A new list of the top cities in the world for international travelers from the U.S. gives the inside edge to Portugal, with Spain coming in second. Coming in at number one (a tie, actually) were Lisbon, and Porto, Portugal. I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting Porto, but I love Lisbon, which has fabulous food and great neighbourhoods to explore, including the vibrant Aflama district. There also are great beaches. Spain had two cities in the top 10; Madrid and Seville. Sadly, I haven’t been to either. The authors created a list of 40 major cities around the world, Read more
Europe
A new report from Trip Advisor ranks one U.S. hotel and one Canadian property among the top hotels in the world. Here’s their top 10 for the world: G.H. Universal Hotel – Bandung, Indonesia Hotel Colline de France – Gramado, Brazil Hotel Sporting Family Hospitality – Livigno, Italy Royal Lancaster London – London, England, United Kingdom FivePine Lodge and Spa – Sisters, Oregon, United States La Siesta Hoi An Resort & Spa – Hoi An City, Vietnam Abigail’s Hotel – Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Bucuti & Tara Beach Resort Aruba – Eagle Beach, Aruba Hotel Moments Budapest – Budapest, Hungary Read more
Sports Illustrated recently published a ranking of the best cities for taking in the World Cup. They looked at the quality of the games, the cities themselves, the stadiums, and the locations of the stadiums to come up with a list of the best cities of the 16 that are hosting games. Here are the results, along with some of the reasoning. 16. SAN FRANCISCO – not the best games, and too far from downtown S.F. 15. KANSAS CITY – Again, stadium too far from downtown. 14. NEW YORK NEW JERSEY – The Meadowlands stadium is “a nightmare” to Read more
The folks at Resonance Consultancy, one of the most respected research firms in the world, have published their 2026 America’s Best Cities report and ranking. It’s their most comprehensive study ever, with all 393 U.S. metropolitan areas ranked for the first time. THE 2026 TOP 25 1. New York 2. Los Angeles 3. Chicago 4. Miami 5. San Francisco 6. Seattle 7. Las Vegas 8. Dallas 9. Houston 10. Boston 11. Austin 12. San Diego 13. Atlanta 14. Washington D.C. 15. Orlando 16. Denver 17. Nashville 18. Portland 19. Phoenix 20. Philadelphia 21. Tampa 22. Charlotte 23. New Orleans 24. Read more
Summer means European vacations for many North Americans. As great as it is to explore the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and other areas of the continent, many of us grow up yearning for a trip to Europe to see the Eiffel Tower and the Colosseum and Big Ben and other icons. Editor’s note: I took my first trip to Europe after graduating from college in California (UCLA) in 1979. I saw many wondrous things, including Stonehenge, The Royal Mile in Edinburgh, the Mona Lisa in Paris, The Vatican, the canals of Amsterdam and the Swiss Alps. Better still, I Read more
