Destination guides

106 cities, with the practical detail that actually changes a trip — when to go, how to get around, which ATMs not to use, and what a fair price looks like.

Europe

BarcelonaSpainSun, sea, and Gaudi masterpiecesParisFranceThe city of light, love, and croissantsAmsterdamNetherlandsCanals, bikes, and golden-age charmLisbonPortugalHills, tiles, and pastéis de nataRomeItalyThree thousand years of history on every cornerMilanItalyDesign, fashion, and aperitivo cultureFlorenceItalyThe Renaissance, still standingVeniceItalyA city built on water, sinking beautifullyMadridSpainLate nights, great art, and endless tapasSevilleSpainOrange trees, flamenco, and Moorish palacesValenciaSpainBeaches, futuristic architecture, and the home of paellaPortoPortugalPort wine, tiled facades, and a river worth staring atAthensGreeceAncient ruins above a restless modern citySantoriniGreeceWhite villages on the rim of a drowned volcanoPragueCzech RepublicGothic spires, cheap beer, and a river running through itBudapestHungaryThermal baths, ruin bars, and grand Danube viewsViennaAustriaImperial palaces, coffee houses, and world-class musicBerlinGermanyHistory, nightlife, and space to breatheDubrovnikCroatiaA walled stone city above the AdriaticSplitCroatiaA Roman emperor’s palace that became a living cityNiceFranceThe French Riviera at its most liveableLondonUnited KingdomEvery neighbourhood is a different cityEdinburghUnited KingdomA volcanic castle over a medieval old townCopenhagenDenmarkBikes, design, and harbour swimmingReykjavikIcelandA tiny capital at the edge of a volcanic islandKrakowPolandPoland’s best-preserved old town, and very good valueIstanbulTurkeyTwo continents, three empires, one enormous city

Asia

BangkokThailandTemples, street food, and organized chaosBaliIndonesiaRice terraces, temples, and surf breaksTokyoJapanWhere ancient tradition meets neon-lit futureDubaiUAEDesert skyscrapers and luxury at every turnSingaporeSingaporeA hyper-organised city-state with extraordinary foodKyotoJapanA thousand temples and the old soul of JapanSeoulSouth KoreaPalaces, street food, and relentless energyHanoiVietnamOld Quarter chaos, lakeside calm, and extraordinary street foodPhuketThailandThailand’s biggest island, from party beaches to quiet covesChiang MaiThailandTemples, mountains, and Thailand’s digital nomad capitalKoh SamuiThailandCoconut palms, quiet beaches, and villas with a poolKrabiThailandLimestone cliffs rising straight out of the Andaman SeaKoh LantaThailandLong quiet beaches and an old town on stilts, at the pace Thailand used to move atKoh PhanganThailandJungle, empty northern beaches, and the Full Moon PartyKoh TaoThailandWhere half the world learns to divePaiThailandA mountain valley of hot springs, waterfalls and slow daysAyutthayaThailandThe ruined capital of a kingdom that once dwarfed LondonKuala LumpurMalaysiaTowers, mosques and temples in the same square mile, and the best eating in Southeast AsiaGeorge TownMalaysiaShophouses, street art and the food capital of MalaysiaLangkawiMalaysiaA duty-free island of rainforest, mangroves and quiet sandKota KinabaluMalaysiaBorneo’s coast, with a mountain behind it and orangutans inlandLuang PrabangLaosA UNESCO town of monasteries where the Mekong meets the Nam KhanVang ViengLaosKarst towers over a river, and a town that grew up from its wild yearsHo Chi Minh CityVietnamVietnam at full volume — motorbikes, markets and rooftop barsDa NangVietnamA long beach, a mountain pass, and Vietnam’s easiest city to live inHoi AnVietnamLantern-lit trading port frozen in the eighteenth centuryPhu QuocVietnamVietnam’s largest island, with jungle behind the beachesSiem Reap & AngkorCambodiaThe largest religious monument ever built, and a town that grew up to see itAgra & the Taj MahalIndiaA tomb built for one person, visited by eight million a yearGoaIndiaPortuguese churches, Arabian Sea beaches, and no hurry at allMaldivesMaldivesTwelve hundred islands, none of them more than two metres above the seaPalawanPhilippinesLimestone islands out of the sea, and lagoons you can only reach by boatCebu & BoholPhilippinesWhale sharks, waterfalls, and the country’s oldest cityHong KongHong KongSkyscrapers against green peaks, and a ferry across the harbour for penniesBeijing & the Great WallChinaAn imperial city, and a wall that runs off into the mountains

North America

New YorkUnited StatesThe city that never sleepsCancunMexicoCaribbean turquoise meets Mayan historyLos AngelesUnited StatesBeaches, canyons, and a city built for drivingMiamiUnited StatesArt deco, ocean heat, and a Latin American pulseMexico CityMexicoAztec ruins, world-class museums, and the best street food anywhereGrand CanyonUnited StatesA mile deep, and no photograph has ever conveyed itBanff & the RockiesCanadaTurquoise lakes under peaks that go straight up

Central America & the Caribbean

Punta CanaDominican RepublicFifty kilometres of palm-backed white sandHavanaCubaFaded grandeur, classic cars, and live son on every cornerSan JuanPuerto RicoFive centuries of Spanish forts above a Caribbean beach cityNassauBahamasPastel colonial streets and impossibly clear waterMontego BayJamaicaReggae, rum and the north coast’s best beachesPanama CityPanamaA glass skyline beside a colonial old town and the canalAntiguaGuatemalaCobbled baroque streets ringed by three volcanoesTamarindoCosta RicaPacific surf town with jungle at its back

South America

Rio de JaneiroBrazilBeaches, samba, and Christ the RedeemerBuenos AiresArgentinaEuropean grandeur, tango, and extraordinary steakLimaPeruCliffs above the Pacific and South America’s best food sceneCusco & Machu PicchuPeruAn Inca capital at 3,400m, and the citadel below itTorres del PaineChileGranite towers, wind, and the emptiest sky in PatagoniaCartagenaColombiaA walled Caribbean city in permanent colourGalápagos IslandsEcuadorAnimals that never learned to be afraid of peopleIguazú FallsArgentinaTwo hundred and seventy waterfalls, and a walkway over the biggestMedellínColombiaEternal spring, cable cars up the hillsides, and a city that reinvented itselfBogotáColombiaA capital at 2,600 metres, with a mountain at the end of every streetFoz do IguaçuBrazilThe panorama side of the falls, and the biggest dam ever builtPunta del EsteUruguayThe Atlantic on one side, the river on the other, and a hand coming out of the sand

Africa

MarrakechMoroccoSpices, souks, and desert sunsetsCape TownSouth AfricaWhere mountains meet the oceanZanzibarTanzaniaSpice island beaches and a Swahili stone cityCairo & the PyramidsEgyptThe last standing wonder of the ancient world, on the edge of a megacitySerengeti & NgorongoroTanzaniaTwo million animals moving in one directionVictoria FallsZimbabweThe smoke that thunders, a mile and a half wideLuxorEgyptThe greatest open-air museum in the world, on both banks of the NileMasai MaraKenyaThe same plains as the Serengeti, and the river the herds have to crossMauritiusMauritiusAn Indian Ocean island with a lagoon most of the way round itTunis & CarthageTunisiaA Roman capital, an Arab medina, and a blue-and-white village on the cliffAlgiersAlgeriaWhite terraces down to the Mediterranean, and almost no tourists

Oceania

SydneyAustraliaHarbour, beaches, and endless sunshineQueenstownNew ZealandThe adventure capital, ringed by mountains and lakeGreat Barrier Reef & CairnsAustraliaThe largest living structure on earth, an hour offshoreUluruAustraliaA single rock, 348 metres high, in the middle of a continentFijiFijiThree hundred islands and a word for hello you will hear all dayTahiti & Bora BoraFrench PolynesiaVolcanic peaks straight out of a lagoon, halfway across the Pacific