City Guides

India 5 Things to Do in New Delhi India's capital layers a Mughal-era old city over wide colonial-era boulevards and a fast-growing modern metro — expect food, monuments, and noise in equal measure. Read the guide → China 5 Things to Do in Beijing China's capital has been the seat of imperial power for over 800 years, and it shows — this is a city where you can walk from a moat-ringed palace to a section of the Great Wall in the same day. Read the guide → United States 5 Things to Do in Washington, D.C. The U.S. capital is unusually easy to sightsee — nearly all of its major monuments and Smithsonian museums are free, walkable, and clustered along or near the National Mall. Read the guide → Indonesia 5 Things to Do in Jakarta Indonesia's capital is a sprawling megacity where 17th-century Dutch colonial architecture, a modern skyline, and some of Southeast Asia's best street food all sit within a few miles of each other. Read the guide → Pakistan 5 Things to Do in Islamabad Purpose-built in the 1960s as a planned capital at the foot of the Margalla Hills, Islamabad is greener, quieter, and more orderly than most South Asian capitals — and it has genuine hiking on its doorstep. Read the guide → Nigeria 5 Things to Do in Abuja Nigeria's purpose-built capital, laid out from scratch in the 1980s to replace Lagos, is defined by wide boulevards, dramatic rock outcrops, and a skyline built around two of the most striking monolithic formations in West Africa. Read the guide → Brazil 5 Things to Do in Brasília Built from empty savanna in just 41 months and inaugurated in 1960, Brazil's capital is a UNESCO World Heritage Site almost entirely because of one man's architecture — Oscar Niemeyer's curved, modernist government buildings define the entire city. Read the guide → Bangladesh 5 Things to Do in Dhaka One of the densest cities on earth, Dhaka is a Mughal-era river port turned megacity, where centuries-old forts and mosques sit a rickshaw ride away from some of South Asia's most chaotic, vibrant street life. Read the guide → Russia 5 Things to Do in Moscow Russia's capital pairs onion-domed medieval architecture with some of the most ornate public infrastructure ever built — its metro stations alone are worth a dedicated afternoon. Read the guide → Mexico 5 Things to Do in Mexico City Built atop the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, Mexico City layers pre-Columbian ruins, Spanish colonial architecture, and some of the best food and museums in the Americas across one of the largest metro areas on earth. Read the guide → Ethiopia 5 Things to Do in Addis Ababa Perched at over 7,500 feet in the Ethiopian highlands, Addis Ababa is Africa's diplomatic capital and one of its oldest independent cities — a mix of imperial history, Africa's biggest open-air market, and genuinely excellent coffee. Read the guide → Japan 5 Things to Do in Tokyo Japan's capital packs centuries-old temples, some of the densest pedestrian crossings on earth, and cutting-edge design and food scenes into a city that somehow still runs with total precision. Read the guide → Philippines 5 Things to Do in Manila A former Spanish colonial capital and one of the most densely populated cities on earth, Manila mixes 16th-century walled-city architecture with Asia's oldest Chinatown and a lively, food-driven street culture. Read the guide → Egypt 5 Things to Do in Cairo The Arab world's largest city sits on the Nile at the edge of the desert, where the last surviving wonder of the ancient world is close enough to visit before lunch. Read the guide → Democratic Republic of the Congo 5 Things to Do in Kinshasa Facing Brazzaville across the Congo River — the only place in the world where two national capitals sit directly opposite each other — Kinshasa is one of Africa's biggest, most kinetic cities, built around the world's second-largest river. Read the guide → Vietnam 5 Things to Do in Hanoi Vietnam's capital for over a thousand years, Hanoi layers ancient Vietnamese dynasties, French colonial boulevards, and modern motorbike chaos into one of Southeast Asia's most walkable old cities. Read the guide → Iran 5 Things to Do in Tehran Sprawled beneath the Alborz mountains, Iran's capital pairs Qajar-era palaces and one of the world's great bazaars with a modern, mountain-ringed megacity. Read the guide → Turkey 5 Things to Do in Ankara Turkey's political capital sits in the Anatolian heartland and gets a fraction of Istanbul's tourists, which means world-class ancient history without the crowds. Read the guide → Germany 5 Things to Do in Berlin Few capitals carry as much visible 20th-century history in one walkable center — Prussian grandeur, wartime destruction, and a wall through the middle of the city. Read the guide → Thailand 5 Things to Do in Bangkok Golden temples, chaotic markets, and a river running through the middle of it all — Bangkok rewards visitors who mix major sights with slower moments on the water. Read the guide → United Kingdom 5 Things to Do in London Two thousand years of continuous history, from Roman Londinium to a modern global capital, packed into a city where a medieval tower and a glass skyscraper share a street. Read the guide → Tanzania 5 Things to Do in Dodoma Tanzania's official political capital since the 1970s, Dodoma is quieter than Dar es Salaam and sits in the country's main wine-growing region. Read the guide → France 5 Things to Do in Paris The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre are the obvious headline acts, but Paris rewards slowing down — including a newly-reopened Notre-Dame after its 2024 restoration. Read the guide → South Africa 5 Things to Do in Pretoria South Africa's administrative capital is calmer and greener than Johannesburg, known for its government buildings and the purple jacaranda trees that give it its nickname. Read the guide → Italy 5 Things to Do in Rome The Eternal City layers over two thousand years of history in a walkable center — ancient ruins, Renaissance art, and Baroque fountains all within a few blocks of each other. Read the guide → South Korea 5 Things to Do in Seoul Ancient royal palaces sit alongside hyper-modern tech culture in one of Asia's most walkable, transit-connected capitals. Read the guide → Spain 5 Things to Do in Madrid Spain's capital is built around grand plazas and world-class art, with a late-night culture that makes the city feel like it's always slightly awake. Read the guide → Iraq 5 Things to Do in Baghdad Once the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate and a center of the medieval Islamic Golden Age, Baghdad carries one of history's great intellectual legacies alongside a slowly rebuilding cultural scene. Read the guide → Argentina 5 Things to Do in Buenos Aires Tango, grand European-style architecture, and Latin America's steak culture make Argentina's capital one of the continent's most distinctive cities to explore on foot. Read the guide → Algeria 5 Things to Do in Algiers Algeria's capital rises in white terraces above the Mediterranean, anchored by one of North Africa's best-preserved Ottoman-era old towns. Read the guide → Sudan 5 Things to Do in Khartoum Sudan's capital sits at the meeting point of the Blue and White Niles — one of the few places on Earth where you can watch two visibly different-colored rivers merge into one. Read the guide →