Nairobi floors Paris as world’s top city to visit
By Oliver Musembi, October 26, 2023Nairobi has been crowned as the world’s best city to visit according to a guidebook by a leading travel organisation.
Paris, the capital of France, comes second while Montreal in Canada takes third position in the ranking which also name the best countries and regions to visit in 2024.
The best cities have been unveiled as Nairobi in Kenya (first) and Paris (second), with three North American destinations in the top ten – Montreal (third), Philadelphia (fifth) and Kansas City (10th).
Travel experts Lonely Planet named Nairobi the winner for “staking its claim as a global centre of culture and is sizzling with unmissable travel experiences.”
It says that the Kenyan capital offers a dynamic array of restaurants, food carts and cafes, along with a “steady rotation of arts and cultural venues that all fuel a distinct Nairobi cool.” The guidebook adds: “Within easy reach, its namesake national park is teeming with wildlife.”
Lonely Planet says that silver medal winner Paris is offering visitors new ways to interact with the city as it prepares to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.
Third-place Montreal is praised for its ‘changing neighbourhoods packed with diverse cuisine, au courant galleries and quirky shops’ while Mostar in Bosnia, which ranks fourth, is said to have an ‘unforgettably scenic, minaret-dotted medieval Old Town.”
Heaping praise on fifth-place Philadelphia, Lonely Planet says: “At the confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers sits the nation’s first World Heritage City, the birthplace of the United States and the ‘City of Brotherly Love.’ But in all that historic high-mindedness what can get lost is modern Philly’s kinetic energy – and tectonically shifting cultural core.’
Diverse cuisine
Kansas City, meanwhile, is said to have ‘so much to shout about in 2024, including major sporting firsts, an ever-evolving, top-tier culinary scene and grassroots efforts to revitalise its cityscape’.
The rest of the cities top 10 comprises Manaus in Brazil (sixth); Jakarta, Indonesia (seventh); Prague (eighth) and Izmir in Turkey (ninth).
Turning to the best regions ranking, Lonely Planet says the Western Balkans’ Trans Dinarica Cycling Route – a ‘moderately difficult’, 3,364km trail through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia – is a deserving winner as it ‘spotlights mountain ranges, the Adriatic Sea and a gluttony of lakes and rivers while prioritising the sustainable discovery of UNESCO sites, national parks and villages’.
Runner-up Kangaroo Island, the guidebook reveals, has an ‘otherworldliness’ to it. Lonely Planet says: ‘A mere 40-minute flight from Adelaide, Australia’s third-largest island is surprisingly isolated. Deceptively vast with a ridiculous amount of stunning coastline, Kangaroo Island invites guests to indulge in its unique local produce, encounter adorable wildlife and discover some of the country’s best beaches.’
Tuscany – where visitors can ‘celebrate the slow life’ – comes third in the regions ranking, while Donegal, an Irish county that boasts ‘the highest sea cliffs in Europe’ and ‘miles of unspoilt coastal hiking trails’, lands in fourth place.
Lonely Planet’s newly released Best In Travel 2024 book crowns the top ten countries, regions and cities to visit next year. Two new categories – ‘value’ and ‘sustainable’ – have also been introduced this year to mark Lonely Planet’s 50th birthday.
The best regions are the Trans Dinarica Cycling Route in the Western Balkans (first) and Australia’s Kangaroo Island (second), with the US state of Montana eighth and Far North Scotland ranking tenth.
Midwest US has been named the best destination for value, while Spain is the best for sustainability – with the trails of Wales ranking fourth on the sustainability list.
Stunning coastline
Lonely Planet says it has awarded Mongolia the gold medal as it’s ideal for seekers of ‘wide-open spaces, adventures and culture’. Its capital, Ulaanbaatar, is also ‘teeming with people and unique attractions’.
Lonely Planet adds: ‘Squeezed between Russia and China, Mongolia seems hard to reach given recent geopolitical events in its two large neighbours. But Mongolia’s doors are open and a tourism campaign has eased visa restrictions through 2025.’
Runner-up India is described as ‘the world’s most colourful country’. Lonely Planet adds that ‘India’s railways are in for a revamp, with stylish new trains rolling out across the network’. It also recommends that travellers ‘take a 2,000-mile boat trip on the MV Ganges Vilas, the world’s longest river cruise’.