re: The World's Best Cities

What can I say? People love the gondolas I suppose.

Venice is awash in tourists. But, it is authentically historic while being beautiful, sunny, and unique. That being said, I skipped right by it when I trekked through Europe. I hit up Torino, Milan and Bologna.

Bologna is fantastic.

Been to

Vienna
Boston
Krakow
Rome
Florence
NYC
San Francisco

Florence and Vienna were amazing.

Paris not on the list is surprising. London as well

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5. San Francisco, USA - The city is now awash with excellent restaurants, while its proximity to Sonoma and Napa Valley means that, in less than two hours, travellers can enjoy tastings at some of the best wine estates in the country.

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So, the best thing about visiting San Francisco is leaving San Francisco?

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3. Venice, Italy - you are never more than a bridge and an alley away from a more secluded city, full of secret campos, handsome Gothic palazzos and neighbourhood wine bars

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Venice blows. It smells like shite in the summer, you can see all of it in one day, and it is filled with tourist traps.

Berlin is awesome, as is Barca. Vancouver is legit as hell.

For the record, Europeans in general really only know a few locales in the US: New York, Miami, and San Francisco are the well known cities. They know about California and Texas as far as states go. That's about it. No one knows where Louisiana is until you say it's next to Texas, and then people go, "OHHHhhhhhhhh"

ETA: English publication, no cities in France. Big surprise.

I thought Sevilla was much more unique than Barca. Andalucia still has all of the Moorish/Arabic architecture, with the white sheets over the narrow streets/alleys.

One thing I liked about Barca was that they are all about Catalunya separating from Spain with their own language and everything. Barca and the Catalan language was pretty oppressed under Franco, so with its resurgence you're also seeing their push for independance.

Boston? WTF

Only one of my top three made the list.

1. Amsterdam-I would have loved to move there in my youth for about five years. They live slowly, without a care of what others are doing. No social justice warriors. Life is good there.

2. Stockholm- While expensive, there were thousands that looked like they were members of the Swedish bikini team. They were everywhere.

3. Hong Kong-Giant electronic outlet island. Digging around can land you with products that will not be seen in the U.S. for 1-5 years. Cool stuff. They also have quality clothing and tailors for good prices. Anything larger than an XL has to be made. They do not stock it.

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Venice blows. It smells like shite in the summer, you can see all of it in one day, and it is filled with tourist traps.

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Then you didn't know what the frick you were doing in Venice. Venice was absolutely amazing. I met locals, drank in a "local" bar, ate in a "local" restaurant where nobody spoke English (which was very rare), hung out in a "local" campo, and talked to a an old lady for twenty minutes about her old dog, even though neither one of us spoke the same language.

And I was only there for a little over 36 hours. Even if you are only there for an afternoon, if you prepare yourself, you will know what to do to get the most out of your visit.

I really get pissed at people who just blow off Venice as a shithole tourist trap like Bourbon Street.

No Birmingham, list is shite

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I really get pissed at people who just blow off Venice as a shithole tourist trap like Bourbon Street.

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Yep. Great old port cities have places that the locals know and that is where you want to go.