New York, Paris, Tokyo… there are so many amazing cities in the world, and lucky me, along with my family, I’ve had the opportunity to visit quite a few of the greats! Of course, not everyone agrees about which of them deserve to be on the Best List even among family members, which we discovered one evening over dinner during a recent visit to Paris. The boys and I thought it might be fun to take the conversation a step further and make a Top Ten Cities list.
Spoiler Alert!
Paris didn’t make the list and neither did Tokyo!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved visiting both cities and given the chance would go back to both of them repeatedly, in fact I’ve been to Paris on three separate occasions, but others in the family didn’t agree, so they didn’t make the list. I know some reading this list might say, we’ve left off important cities, or personal favorites, but before you do, let me explain that in order to be considered each city had to meet two important criteria:
- All four of us had to have been there personally.
- The vote had to be unanimous.
Many places I personally consider great didn’t make this list which begs the question, “What makes a city great?” The answer is it’s different for everyone, which is why we had to have the honorable mentions list, and still a few of my faves didn’t make it.
Just nominating a city wasn’t enough. Each of us also talked about what made us love a particular place and or why we didn’t. This was such a fun activity that we carried the conversation/debate on for multiple days after. So without further ado…
Our Top Ten Cities in order are:
- New Orleans, Louisiana – Overall character, culture, food & art!
- London, England – All the Royalness, history, museums, Corinthia cocoa, & an overall easy place to be as well as a great jumping off point for getting to other great places!
- Barcelona, Spain – Living the Barcelona lifestyle, food, & culture!
- Los Angeles, California – The vibe, the fashion, the beach…come on, it’s LA!
- Edinburgh, Scotland – a beautiful and mysterious place filled with fascinating history, the nicest people, all surrounded by faded splendor and crumbling beauty!
- New York, New York – The big city feel, museums, food, the smells both good and bad!
- Kyoto, Japan – Centuries of tradition, food, beauty, a truly magical place!
- Rome, Italy – Ancient history, gelato around every corner, fantastic coffee and quite possibly the most beautiful holiday decorations we’ve ever seen!
- Amsterdam, Holland, Netherlands – a beautiful easy city filled with lovely people. A place where people feel free to be themselves!
- Lisbon, Portugal – Beauty everywhere you look, a unique character, yummy treats and friendly people make Lisbon a place we’d like to see more of!
Honorable Mentions:
As I mentioned above there were a number of places that one or more of us wanted on the Top Ten List, but sadly didn’t make it, still we felt they deserved a mention, so here they are:
Seattle, Washington – After all, there’s no place like home! Not to mention, quirky tourist attractions, close proximity to natural wonders and fun museums! If only Tim enjoyed rainy days…
Half Moon Bay, California – Tim’s happy place, great fish and chips, almost guaranteed wildlife sightings and high surf are just a few of the things that draw us to Half Moon Bay on a regular basis. If only there was a little more going on in this lovely little town, though it’s a great place to get pumpkins!
Tokyo, Japan – The world’s largest city, an amazing place with many contrasts and unique cultural differences that deserves a lot more exploration. By far Simon’s favorite city!
Disneyland – Okay, not technically a city, it’s definitely high on my personal list and it is the Happiest Place on Earth, so I’m making an executive decision and throwing it on!
What’s on your list?!
danniijane
Love your choices. Especially as I live in London😉 A lot of those places are on my to see list x
Hilary
Thanks!! There are so many great places it makes choosing so difficult!!
Michael Andrew Just
Great choices but my favorite is San Francisco because of different cultures, sights and food!
Hilary
I understand that, however after living in the Bay Area for 8 years I can safely say it’s not on my personal list…
Anonymous
Nice article. I like your explanations and understand your point of view 🙂 By the way, what is the name of great fish and chips in Half Moon Bay? We go there often and my kids love fish and chips. Thanks Hilary!
Hilary
Thank you! Barbara’s Fish Trap is our favorite!! It’s the one in the photo!
Tanja
cool choices!:)
Hilary
Thanks!! We voted as a family! It was a fun activity!