20 cities, in full.
One honest question.

Europe

7 cities

DimiTalen / CC09 areas reviewed

France

Paris

Twenty arrondissements, dozens of moods. Choose the neighborhood before the room.

Jebulon / CC07 areas reviewed

Italy

Rome

Ancient ruins, tangled lanes and long lunches. Where you sleep decides your walk.

Dicklyon / CC BY-SA 4.04 areas reviewed

Portugal

Lisbon

Hills, tiles and tram lines. A city best understood one bairro at a time.

Patrisims / CC BY-SA 4.04 areas reviewed

Spain

Barcelona

Gaudí, the Gothic Quarter and the beach — pick the balance that suits you.

Fons Heijnsbroek / CC08 areas reviewed

Netherlands

Amsterdam

Canals, bikes and quiet courtyards. The right ring changes everything.

European Commission / CC BY 4.06 areas reviewed

Denmark

Copenhagen

Small, flat and on the water. Which side of the harbour sets the trip.

Farbades420 / CC04 areas reviewed

United Kingdom

London

A collection of villages pretending to be a city. Neighborhood is everything.

Asia

5 cities

Jason Goh / CC09 areas reviewed

Japan

Tokyo

Endless, layered and precise. Each ward is a different city entirely.

DimiTalen / CC07 areas reviewed

Japan

Kyoto

Temples, machiya and river walks. Stay near the mood you came for.

DXR / CC BY-SA 4.07 areas reviewed

Japan

Osaka

Two centres, four kilometres apart. Almost the whole decision is which one you sleep in.

Tee-12838 / CC BY-SA 4.04 areas reviewed

Thailand

Bangkok

Street food, river life and rooftop bars — density you choose your side of.

Jason Goh / CC07 areas reviewed

Singapore

Singapore

Hawker centres and garden towers. Compact, but the district still matters.

Americas

3 cities

Rhododendrites / CC BY-SA 4.04 areas reviewed

United States

New York

Five boroughs, a hundred neighborhoods. The block sets the whole trip.

ProtoplasmaKid / CC BY-SA 4.05 areas reviewed

Mexico

Mexico City

Leafy colonias and buzzing markets. Roma or Centro? It changes everything.

Wilfredor / CC05 areas reviewed

Brazil

Rio de Janeiro

Beaches, hills and samba. Which stretch of sand is the real question.

Africa & Middle East

3 cities

Schorle / CC BY-SA 4.04 areas reviewed

Morocco

Marrakech

Riads in the medina or calm in Gueliz — two very different Marrakeches.

lumoplank / CC06 areas reviewed

South Africa

Cape Town

Mountain, sea and vineyards. Where you base yourself frames the view.

Gokul Venugopal / CC BY-SA 4.04 areas reviewed

United Arab Emirates

Dubai

Marina glass or old-town creek. The district decides the whole tempo.

Oceania

2 cities

Benh Lieu Song / CC BY-SA 4.06 areas reviewed

Australia

Sydney

Harbour, surf and bush. The right bay or beach makes the trip.

Bernard Spragg / CC04 areas reviewed

New Zealand

Auckland

City of sails, split by two harbours. Base yourself where the water calls.

Every city on this page has a guide. Twelve of them also have stays we have reviewed one by one; the other eight have their areas written and no hotel picked yet, and their pages say so rather than leaving you to find out.