The folks at Time Out have a nice, new list of the world’s top food cities. I’m quite shocked that Japan didn’t place any city in the top 10, and that only one Japanese city (Osaka) made the top 20. I’m also surprised that only two cities in North America (only one in the U.S.) cracked the top 20.
Still, it’s an interesting, tasty list that includes a few cities you might not expect to see.
booking.com photo
Here’s their full top 20.
- Lima, Perun (I’ve never been to Peru, but Peruvian cuisine is excellent)
- Bangkok, Thailand (fabulous street food and very good restaurants)
- Mexico City (amazing variety)
- London, England (no way the city makes the list 20 years ago, but things have changed greatly)
- Barcelona, Spain (terrific food city)
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Melbourne, Australia (take that, Sydney)
- Beijing, China
- Athens, Greece (I haven’t been that often, but this is surprising to me based on past experience)
- Lisbon, Portugal (very good food, but not sure it should rank ahead of major Japanese cities or New York)
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Osaka, Japan
- Bengaluru, India
- Naples, Italy
- New York City (can’t believe it’s this low on the list)
- Hong Kong (definitely worthy of the top 20)
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Marseille, France
- Copenhagen, Denmark (Copenhagen was all the rage for foodies 10 years ago but may have slipped a bit)
- Medellin, Colombia
That’s seven spots in the top 20 for Europe, six for Asia, three for South America, two for North America and one each for Africa and Australia.
Happy dining!
WORLD’S MOST WALKABLE CITIES – NOT A CHANCE
Guru Walk in April released its annual list of the world’s 100 most walkable cities, and I think it’s nonsense.
I’ve been to more than 50 countries around the world and to hundreds of medium to large-sized cities across the globe, and I can’t believe they missed on so many places.
You can’t possibly omit San Francisco from a list of 100 walkable cities, or cities to explore on foot. It’s compact, and very easy to get around almost all the city if you don’t mind a few hills. And it’s a visual delight. I can see leaving out Toronto in terms of potential Canadian content, but not Vancouver. If you’re a visitor, almost everything you want to see in Vancouver is within a couple miles of downtown.
Rome. Jim Byers Photo
Now, there are some fine choices here. New York City was ranked 23rd. And I love seeing Ljubljana, Slovenia on the list, as well as Lisbon and Edinburgh. But where’s Boston? Where’s Sydney? Sure, some areas of Sydney you might want to visit are a bit out of town (Bondi beach, for one), but the downtown has tremendous sights and is delightfully walkable.
I know we can all find flaws with any list (don’t get me started on people who put “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except For Me and My Monkey” on their list of top Beatles tunes), but this one misses the mark by a mile.
Anyhow, here’s the Guru Walk Top Ten:
- Rome
- Madrid
- Budapest
- Prague
- Lisbon
- Amsterdam
- Porto
- Barcelona
- London
- Berlin
Wait a minute. All top 10 cities are in Europe? Come on, Guru Walk. You can do better than this..
A WORLD CUP GUIDE TO BOSTON
Boston, Massachusetts. Ozzie Stern/Unsplash Photo
USA Today has a nice item about what to see and do in Boston, which is hosting seven football/soccer matches during the FIFA World Cup in the coming weeks. Among the recommendations are theBoston Common, Fenway Park for a Red Sox baseball game, and Boston Public Garden. I also suggest a harbor tour, a visit to the historic North End (fabulous Italian food) and a tour of Harvard University in Cambridge. Cape Cod is a great getaway spot, as are the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
It’s a fabulous city I’m planning to visit in September.
AND SOME OTHER WORLD CUP CITIES IN THE U.S.
Los Ángeles will be hosting xxx games during the World Cup. Here’s a story I wrote about 24 great things to see and do in the city.
San Francisco/Santa Clara also is playing host to the World Cup. Here’s a story about things to do in San Francisco for less than $50.
Little Havana tour guide Ariel Gonzalez in Miami, Florida. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Miami also will be hosting a whack of World Cup matches. Here’s my latest story from the city.
BEST THINGS TO DO AT DISNEYLAND and DISNEY WORLD
MSN Travel has a story about some people who spent 10 days (TEN!) at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. I love Disney, but that’s a lot of time at a theme park.
There’s also this piece about the top rides at Walt Disney World in Florida.
