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Condé Nast Traveller reveals their best big cities list for 2018

tokyo-best-big-cities

Every year there are annual awards for best of everything. Being addicted to travel and all, we’re most excited by the ‘Best Of’ destinations. Condé Nast Traveler has once again done their yearly <a href=”https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2014-10-20/top-25-cities-in-the-world-readers-choice-awards-2014″>Reader’s Choice survey</a> (a huge 429,000 people voted this year!) and come up with a list of the best Big Cities around the world.

Who got the top spot for 2018? Read on…

For the second year in a row, the #1 Big City in the world is…

Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo’s mix of modern and ancient continues to entice travellers as people flock to Japan’s mega-city to eat at quirky themed restaurants, shop up a storm, immerse themselves in Japanese culture, ride the bullet train, see cherry blossoms and gaze upon ancient temples. There’s nothing you can’t do in Tokyo, and for the foodies out there it’s a special treat as it holds the honour of having the most Michelin starred restaurants of anywhere in the world.

tokyo-japan-best-city

Image source:Clay Banks

Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto came in second place this year, moving up one spot from the third place it landed in 2017, making Japan take home gold and silver this year. The imperial capital, Kyoto was praised for its recovery from the 2011 earthquake and the new life that has been breathed into it since. Gin distilleries have sprung up alongside sake ones and the tenth-century temples always draw a crowd.

A woman is walking down a hallway of orange tori tori featured in Condé Nast Traveller.

Image source:Jade Bloor

Melbourne, Australia

Third place went to Melbourne, Australia for its relaxed attitude, art scene and foodie offerings. A tough pill for Sydney-siders who came in at 6th place to swallow perhaps but having two Australian cities make the top 10 worldwide is huge bragging rights.

melbourne

Image source:Linda Xu

The full list of the 20 Best Big Cities of 2018 is:

1. Tokyo, Japan

2. Kyoto, Japan

3. Melbourne, Australia

4. Vienna, Austria

5. Hamburg, Germany

6. Sydney, Australia

7. Singapore

8. Paris, France

9. Barcelona, Spain

10. Vancouver, Canada

11. Madrid, Spain

12. Osaka, Japan

13. London, England

14. Budapest, Hungary

15. Amsterdam, Netherlands

16. Seoul, South Korea

17. Istanbul, Turkey

18. Athens, Greece

19. Rome, Italy

20. Dublin, Ireland