Top Cities To See Before You Die

Whether it’s somewhere huge like Tokyo, quirky like Vilnius or isolated like Iquitos, everyone has a mental tick list of urban areas across the world to travel to.

• List your Five Cities To See Before You Die here.

Countries, Islands, National Parks and Dodgy Train Stations To See Before You Die

Surely’s it’s not just me that’s noticed a plethora of polls, ticklists and surveys entitled something along the lines of 100 National Parks To See Before You Die, 50 Islands To See Before You Die and 20 Mildly Interesting Peat Marshes To See Before You Die? They’re all over the place; people seem to have got bored with simple Top Ten lists, which is a crying shame.

Top Five Cities To See Before You Die

Still, never let it be said that I won’t hurl myself at a passing bandwagon, clutching to the sides as it drags me kicking and screaming over bumpy, dusty terrain. And besides, I’m mildly curious to see what Urban Travel readers would regard as their Top Five Cities To See Before They Die (although I’m already beginning to hate that title).

I’m partly fascinated to see what makes people tick – after all, there are some cities that I don’t have any particular enthusiasm to go to (Bangkok, Zurich and Milan spring to mind). Others may wildly disagree. Then again, I’m partly interested to see how closely readers’ lists compare with mine.

My Top Five Must-See Cities

To pick my five, I’ve had to lay down one key ground rule. I’ve ruled out cities that I’ve already been to; they’re already ticked off, although if I hadn’t have been there already, they may have made the list. Sydney would be the prime example here, although Seville and Paris wouldn’t be far off. So, that leaves me with…

Number One: Rome, Italy: There’s so much history, and I honestly can’t imagine covering everything I’d want to cover if I was there for a month. Fortunately, I’m off in just under a week’s time. Unfortunately, it’s only for a day on the way to Tuscany. I’ll be back for more…

Number Two: Vilnius, Lithuania: Any city that can erect a statue of Frank Zappa, a musician who had no links to the city, just because it can sounds like my kinda place.

Number Three: La Paz, Bolivia: The world’s highest capital city. I’d just love to watch and observe how life goes on in those conditions.

Number Four: Iquitos, Peru: It’s not so much the city itself, but the getting there. Iquitos is the largest city in the world without road links, and I’d love to have my own private boat and sail it up the Amazon to get to it.

Number Five: Timbuktu, Mali: Because I’m obstinate, and just want to say I’ve been there. I will happily concede that I know nothing about it, however.

That’s enough about my choices, though: What would your five cities be, and why? Share them on this discussion board.