When Slumdog Millionaire became a surprise international hit, one of criticisms from the Indian elite were that it portrayed Mumbai in a bad light; yet while much of the film remains fantasy the depiction of transition from dilapidated favella to high-rise metropolis does have a great ring of truth. Because though the world’s second largest […]

Few cities in Asia combine such a heady concoction of influences old and new as Hanoi, an enigmatic and strangely romantic city that charms you with its cultivated chaos and unexpected moments of clarity. Stilted pagodas and 11th century totems sit comfortably in the shadow of French colonial buildings and modern high-rise towers; diminutive locals […]

Talk to any Mancunian and he’s likely to agree; the IRA bomb that hit the city centre in 1996 was one of the best things that could have happened to the city. The opportunity for whole-scale regeneration was grasped with both hands, transforming the city centre into a thriving retail and business community to rival […]

“If you’re tired of London, then you’re tired of life”. That was the verdict of Samuel Johnson. And its true; this most cosmopolitan of cities continues to attract immigrants from around the world who often find it very hard to leave. Much of Britain suffered an identity crisis following the fall of the Empire; London […]

Newcastle has often felt on the English margin; tucked away on the north-east coast, closer to Scotland than most other English cities yet with a dialect that remains the closest thing to Anglo-Saxon in the country. Subsequent wool, coal and steel industries have long since fallen into decline and after a long history of adversity […]

What Memphis is to Rock ‘n’ Roll, Nashville is to Country – and like it or loathe it, the most popular music genre in the US is big business round here. The neon lights of Lower Broadway say it all; this is a Mecca for bands and fans alike. Early Nashville’s prosperity was built on […]

Budapest has been called the “Paris of the East”; Buenos Aires the “Paris of the South”. The city has long set the standard as the centre for high culture; it’s a capital of cuisine, the home of fine art and philosophy, a fantastic “city of light”, imitated but never equalled by others the world over. […]

It is Ovid’s Metamorphoses that first recount the story of Pygmalion, the legendary Cypriot sculptor who carved a female statue out of pure ivory before falling in love with it, believing it fairer than any woman on the island. He wished that it might live and his prayers were answered by a cupid, who woke […]

“And that sweet city with her dreaming spires, she needs not June for beauty’s heightening.” Perhaps not, but catch your first sight of those ancient turrets in the full light of the glorious summer sun and you may be forgiven for believing you’d stumbled upon El Dorado. Beyond the hubbub of the central city streets […]

It was 1965 when Walt Disney announced his plans for the Magic Kingdom, and he chose Orlando over candidates such as Miami because its inland location was protected from hurricanes. The decision has proved the most pivotal in Orlando’s history; today this is the most concentrated collection of theme parks in the world and one […]

This 14 island metropolis is a stunning blend of modernity and antiquity. The cobbled streets of Gamla Stan Old Town are the perfect counterpoint the contemporary Jugend and Art Nouveau influences evident in the city hall and central library. Stockholm Palace is still home to the Swedish monarch and royal family, yet it’s the stunning […]

The story of Glasgow is familiar, at least; an industrial-era metropolis that fell upon hard times after the war and has reinvented itself during the later twentieth century with a series of urban regeneration projects. But that would do the city an injustice; Glasgow’s soul has always run much deeper than its dockyards. Adam Smith […]