Talking about worst cities is depressing. Nobody wants to visit Topeka or Detroit anyway.

For me this question is surprisingly easy. Istanbul stands out far more than any other city I have visited. Istanbul offers anything a traveler would ever want; history, culture, nightlife, good food.

History: It is where East meets West. The Greeks, Romans, and Ottomans have all called it home. The history here is unparalleled, I would even place it over Jerusalem. Religion may call Jerusalem home but Istanbul has been the city at or near the center of power for 2500 years
Galata viewed from Sultanahmet


A walk around Sultanahmet is like being in the history books
Hagia Sofia is the 2nd largest church in the world, built under Justinian in 576 when the Romans called Constantinople home. It was then turned into a mosque under the Ottomans and is now a museum




Turn around and you are staring at the blue mosque which was built between 1609 and 1616


Also in Sultanahmet is Topkapi Palace which is my favorite of the three but not as picture friendly. In addition there is an underground Roman reservoir and the Grand Bazaar which is one of the oldest and largest in the world covering 58 streets. Takes 3 days to see Sultanahmet proper and that is just the tourist crap

Then you got Istiklal Street which is lined with shops, restaurants, and bars. According to Wikipedia 3 million people visit every weekend. You can get lost in the side streets, order tea, play backgammon and smoke some sheesha. The clubs go all night and you can find anything you like.




The food is delicious. Doner ftw for those on a budget



I dunno if it is Turkish but it's the only place in the world I've ever seen it, and I'm American (looks like something we should have). Waffle taco filled with ice cream toppings!


That is an introduction to my favorite city to visit. Now post yours, and try to include some pictures!

Cape Town for me, has the whole package. Lots to do and see, decent nightlife, a great all rounder.

No pics sorry they are all paper and I can't be arsed scanning them.

Thought Istanbul was OK but I wouldn't rush back. I can think of 10 cities in Europe I'd rather go back to.

I'm with OP in Istanbul. I'd go so far as to say it competes with Paris for the best city in Europe for tourists (although I guess Paris has the edge for most people).

Cape Town is another fantastic one--easily in my top 5 also.


Mexico City is a beautiful, delightful, chaotic mess, with a startling amount of stuff in its vicinity. The old city center (Zocalo) is like a poor man's Europe, with lots of colonial buildings, but with meals on the street costing only a buck.

There are ancient pyramids near town, as well as volcanic peaks higher than any mountains in the contiguous US. You can visit old silver mining towns in the mountains on day trips.

Of course, all the food and nightlife and stuff you might expect of a city of 20 million people is there too.

Really, the fact that Mexico City is completely off most Americans' travel radar is a shame. There's a ton of stuff to see and do and it's just a relatively cheap 3-4 hour flight from most cities. It's not necessarily my favorite, but it's a very good city to check out, especially if you don't have the cash for Paris.

how much would not speaking spanish detract from someone's mexico city experience?

I was in Istanbul a few years ago, didn't like it, also quite expensive compared to other cities in Turkey. If you're interested in history and religion Istanbul is definitely a place to visit though.

I liked Scottsdale, Arizona and Patong, Phuket.

Melbourne was super amazing. Loved it and I'm still thinking about it after visiting it 7 months ago.

yeah, cause you can't find shopping malls anywhere else in the world.

Seoul is a pretty awesome place to visit. Fair amount of history, culture, amazing/relatively cheap food, sick nightlife (if you like drinking), and beautiful women. It's generally very easy to get around and almost everyone speaks English. It is pretty expensive, but it's worth a visit.

However, I think Amsterdam has been my favorite vacation so far (not as well traveled as some of you guys - i.e. Justice). The architecture is beautiful, people are very nice, lots of good activities (i.e. Museumplein), good tasting beer, and CoffeeShops! I think Amsterdam stands out for me due to one particular experience as well.

Moderately.

Do you know absolutely zero Spanish?

detroit

ya =S

London or Berlin. Tons to do, good public transport.

Living it up in Scottsdale - ghetto style yo!!


Detroit baby!! The new Maui 5 years from now!

Worst week of my life, was the one I spend in Detroit a few years back.

Favorite U.S. city- Sedona, Arizona. Awesome scenery, hiking, weather.

Favorite intl city- Amsterdam, Holland. Didn't even care that it rained most days I was there.

New York City. Boring but true.

Nice choice my home town. Love the lifestyle and you can watch the best sport in the world at the MCG during the winter months. Australian Open Tennis during January and the Aussie Millions at the Crown Casino

15 posts and no Tokyooooooo??

my top 3 are Tokyo, NY and London in no paticular order. Copenhagen is the coolest "small" city i've ever been to.

Why Tokyo?

Top 3: Cusco, Barcelona, Cartagena.

I think Europe has the other continents dominated in terms of nice/interesting cities... my top 5 would be something like:

1) Rio - Unbelievable beaches, interesting and unique culture, surprisingly well educated populous (non-favela of course), solid food, hot women.
2) San Sebastian - Crazy Basques, best beach in Europe, awesome and unique food, stunningly beautiful.
3) Berlin - Best world nightlife, amazing public trans, interesting as hell history.
4) Lisbon - Beautiful, friendly people, good nightlife, good food, reasonably priced.
5) Chicago - I'm from 30 minutes from NYC and have been there a bazillion times so can't exactly put that... Chicago is massively underrated and truly representative of American culture.

Honorable mention is Luang Prabang, Laos - nicest city in Asia and interesting, but too boring to make the list. Also Fez, Morocco is pretty cool just cause of the labyrinth medina.

Paris

It's an amazing city.

Roma

Bangkok

Didn't realise that the Melbourne Rebels played at the MCG.