Your favorite cities....

[marmar]

My top 10 list looks like this:

1. Paris - C'est magnifique. Beautiful, cultured, classy and sassy. The pinnacle of the Western world.
2. San Francisco - Few cities have a more spectacular setting. And no place in America is freer.
3. Barcelona - 'Cause they've got the art of living down to a science. And the bold Gaudi buildings are a visual feast.
4. Amsterdam - The freest, most liberal, most accpeting place on the planet. And it's very big and very small at the same time. All of that and beautiful too.
5. New York - No city matches its pulse or creative energy. And it's the whole world in one place.
6. London - Again, the whole world in one place. And it's stodgy and handicapped by tradition at the same time that it's a modern, multicultural, edgy metropolis.
7. Berlin - A modern, progressive city still struggling with its past. And filled with a great deal of creative energy.
8. Toronto - The posterchild for multicultural, multiracial cosmopolitanism, which uses its diversity as a strength better than any city.
9. Montreal - A little Europe in North America. Great vibe, great people and great nightlife.
10. Seville - Beautiful and festive, full of Andalusian passion. And the tapas bars rock.

What are your favorites?

[Violet_Crumble]

1. I've only got three off the top of my head...

London - great food, beautiful weather, and a Tesco on every corner...

Budapest - Buda was cool, but Pest isn't as good...

Sydney - I know my way round and besides it's pretty cool coz I was born and raised there :)

[jannyk]

2. For me it is just 3

Paris - by a wide margin - we go there at least once a year. Would live there if I could get hubby on board.

Istanbul - fascinating, friendly, cheap and culturally stunning.

Vancouver - Culturally diverse, prettier than San Francisco.

I was born in London and live in San Francisco so I've seen the 'underbelly' of both.

[spindrifter]

3. It's hard to pick--

1. Barcelona
2. Vancouver
3. Istanbul
4. Paris
5. Marrakech
6. London
7. Glasgow
8. Amsterdam
9. Buenos Aires
10. Seattle

[Eurobabe]

4. Okay, I'll play...(disclaimer, I am an architectural historian)

1. Paris: Who could not like Paris, that is all I will say? Spent my first wedding anniversary there in Feb, almost 10 yrs. ago. Amazing city.
2. Prague: frozen in time, well preserved architecture, lovely people, great to explore by foot.
3. London: Busy, stuffy, refined, fun. Great architecture.
4. New York: It has everything and then some. Wonderful architecture, brownstones, culture, museums, raw energy.
5. Seattle/Mukilteo area: stunning coastline, fresh air, commune with nature
6. Rome: Fascinating architecure, somewhat dirty, but that adds to the charm. Be sure to smell the men & women who cross your path. Most smell divine.
7. Munich: I've lived here 2x. It's provincial, but that adds to the charm.
8. Vienna: West meets East. Hope to go back again soon and explore more. Great food, friendly people, amazing art.
9. Mdina (Malta): small little walled city, south of St. Paul's Bay. Like being in a time warp.
10. Cannes/Nice: I have this thing for coastal cities. Could spent retirement days on Cote d'Azur.

Not easy to just choose 10!! List subject to change as I visit more cities while living in Europe. :)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. My list

1. Tokyo: ugly, disorganized, an architectural jumble with no street names, but made up of urban villages where everyone knows everybody else, remarkably safe, even in low-budget surroundings, possessing the world's most comprehensive and well-run transit system, conformist but full of quirky people, hyper-modern, and yet blessed with surprising pockets of traditional Japan

2. San Francisco: No other American city looks or acts like San Francisco. I'd live there if I could afford it.

3. Portland, Oregon: I did live there and still would be there if it hadn't stopped working on a personal level. Splendid natural setting, real neighborhoods, progressive values, and the best transit system of any city of its size.

4. London: the city that literally has everything. High marks for history, museums, performing arts, ethnic diversity, and restaurants. Low marks for high prices and slummy areas.

5. New York: Same advantages and disadvantages as London, only not as old.

6. Nagano, Japan: A beautiful natural setting in so-called Japan Alps, and the ability, unusual among Japanese cities, to modernize without destroying its heritage

7. Hereford, England: An odd choice, to be sure, but I spent a week there in August attending a music festival and found it to be attractive, friendly, and located in lovely countryside.

8. Toronto: A true world city with people from every country on earth, but clean, safe, and accessible

9. Seattle: Another splendid natural setting and typical cosmopolitan delights, although its traffic, resistance to transit, and ugly suburbs bring its marks down

10. Vancouver: Like Seattle but more concerned with urban planning and amenities and with an incredible number of Chinese restaurants

[fudge stripe cookays]

6. Hmm...maybe not necessarily in order....

1. Madison, Wisconsin- Reminds me of Austin when I was growing up there (except much colder!). I never even visited until 2000, and now it's one of my favorite places-- for the quirkiness of State Street and its wonderful diverse restaurants, and the fact that my entire family is buried in the records at the Historical Society and I love unearthing them!

2. Austin, Texas- My hometown; Although it's horribly developed now and much less pleasant than it was in the 1970s and 80s, I still think of it as home. The lakes, the music, the bats, the culture, all of it.

3. Florence, Italy- I was an art history major. Finally seeing the Uffizi for me was like visiting the Mother Ship! The food, the art, the people, the architecture...it blew me away. And far friendlier than ANY of the towns I visited in France. Even making an effort to speak their language brough out the glee in most Italians. I adored it.

4. San Francisco- Beautiful architecture, fascinating history, liberal politics, and that incredible Bay. Plus, they have KFOG there! Loves me some Dave Morey.

5. Chicago- Another sentimental pick. My dad's hometown, and all my relatives from his side are there, so I love visiting. So MUCH to do, so much to see, so multicultural...I ADORE Chicago.

6. Monterey, California and environs- I was there for my first visit in August, and absolutely adored the place. The scenery, the incredible seafood, and the wonderful wildlife.

I'm still in the process of expanding my travel repertoire! I did more traveling last year than I did the entire rest of my life combined! Am hoping to check out some more neat spots this year.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

7. For some local flavor, try Key West. No, no...not the Key West from the cruise ships.

Ok, I admit that all the other cities and countries that are mentioned above are wonderful, and I am excited about them as well...London is amazing...Paris is my heart and I am going back there this year...Peter the Great certainly remains great in St. Petersburg. But beware the toilets. :)

I have visited so many of these cities and they are wonderful, but if you want to take off for a few hours and don't have a passport..please come again to Key West. The next time you come, stay away from the Duval Crawl on Duval Street. You will only find bars and tee-shirts. Walk away to the side streets and step into history. This is really an amazing town and it is yours for the asking.

[DFW]

8. Here are ours:

In North America:
Boston--Love New England, and the Cape and the Berkshires are close.
Cultural offerings galore and so many universities around that
the flow of ideas just make the town hum, where at the same time
there are old traditional ethnic neighborhoods that seem to defy
time.

San Francisco--For all the reasons everybody already has said.

Charleston, South Carolina--The architecture and the food!!! And a surprising
enclave of progressive thinkers tucked away there!
I've heard the same about Savannah, GA, but never
been there.

Never been to Vancouver or Toronto, though have heard much good about both.

In Europe--Hamburg-- for its wonderful rebuilt and elegant city center
Prague-- for its architecture and because it's easy to walk everywhere
København (Copenhagen)--for the same reasons as Hamburg and Prague
Barcelona--I used to live there in the sixties, and though it has
modernized a lot, it still retains much of its charm, if
plagued now by horrible traffic. Also, I speak Catalan, which
REALLY helps!
Genève (Geneva)-- I love the lake and the mountains as well as the clean
unspoiled old buildings. I guess the same could be said
for Zürich and Luzern as well. Peas of the same pod.
Siena-- I love "walking" towns, and Siena is it par excellence.
Düsseldorf--where we hang our hat when in Europe (which is a LOT!). The
Altstadt (old town) is completely restored, with restaurants,
pubs, cafés, and a promenade along the Rhein river that you
can take for miles either north to Duisburg or south toward Köln
(Cologne). Big green parks, modern "allées" (Napoléon called
Düsseldorf his little Paris on the Rhein), and yet despite being
the banking center for Western Germany and a fashion capital, it
is still in some ways a "Dorf (village."

[DFW]

9. By the way, I realize that I left out Paris

But I'm there twice a month for work. It's just too familiar
ground for me to get excited about. Düsseldorf is familiar, too,
of course, but a lot easier to settle down in.

[DrDan]

10. in no particular order

1. Victoria BC
2. Florence
3. Quebec City
4. Nurenberg
5. Paris
6. Cambridge UK
7. Savannah
8. Nice
9. Charleston