[Travel] Your favourite city in the world

[Notters]

Barca: it’s a city I know very well and this is part of the attraction. I primarily go there to switch off and have a rest and get some sunshine especially during the grey bleak sub-zero Berlin winter. Always the same hotel and as I know the city so well and have done all the tourist stuff I don’t feel compelled to rush around looking at things. I usually get up, short stroll to the market and have a long slow breakfast, people watch and then think about what I’m going to do with myself. Maybe go for a run along the marina and beach, then worry about dinner. I often go to the parks as well. I have a raft of restaurants I always go to and a few bars. Maybe I could get all this, and maybe more elsewhere, but it fits a specific need which is centred around familiarity, rest and switching off and I’d need to work at familiarity if I went elsewhere….which is exactly what I don’t want to do. Hopefully this makes sense.

All makes sense - I would suggest you give Malaga a go - you can do all this, it has better winter weather and the price of everything is roughly half that of Barcelona.

If you fancy booking a nice restaurant, outside table, overlooking the beach, next January I I’ll give Leeds a go; I promise. First round on me.

The beach is somewhat lacking, but it's made up for in countryside.

 

[Eric the meek]

I forgot a shout for Edinburgh. I worked up there for 9 months in 2004/2005 and had a great time. Here is a different take on the place, rather than the usual architecture/castle stuff.

Having an ancient volcanic plug in the middle of town, half of which which has then been gouged out by a glacier, is proper geography. But walk a short way to the south of Arthur's seat, there's even more geography. You will find a spectacular cliff of giant hexagonal basalt columns, larger than any you will find at the tourist attractions of Staffa and the Giant's Causeway. Absolutely stunning.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Vienna for me. Art, architecture, music, good beer and the vineyards. Stunning city full of history I love it.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Vienna for me. Art, architecture, music, good beer and the vineyards. Stunning city full of history I love it.

This means nothing to me.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

It’s a good question. Of your list I’ve only been to Valencia so ignorance plays a part I guess .

Barca: it’s a city I know very well and this is part of the attraction. I primarily go there to switch off and have a rest and get some sunshine especially during the grey bleak sub-zero Berlin winter. Always the same hotel and as I know the city so well and have done all the tourist stuff I don’t feel compelled to rush around looking at things. I usually get up, short stroll to the market and have a long slow breakfast, people watch and then think about what I’m going to do with myself. Maybe go for a run along the marina and beach, then worry about dinner. I often go to the parks as well. I have a raft of restaurants I always go to and a few bars. Maybe I could get all this, and maybe more elsewhere, but it fits a specific need which is centred around familiarity, rest and switching off and I’d need to work at familiarity if I went elsewhere….which is exactly what I don’t want to do. Hopefully this makes sense.

I do try and visit new places, Zadar and Kopenhagen this year for example, but I need a few well known staples as well. I would like to visit more of Spain though.

If you fancy booking a nice restaurant, outside table, overlooking the beach, next January I I’ll give Leeds a go; I promise. First round on me.

I should also add it was the first foreign city I ever visited and the wife used to live there...so it has some personal resonance as well.

 

[shingle]

All makes sense - I would suggest you give Malaga a go - you can do all this, it has better winter weather and the price of everything is roughly half that of Barcelona.



The beach is somewhat lacking, but it's made up for in countryside.

Great shout for Malaga, very much underrated. I spent a week there during Semana Santa a few years back and loved it.

 

[jackalbion]

It’s a good question. Of your list I’ve only been to Valencia so ignorance plays a part I guess .

Barca: it’s a city I know very well and this is part of the attraction. I primarily go there to switch off and have a rest and get some sunshine especially during the grey bleak sub-zero Berlin winter. Always the same hotel and as I know the city so well and have done all the tourist stuff I don’t feel compelled to rush around looking at things. I usually get up, short stroll to the market and have a long slow breakfast, people watch and then think about what I’m going to do with myself. Maybe go for a run along the marina and beach, then worry about dinner. I often go to the parks as well. I have a raft of restaurants I always go to and a few bars. Maybe I could get all this, and maybe more elsewhere, but it fits a specific need which is centred around familiarity, rest and switching off and I’d need to work at familiarity if I went elsewhere….which is exactly what I don’t want to do. Hopefully this makes sense.

I do try and visit new places, Zadar and Kopenhagen this year for example, but I need a few well known staples as well. I would like to visit more of Spain though.

If you fancy booking a nice restaurant, outside table, overlooking the beach, next January I I’ll give Leeds a go; I promise. First round on me.

I would agree with Barcelona, went there for the first time this year and it was fantastic, really loved it

 

[Notters]

I should also add it was the first foreign city I ever visited and the wife used to live there...so it has some personal resonance as well.

While you're here, where is the absolute must-visit city in Germany?
Have only been to Freiburg as my brother used to live in Basel.

Munich has always tickled my fancy, but open to suggestions.

 

[Smirko]

Jerusalem - History, History and History, dripping through every pore. A mix of different religions/cultures and people.

 

[theboybilly]

Valencia, so much nicer than Barcelona.

(An honourable mention to Ypres in Belgium)

 

[theboybilly]

While you're here, where is the absolute must-visit city in Germany?
Have only been to Freiburg as my brother used to live in Basel.

Munich has always tickled my fancy, but open to suggestions.

Berlin is a must-do (it ticks all my WW2 boxes as there's still so much Albert Speer-type architecture if you know where to look and the museums are great) but I've heard from many that Schwerin is a superb visit.

 

[Braggfan]

Berlin for me - never ceases to fascinate

Runner-up is Budapest. First visited it when it was in the Eastern bloc and have been back many times since

Favourite in the UK is Bristol. Reminds me a bit of Brighton - once even thought of living there

Bristol is a great city, and I completely understand what you mean about reminding you of Brighton.

Bristol and Melbourne are probably the only two places I've ever considered living outside of Brighton.

Honorable mentions to Copenhagen and Chicago as great cities to spend time in.

 

[Gwylan]

While you're here, where is the absolute must-visit city in Germany?
Have only been to Freiburg as my brother used to live in Basel.

Munich has always tickled my fancy, but open to suggestions.

Loads of great cities in Germany, I've done a lot of travelling there. Berlin's my favourite but Munich, Hamburg and Cologne are fantastic too. Dortmund is great for a boozy weekend and Weimar if you want a cultural experience. The only places that I found pretty dull were Hanover and Frankfurt-um-Main.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

While you're here, where is the absolute must-visit city in Germany?
Have only been to Freiburg as my brother used to live in Basel.

Munich has always tickled my fancy, but open to suggestions.

It’s a good question and it depends what interests you have. Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Hamburg and Köln are my favorites and for slightly different reasons. If I had to chose one (other than Berlin) I’d say Hamburg as it has a variety of attractions like the model city and a fascinating History of Hamburg museum, interesting neighborhoods, the port, bars, restaurants, nightlife, football culture, the two lakes (if you’re a runner these are just beautiful to run around…it’s approx 8 miles) etc. That said, Munich in the summer is delightful.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Loads of great cities in Germany, I've done a lot of travelling there. Berlin's my favourite but Munich, Hamburg and Cologne are fantastic too. Dortmund is great for a boozy weekend and Weimar if you want a cultural experience. The only places that I found pretty dull were Hanover and Frankfurt-um-Main.

Yes. Frankfurt is dull…and I say that as someone who’s been to Switzerland.

 

[Gwylan]

It’s a good question and it depends what interests you have. Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Hamburg and Köln ...

[A pedant writes] It's always a tricky decision as to whether to use English or German names, but surely you need to be consistent: München and Köln or Munich and Cologne

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

It’s a good question and it depends what interests you have. Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Hamburg and Köln are my favorites and for slightly different reasons. If I had to chose one (other than Berlin) I’d say Hamburg as it has a variety of attractions like the model city and a fascinating History of Hamburg museum, interesting neighborhoods, the port, bars, restaurants, nightlife, football culture, the two lakes (if you’re a runner these are just beautiful to run around…it’s approx 8 miles) etc. That said, Munich in the summer is delightful.

Hamburg has St Pauli, the second-greatest football club in the world.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

My favourite piece of art, Gerard Richter’s window is in the Köln Dom/cathedral. Whilst it’s stunning to look at from the inside…I just love the story behind it, his reasons for creating it the way he did, it’s purpose, the engineering, the mathematics used for the random squares and what he wanted to achieve. It has everything.

 

[herecomesaregular]

That's interesting. I didn't really like Valencia. Fantastic beach, but the city suffers from not having much of a centre and to me is a rubbish Barcelona.

Maybe I missed something.

Had great time in Valencia. We hired bikes and it's a brilliant city to cycle around (including to the beach after stocking up at one of the markets). My mate had bad Plantar fasciitis that was v painful walking but ok when cycling so it was perfect for this. Cheap, great food and weather and fun during the festival.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

In the USA, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, New York, Boston. In Europe Krakow, Rome, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Bruges, Istanbul. But most of all, Brighton and Hove if only people would look after the place properly.