World's Top Cities
The world's top city destinations. 53 places, mapped and ready to build a trip around.
Plan a trip on Trailwind →Paris
FranceBestYear-roundClimate36–77°FCurrencyEURLanguageFrenchAirportCDGNo. 1 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, France.
Madrid
SpainBestYear-roundClimate34–95°FCurrencyEURLanguageSpanishAirportMADNo. 2 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, Spain.
Tokyo
JapanBestVariesClimate34–90°FCurrencyJPYLanguageJapaneseAirportHNDMore Michelin stars than any city on earth, plus transcendent street food.
Rome
ItalyBestYear-roundClimate39–93°FCurrencyEURLanguageItalianAirportFCONo. 4 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, Italy.
Milan
ItalyBestYear-roundClimate32–86°FCurrencyEURLanguageItalianAirportMXPNo. 5 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, Italy.
New York
United StatesBestYear-roundClimate28–86°FCurrencyUSDLanguageEnglishAirportJFKNo. 6 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, United States.
Amsterdam
NetherlandsBestYear-roundClimate37–72°FCurrencyEURLanguageDutchAirportAMSNo. 7 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, Netherlands.
Sydney
AustraliaBestYear-roundClimate46–79°FCurrencyAUDLanguageEnglishAirportSYDNo. 8 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, Australia.
Singapore
SingaporeBestYear-roundClimate73–88°FCurrencySGDLanguageEnglishAirportSINNo. 9 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, Singapore.
Barcelona
SpainBestYear-roundClimate41–84°FCurrencyEURLanguageSpanishAirportBCNNo. 10 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, Spain.
Seoul
South KoreaBestYear-roundClimate19–84°FCurrencyKRWLanguageKoreanAirportICNNo. 12 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, South Korea.
London
United KingdomBestYear-roundClimate36–73°FCurrencyGBPLanguageEnglishAirportLHRNo. 13 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, United Kingdom.
Dubai
United Arab EmiratesBestYear-roundClimate59–106°FCurrencyAEDLanguageArabicAirportDXBNo. 14 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, United Arab Emirates.
Los Angeles
United StatesBestYear-roundClimate46–90°FCurrencyUSDLanguageEnglishAirportLAXNo. 18 on Euromonitor's Top 100 City Destinations 2024, United States.
Istanbul
TurkeyBestVariesClimate39–86°FCurrencyTRYLanguageTurkishAirportISTWhere kebab, meze and baklava meet across two continents.
Abu Dhabi
United Arab EmiratesBestNov–AprClimate64–106°FCurrencyAEDLanguageArabicAirportAUHAbu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's second-most populous city, after Dubai. The city is situated on a T-shaped island, extending into the Persian Gulf from the central-western coast of the UAE.
Athens
GreeceBestSep–JunClimate43–93°FCurrencyEURLanguageGreekAirportATHAthens is the capital and largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica region and is the southernmost capital on the European mainland. With its urban area's population numbering over 3.6 million, it is the eighth-largest urban area in the European Union (EU).
Bangkok
ThailandBestNov–FebClimate72–93°FCurrencyTHBLanguageThaiAirportBKKA street-food capital of grilled, sour, sweet and fiery everything.
Beijing
ChinaBestVariesClimate19–91°FCurrencyCNYLanguageMandarin ChineseAirportPEKBeijing is a global city and one of the world's leading centers for culture, diplomacy, politics, finance, business and economics, education, research, language, tourism, media, sports, science and technology, transportation, and art. It is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies and houses the largest number of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world, as well as the world's four biggest financial institutions by total assets.
Berlin
GermanyBestVariesClimate32–77°FCurrencyEURLanguageGermanAirportBERBerlin is the capital of Germany as well as its largest city by both area and population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the highest population within its city limits of any city in the European Union. The city is also one of the states of Germany, being the third-smallest state in the country by area. Berlin is surrounded by the state of Brandenburg, bordering Brandenburg's capital Potsdam to the southwest. The urban area of Berlin has a population of over 5 million, making it the most populous in Germany.
Brussels
BelgiumBestJun, Aug, SepClimate36–75°FCurrencyEURLanguageDutchAirportBRUBrussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, is a region of Belgium comprising 19 municipalities, including the City of Brussels, which is the capital of Belgium. The Brussels-Capital Region is located in the central portion of the country. It is a part of both the French Community of Belgium and the Flemish Community, and is separate from the Flemish Region (Flanders), within which it forms an enclave, and the Walloon Region (Wallonia), located less than 4 km (2.5 mi) south.
Budapest
HungaryBestMar–OctClimate30–84°FCurrencyHUFLanguageHungarianAirportBUDBudapest is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is Hungary's primate city with 1.7 million inhabitants and its greater metro area has a population of about 3.3 million, representing one-third of the country's population and producing more than 40% of the country's economic output. Budapest is the political, economic, and cultural center of the country, among the ten largest cities in the European Union and the second largest urban area in Central and Eastern Europe.
Buenos Aires
ArgentinaBestVariesClimate45–84°FCurrencyARSLanguageSpanishAirportEZEBuenos Aires, officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− global city, according to the GaWC 2024 ranking. The city proper has a population of 3.1 million and its urban area has a population of 16.7 million, making it the 21st most populous metropolitan area in the world.
Cairo
EgyptBestOct–AprClimate48–102°FCurrencyEGPLanguageArabicAirportCAICairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate. It is home to more than 9.8 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world, and the Middle East. The Greater Cairo metropolitan area is one of the largest in the world by population with over 22 million people. Areas of what would become Cairo were inhabited from pre-dynastic and early-dynastic ancient Egypt c.
Cape Town
South AfricaBestNov–MarClimate50–79°FCurrencyZARLanguageZuluAirportCPTCape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's second-largest city by population, after Johannesburg, and the largest city in the Western Cape. The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality.
Chicago
United StatesBestJun–NovClimate21–81°FCurrencyUSDLanguageEnglishAirportORDChicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2.74 million at the 2020 census. The Chicago metropolitan area has approximately 9.62 million residents according to the 2020 census and is the third-largest metropolitan area in the country. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S.
Copenhagen
DenmarkBestMay–SepClimate34–70°FCurrencyDKKLanguageDanishAirportCPHThe New Nordic movement, Noma and hygge bakeries.
Delhi
IndiaBestOct–MarClimate46–100°FCurrencyINRLanguageHindiAirportDELDelhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a megacity and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its right bank, Delhi shares borders with the state of Uttar Pradesh in the east and with the state of Haryana in the remaining directions. Delhi became a union territory on 1 November 1956 and the NCT in 1995. The NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres (573 sq mi).
Doha
QatarBestNov–AprClimate59–106°FCurrencyQARLanguageArabicAirportDOHDoha is the capital and largest city, and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It is also Qatar's fastest growing city and over 80% of the nation's population live in Doha or its surrounding suburbs, which are known collectively as the Doha Metropolitan Area.
Dublin
IrelandBestMay–SepClimate39–66°FCurrencyEURLanguageEnglishAirportDUBDublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, part of the Wicklow Mountains range. Dublin is the largest city by population on the island of Ireland; at the 2022 census, the city council area had a population of 592,713, while the city, including suburbs, had a population of 1,263,219, and County Dublin had a population of 1,501,500.
Edinburgh
United KingdomBestMay–SepClimate37–64°FCurrencyGBPLanguageEnglishAirportEDIEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. It is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh had a population of 506,520 in 2020, making it the second-most-populous city in Scotland and the seventh-most-populous in the United Kingdom. The wider metropolitan area had a population of 912,490 in the same year.
Florence
ItalyBestFeb–OctClimate37–91°FCurrencyEURLanguageItalianAirportFLRFlorence is the capital and most populous city of the Italian region of Tuscany, with 361,625 inhabitants as of 2026. It is also the capital of the eponymous metropolitan province, which counts 988,494 inhabitants.
Hong Kong
ChinaBestNov–FebClimate55–86°FCurrencyCNYLanguageMandarin ChineseAirportHKGHong Kong is a special administrative region of China. Situated on China's southern coast just south of Shenzhen, it consists of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories. With 7.5 million residents in a 1,114-square-kilometre (430 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong is the fourth-most densely populated region in the world.
Kuala Lumpur
MalaysiaBestMay–JulClimate75–90°FCurrencyMYRLanguageMalayAirportKULKuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a federal territory of Malaysia. It is the most populous city in the country, covering an area of 243 km2 (94 sq mi) with a population of 2,075,600 as of 2024. Greater Kuala Lumpur, which itself includes the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 8.81 million people as of 2024. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Southeast Asia, in terms of both population and economic development.
Kyoto
JapanBestVariesClimate30–90°FCurrencyJPYLanguageJapaneseAirportKIXKyoto, officially Kyoto City , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. As of 2020, the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most populous city in Japan. More than half (56.8%) of Kyoto Prefecture's population resides in the city. The city is the cultural anchor of the substantially larger Greater Kyoto, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 3.8 million people.
Lisbon
PortugalBestVariesClimate48–84°FCurrencyEURLanguagePortugueseAirportLISLisbon is the capital and most populous city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 658,236 as of 2025, within its administrative limits and 3,353,000 within the metropolis, as of 2025. The city lies in the western portion of the Iberian Peninsula, on the northern shore of the River Tagus. The western portion of its metro area, the Portuguese Riviera, hosts the westernmost point of Continental Europe, culminating at Cabo da Roca.
Marrakech
MoroccoBestOct–MayClimate43–104°FCurrencyMADLanguageArabicAirportRAKMarrakesh or Marrakech is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh-Safi region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mountains.
Mexico City
MexicoBestNov–MayClimate45–82°FCurrencyMXNLanguageSpanishAirportMEXMexico City is the capital and largest city of Mexico, as well as the most populous city in North America. It is one of the world's leading cultural and financial centers and, according to the Globalization and World Cities Research Network's 2024 ranking, is classified as an Alpha world city. Located in the Valley of Mexico on the high Mexican Central Plateau, the city sits at an altitude of 2,240 meters. It is divided into 16 boroughs, or alcaldías, which are further subdivided into neighborhoods, or colonias.
Mumbai
IndiaBestVariesClimate66–93°FCurrencyINRLanguageHindiAirportBOMMumbai, also known as Bombay, is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India, with an estimated population of 12.5 million (1.25 crore). Mumbai is the centre of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which is among the most populous metropolitan areas in the world with a population of over 23 million. Mumbai lies on the Konkan coast on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2008, Mumbai was named an alpha world city.
Munich
GermanyBestMar, SepClimate28–75°FCurrencyEURLanguageGermanAirportMUCMunich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is not a state of its own, and it ranks as the 11th-largest city in the European Union (EU). The metropolitan area has around 3 million inhabitants, and the broader Munich Metropolitan Region is home to about 6.2 million people.
Osaka
JapanBestVariesClimate34–91°FCurrencyJPYLanguageJapaneseAirportKIXOsaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the second biggest prefectural city, third-most populous city proper in Japan, following the special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama.
Porto
PortugalBestVariesClimate45–75°FCurrencyEURLanguagePortugueseAirportOPOPorto, also known in English as Oporto, is the second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropolitan area, with an estimated population of 273,476 people in a municipal area of 41.42 km2 (16 sq mi).
Prague
CzechiaBestVariesClimate30–79°FCurrencyCZKLanguageCzechAirportPRGPrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Located on the Vltava River, the city has a population of about 1.4 million, making it the twelfth-largest city in the European Union. Its metropolitan area is home to approximately 2.3 million people.
Rio de Janeiro
BrazilBestMar–SepClimate64–84°FCurrencyBRLLanguagePortugueseAirportGIGRio de Janeiro, also known simply as Rio, is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second-most-populous city in Brazil after São Paulo with a population of 13 million people as of 2025, and the sixth-most-populous city in the Americas.
San Francisco
United StatesBestFeb–NovClimate46–70°FCurrencyUSDLanguageEnglishAirportSFOSan Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the fourth-most populous city in California and the 17th-most populous in the United States, with a population of 826,079 in 2025. Among U.S. cities with a population of 200,000 or more, San Francisco is ranked first by per capita income, third by population density, and sixth by aggregate income as of 2024. Some 4.6 million residents live in the city's metropolitan statistical area, which is the 13th-largest in the United States.
Shanghai
ChinaBestOct–DecClimate36–91°FCurrencyCNYLanguageMandarin ChineseAirportPVGShanghai is a provincial-level direct-administered municipality in China. It has a population of 30,050,000 in the urban area as of 2026, thus making it China's most populous city and more broadly the fifth-largest city in the world by population. The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River bisecting the city.
Stockholm
SwedenBestMay–JunClimate27–72°FCurrencySEKLanguageSwedishAirportARNStockholm is the capital and most populous city of Sweden, as well as the largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately 1 million people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.5 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Outside the city to the east, and along the coast, is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago.
Taipei
TaiwanBestVariesClimate57–93°FCurrencyTWDLanguageMandarin ChineseAirportTPETaipei, officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of Taiwan. Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about 25 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of the northern port city of Keelung. Most of the city rests on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed. The basin is bounded by the relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border.
Toronto
CanadaBestMay–OctClimate19–79°FCurrencyCADLanguageEnglishAirportYYZToronto is the most populous city in Canada and the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is located on a harbour at the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. The city is the fourth-most populous city in North America, behind Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles, with a census population of 2,794,356 as of 2021.
Vancouver
CanadaBestJun–SepClimate34–72°FCurrencyCADLanguageEnglishAirportYVRVancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The Metro Vancouver area had a population of 2.6 million in 2021, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada. Greater Vancouver, along with the Fraser Valley, comprises the Lower Mainland with a regional population of over 3 million.
Venice
ItalyBestVariesClimate34–84°FCurrencyEURLanguageItalianAirportVCEVenice is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the region of Veneto. It is built on a group of 126 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are linked by 472 bridges.
Vienna
AustriaBestVariesClimate30–82°FCurrencyEURLanguageGermanAirportVIEVienna is the capital, most populous city, and one of the nine states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. Its larger metropolitan area has a population of nearly 2.9 million, representing nearly one-third of the country's population. Vienna is the cultural, economic, and political centre of the country, the fifth-largest city by population in the European Union, and the most populous of the cities on the river Danube.
Zurich
SwitzerlandBestAugClimate30–77°FCurrencyCHFLanguageGermanAirportZRHZurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. As of the end of 2024, the municipality had a population of 436,551, while the urban area was home to 1.45 million people (2020), and the Zurich metropolitan area had a total population of 2.1 million (2020). Zurich is a hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. Both Zurich Airport and Zurich's main railway station are the largest and busiest in the country.