OK so blokes do lists. I try to resist it, honest I do. But recently Time Out - which I really rate as a source of what’s happening in the cities I visit - did a list of its favourite cities. Casting my vote got the better of me. 

Their ranking was based on the ‘votes’ of its various correspondents. They gave scores based on art/culture, architecture/cityscape, food and drink, buzz, quality of life and world status. They ended up with a list and a book, “Time Out: The World’s Greatest Cities“, which contains articles on the top 75 and is a decent enough read.

Looking through their top ten in The Times (7 Sept 2009) made me sit down and think through mine - not really against the same criteria, because I’d say some of it is a little dubious - especially ‘world status’, which can be a good or bad thing. Moscow, for example, had a much more significant ‘world status’ 25 years ago than today, but it wasn’t much fun.

The fun of lists is disagreeing with them. I have six of the ten in my top ten with numbers 4 and 5 the same as Time Out’s. Comparing cities is like comparing apples and oranges - unfair and largely a matter of taste. But that doesn’t stop us preferring one to the other.

Here goes: 

1. London

Sometimes you are too close to a good thing to realise just how good it is. It wasn’t until I travelled more extensively, regularly and critically that I really appreciated London. It is also fair to say that during the same period London’s regeneration lept ahead. No disagreement with Time Out on the top two - just the order. Though I love New York, London’s cultural heritage, its history, its landscape and its diversity gives it the edge. And so it should have - after all it had a head start of six hundred years or so. It was the de-facto capital of the world for two centuries and these days you can even get a decent meal. Yes the transport is a pain sometimes, yes it will cost you a few bob more than most cities and yes living there has its drawbacks. But can you seriously beat walking home across Waterloo Bridge as the summer sun rises? Not anywhere on earth. 

2. New York

The USA offers two things that European cities never match - great value and great service. Despite being the capital of the world, New York delivers both - certainly in the stores and the restaurants. New York has a unique buzz, infectious energy and honesty, an evocative setting and a scale for which nothing can prepare you on your first visit. The skyline, different yet equally breathtaking from numerous viewpoints, is one of the greatest sights. The best of those probably from Liberty and Ellis Islands or from the Rockafeller Center observation deck looking downtown. Tiring yes, but never tiresome. I’ve never felt ready to leave New York and I don’t expect I ever will.

3. Amsterdam

Not everybody’s cup of tea, but a personal favorite. The most civilised place in Europe  and the most chilled of cities. Libertarian and liberal, beautiful and business minded, wealthy and welcoming. Great venues, surprisingly good food, world-renowned culture, great and quirky museums. Recreation for the weekend? You couldn’t ask for more than Amsterdam.  

4. Berlin

Clubs, cocktails and the coolest of buildings. A constant series of reinventions - mostly enforced. Two of everything by virtue of its division. The best of modern architecture and regeneration and the most poignant of memorials. Berlin continues to emerge from the horrors of the 20^th century toward its rightful place as one of the world’s greatest cities. The best beer and the best bars push it high on my list despite it not being the greatest place to eat.

5. Barcelona

The editor chapesse from Time Out, Jessica Cargill Thompson, said of Barca: “Though it is much loved by the many who visit, and is at the heart of a fierce Catalan identity, it is hard to argue that Barcelona’s global influence extends much beyond design, football and experimental cooking”. But really, what else matters? Shall we mention the climate, the transport that works, the unspeakably cool bars, the Med and their lasting symbolic resistance to Franco and his murderous fascist scumbags.

6. San Francisco

A string of villages each with its own character within a sprawl around the bay, but it’s the influence and invention of the place that has made SF a true world city. Pacific rim food and Californian ease are all part of it but it’s the most photogenic of places as well as the most open. I doubt that anyone could fail to understand why so many who first intended to visit never manage to leave.

7. Sydney

Another bay, another bridge, another city, same ocean, same feel as San Francisco. Not the most isolated of the Australian cities - Perth has than dubious honour, but isolated enough to be at once a great centre and at the same time out of the world as we know it. Here I agree with Time Out’s collective judgement. Sydneysiders have the lifestyle and the climate to die for and it is easy to argue that its all you could need or wish for, but if you enjoy Europe’s diversity and differences then life in Sydney could prove frustrating and while it has made the effort, culturally it can’t really compete - but then that’s not why you go. Looking at that harbour can make up for a lot of paintings.

8. Milan

Rome has its history and its Pope, Venice has its canals and had its gondoliers, Florence has Botticelli and backpackers, but Milan has the business. The great creativity of that most creative of nations now has its heart in the northern capital. A major world influence,  much under rated, some fantastic food, serious shopping and the most beautiful building on the planet.

9. Paris

The question is really why Paris only makes number nine in my list? Well positives first. Up there with London for culture and history, a beautiful place with an evocative skyline, a tradition of city planning that still holds, decent shopping, yes some great food and THE café culture that defines the rest. The ‘buts’: Paris is hard work, overrun by tourists, its restaurants fail to understand that service means being open when people want to eat, food stands still - while other cuisines move on the French believe they have nothing to learn and there are massive social problems all too evident even close to the tourist centres. Despite all that it is still a great destination. Twenty years ago it knocked spots off London. Not anymore. 

10. Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Of course not in the same league as those above, not a world city and the food’s not great, but this is MY list after all. These days it’s marketed as Newcastle-Gateshead - largely because many of the iconic landmarks are actually in Gateshead - the Angel of the North, the Baltic, the Sage, half of the seven bridges, but the heart beats north of the Tyne in Newcastle itself. A place to party, a place of production and invention, a place of pride and passion. The gateway to the most breathtaking coastline, vast deserted beaches, bleak and beautiful wild spaces and canny shops. Not really England - border country with a Celtic Christian heritage, a place that’s separate, that speaks its own language - Britain’s Catalonia, Britain’s Barcelona. Home, Newcastle.  

Hon mentions: Edinburgh, Madrid, Malaga, Manchester, Rome.

Yet to visit but obviously up there: Buenos Aries, Cape Town, Chicago, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Vancouver.