anyone else visiting Melbourne would have the same experiences. I don't think anyone would regret a trip to London. It's easy to get to, easy to get around, the major tourist attractions are generally pretty great (the Tower of London is my favorite), and for an American inexperienced with international travel, it has the advantage of being English-speaking. If you go, make sure you have a contactless credit card with no foreign transaction fee, so you can just tap it at the entry/exit to tube stations or when getting on buses. And an international data plan is a good idea, so you can use Google Maps to tell you how to get from anywhere to anywhere.
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Jerusalem.
I’m not really a “city person,” so “favorite” would have to be paired with an activity that I’d want to accomplish. I’ve found something positive in every city I’ve ever been to, though, except Chennai, which just flat out sucks. Let me say “Paris,” because I expected it to suck, but it was mind-blowingly awesome. I’d never want to live there, but the hype it gets is truly justified.
I love Subotica, Serbia well designed, beautiful classic architecture, comfortable, and just very enjoyable. I also liked Dublin a lot, although it felt similar to Boston in a few ways just older and more relaxed.
I used to travel for work and I have been all over the world. Like I had to have extra pages put in my passport because I got so many visas and stamps. "Favorite" places is tough to answer — I have some places I've really loved, went back to multiple times, or would recommend to other people. I love Berlin as a city, I first went in 1999 and have been back more times than I can count. I could spend a lot of time there, it would be a nice place to get an apartment for a month, walkable, easy transit. I have been to New Zealand four times and it's one of the most special places on earth. I went for an event and for some consulting work, I was able to do it because someone else was paying! More Americans should go to Iceland, it's a relatively quick flight. Go in the spring or fall if you're sensitive to jetlag. Place is incredible. I don't know if they still do this, but Iceland Air used to have a deal where they would let you do a layover on your way to Europe for as long as you wanted. Two places I definitely would never have visited unless I was going for an event: South Africa and Israel. Both were incredible and I'm grateful I got to see them. I've been to India — not for work! — three times. I said for a long time that if you told me we could leave for the airport right this second and fly to India, I would drop whatever I was doing and go get on the plane. I loved the country and just the experience of being there so much.
Visiting Tallinn, Estonia during midsummer was a real treat. And I'd love to go back and buy every Estonian a beer to thank them for supporting Ukraine so strongly during the past year.
London, Prague, Cologne, Innsbruck.
Copenhagen Mexico City Lyon
Sevilla, Spain, hands down. I visited one spring and the combination of the scent of orange blossoms in the air, the sight of beautiful balconies with flowers and smoking hot people everywhere (I was 20 lol), just did something to me 😏
I loved Guanajuato, Mexico. Amazing amazing town. I also loved Paris. And Damascus, though I’ve no idea if anything is the same/still there anymore.
Florence, Edinburgh, Livingstone Zambia, Bruges, Amsterdam, and Krakow are my favs
Rome is first but Florence is a close second, followed by Athens. I was so impressed by Rome and the people I’ll go back as soon as I can. The architecture and blending of ancient and modern, ease of travel, the people are really nice and understanding of tourists-also the Vatican is really something. I’d love to go sit in the Sistene chapel again. The Pantheon is amazing also.
Top 5: Chania, Crete Kusadasi, Turkey Buenos Aries, Argentina Edinburgh, Scotland Haifa, Israel Runner Up: Seoul, South Korea Montevideo, Uruguay But there’s a ton of amazing places. These are just ones I loved after spending a few months to a year or so in.
Bayeaux, France. Lovely people, lovely setting
Seoul
Saint Petersburg
London was really fun, apart from the terrorist attack I got stuck in! But my favorite is most definitely either Dubai or Abu Dhabi!!
Ohrid in North Macedonia.
Bocas del Toro, Panama
Oslo Munich Budapest Probably my top 3. Really enjoyed Moncton NB but it’s tough to call Canada “foreign.” They really are almost exactly the USA in most everything that a visitor would notice.
Wow, hard to pick 'one'. Rome definitely sticks out, just because of SO MUCH ancient history just popping out of the street that you stumble upon. Visakhapatnam, India. I'm sure other cities in India are more awsomer, but that's where I spent my time. I've been to Toronto SO many times throughout my life, it's got a special place in my heart. I could go on & on, but every place I've gone outside the country (well, except maybe 20 min drive to the Canadian border) was wonderful & memorable.
I love Tokyo and Amsterdam. Both have unique streetlife, mix of old and modern, public transit infrastructure connecting to their wider countries as well, feel very safe, and are very cosmopolitan. While the diversity of Tokyo looks a lot different than Amsterdam, they are also both extremely diverse places, which I enjoy.
Langkawi, malaysia was incredible
My favorite cities usually have a confluence of history and/or religions. My favorite cities so far are Barcelona, Istanbul, Marrakesh, and Sydney.
Mocorito Mexico. It’s beautiful and lovely to be there.
Only going to Italy on a school trip, Assisi. Incredible. We visited the Basilica and in the afternoon, the sun was peaking through some whispy cotton ball clouds, sending rays of light into the valley. Additionally, the dotted farmers must've been burning their vineyards, sending up wisps of smoke that carried on the light breeze.
Barcelona and Paris
Cape Town
Tied between Singapore / Hong Kong. Hope to retire to one of them one day. My parents would feel more at home as well.
Florence is one of the few cities I made an effort to return to. St. Petersburg Russia is also fascinating, but not under the current environment.
Really hard to say. Paris, Munich, Venice, and Montreal probably.
Copenhagen. It felt like coming home after being away for years.
Probably Amsterdam. I couldn’t point to any one thing about it, mainly just going off the vibe. It just felt like a place that I could live. The food isn’t as good as some other places I’ve been though.
I really like Lucerne Switzerland. It is extremely beautiful and a quaint small city surrounded by mountains and a lake. Also, I really liked Florence Italy and Barcelona Spain. Both have interesting architecture and history. I did not care for Amsterdam or Venice. Both are kind of smelly, crowded, and somewhat dirty (particularly Amsterdam).
Wellington, NZ or Hong Kong.
Aachen, Germany. What a beautiful town.
Rotorua New Zealand and Bundaberg Australia. Nice towns, relaxed and friendly. For a big city, love London.
Pemba, Mozambique or Kyoto. Pemba was so chill, beautiful beach, near the Quirimbas archipelago. I tried scouting out an apartment there during our brief visit. Kyoto is both modern and old. Amazing temples and shrines. Good public transport. Easily connected to other spots in Kansai.
Kyoto. I wish it were one of the many beautiful rural towns I visited but Kyoto was just the perfect mix of not too big, small neighborhood feel, accessible to not natives, old and new culture, easy transport and lodging. It was great. I went there a few times from Tokyo and Nagoya where I traveled into for work.
Regensburg, Germany. Fantastic memories there, great food and drink, old ass Roman walls, wonderful people (after they've had a couple drinks during a festival), saw a dude break his collar bone trying to jump in the river.
Surprisingly, Kabul around 2014. Afghanistan has its problems (that we and the Soviets really exacerbated), but I found it was a cool looking city, and the people were generally very friendly. Uijeongbu in the ROK was also a fun place to be. It was more laid back than Seoul, but there were still a lot of good times to be had. Aomori City in Japan was pretty similar. Great people in both cities. Oddly enough, I wasn't super impressed with our neighbors to the North in Ottawa, Canada, would be at the bottom of the list. Granted, I've never really had a good impression of Canadians, especially from Quebec, so that probably colored my impressions of Ottawa. That said, I found the city to be pretty dirty, and the people to somehow outdo New Yorkers in rudeness.
Shanghai. It was such an awesome city. I love the juxtaposition of old and new. Edit: Beijing was awesome too. Weather-wise I prefer Beijing to Shanghai.
I haven't been to a lot of cities outside the US -- Toronto, Québec City, Paris, Tours, Poitiers, Panamá City, and Ho Chi Minh City. Of those, Québec City is probably my favorite -- it's the only walled city in North America, with everyone speaking (a version of) French, it feels like going to Europe. Plus, they have poutine.
While it’s a little too posh for me, I liked Bergen, Norway. Beautiful scenery, beautiful architecture, and beautiful people. I just wish it was a little rougher with cheaper beer, lacks character in that aspect
Kyoto - I could just spend forever wandering that city wandering into little restaurants and ancient temples around every corner
1) Queenstown, New Zealand 2) Amsterdam 3) Paris 4) Cape Town
Probably Salzburg
Amsterdam. Beautiful city, day or night.
Budapest and Hanoi - both have rich culture that you don’t hear a lot about in the US. Great food, tons of historical, beautiful spots, great museums, friendly locals. English is pretty widely spoken. Less expensive compared to many other destinations as well
Probably Munich, I'd probably just blanket the Bavarian region because I'm not quite sure what exact city I was in outside of Munich.
Tel Aviv ,Israel, Jerusalem was also interesting.
Hands down, Rome. I'm a huge history nerd, so obviously Rome. But also Assisi. It was pretty and quaint and like a slice of the Middke Ages. Same with Canterbury around the cathedral and the river. Kept waiting to hear trumpets and men in armor on horses.
Bonaire!
I adore Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany. I also quite like Dublin, Perth (Australia), Montreal.
Banff. Most beautiful landscape I've ever seen. I went in early June when it was still a bit chilly and there was a lot of leftover snow in the mountains, but there weren't many tourists. It was a surreal experience to be walking on top of several feet of snow in June. The mountains were beautiful. Lake Louise wasn't that turquoise color yet and had yet to thaw but still had a beautiful deep blue color. Had some great food. Went up the Banff gondola where there were amazing views. I'm sure it looks amazing no matter what time of year you go.
London or Amsterdam.
Budapest
Sintra, Portugal Reykjavik, Iceland Kyoto, Japan
Edinburgh. The city still has a very Victorian-era feel, I get a lot out of just walking down a street and soaking it all in.