Edinburgh was this year's top city break, coming top for beauty, atmosphere and ease of travel. Photo / Jim Divine, Unsplash
Edinburgh was this year's top city break, coming top for beauty, atmosphere and ease of travel. Photo / Jim Divine, Unsplash
Scottish hubs have dominated the list of cultural hubs to visit this year, according to Time Out's annual guide of the world.
Edinburgh was crowned top spot in the 2022 World's Best Cities Index in a survey of 20,000 city dwellers, in 53 towns across the globe.
Auld Reekie was followed closely by Chicago in second, then Colombia's Medellin city, and Glasgow in fourth.
Edinburgh was raised to number one for its rugged beauty, ease of walking and cultural heart. The Festival City is a top spot for international travellers, with roughly a million tourists arriving during August. However, Glasgow and the Clyde were hot on the heels of the Scottish Capital.
"Casual kindness and good humour prevail in the city voted friendliest in this year's Index," said Time Out's Malcolm Jack. It was also voted one of the best value breaks, as the second least likely to be described as "expensive" by survey respondents.
It might come as a surprise with the cities 'dour' reputations, but the towns out performing far larger hubs like Tokyo (24) and New York (20).
For Scotland "many mickle cities make a muckle".
Glasgow has won over travellers as the world's friendliest city. Photo / Artur Kraft, Unsplash
Third on the list Medellin in Colombia has also seen a renaissance. The mountain city suffered from an image problem since the early 90s, with many tourists steering clear of Colombia.
"It's really hard not to make good friends here," said the guide. "In this year's survey, Medellín's nightlife was voted the world's best." Scoring 97 per cent for food and drink and 90 per cent for nightlife and community spirit, Medellin knows how to have a good time.
Party Capital: Colombia's Medellin was top for indulgent party culture. Photo / Ruise Uhu, Unsplash
Chicago was boosted into second place by a phenomenal food and drink scene. "A whopping 96 percent of locals rate Chicago highly for its food and drink – the second highest in the world," said Emma Krupp for Time Out Chicago.
Big on beans: Chicago, the 'Windy City', has come top for culinary city breaks. Photo / Sawyer Bengtson, Unsplash
New Zealand was not overlooked. Dropping in at 47 Auckland top for green spaces and adventure on its doorstep.
"It's just as easy to hike up volcanoes or ferry-hop to islands as it is to order local wines at buzzy city-centre bars," said reviewer Petrina Darrah.
A nod was also given to the Kiwi supercity's dining credentials with Peter Gordon's Homeland, Michael Meredith's Mr Morris and Ben Bayly's Ahi all given a shout-out.
Tamaki Makaurau was just one place behind Sydney, which was said to be "bouncing back from 2021's rolling lockdowns."
As a general trend, small was beautiful in this year's list, and travellers were looking to give cities which might have been overlooked a second chance.
The survey of local city dwellers also unveiled some surprising insights.
Roll over, Rome: Rio's inhabitants fancy their chances as world's best for finding romance. Photo / Agustin Diaz, Unsplash
Rio di Janeiro's locals dubbed themself the "best city in the world for hook-ups" with 66 per cent of saying it's easy to get with someone here.
Citizens of Accra the Ghanaian capital said they were the nosiest of cities ("'Your business is everyone's business' is how many locals would put it") they also voted themselves the "easiest city to make friends in" for this year's list.
