City Guides: Tested Picks and Reviews for 2026

These guides are built around how a city works on foot and on transit. We name the neighborhoods worth your nights, the ones that look convenient but are not, and the small places locals keep to themselves.

Latest City Guides reviews

City Guides·Tom Baird

Tokyo Neighborhoods: A City Guide for First-Timers

Tokyo is not one city but a dozen, stitched together by trains. Choose the right neighborhood and the whole trip gets easier.

City Guides·Priya Nair

Mexico City Food: A Walking Guide Through Five Markets

Forget the restaurant list. In Mexico City the best meals are standing up, at a market counter, for the price of a coffee back home.

What we look for

Every city guides guide is checked against the same standard: is it worth the money, does the detail hold up on the ground, and would we recommend it to a friend without a warning attached. When a stay or a route falls short, the caveat goes in the guide.

Where figures matter we defer to public bodies such as UN Tourism and the relevant national tourism board, then sanity-check them against our own trips before publishing.

Explore more sections

• Stays — Hotels, guesthouses and rentals we have actually slept in.
• Beach Escapes — Coastlines, islands and seaside towns worth the flight.
• Luxury Travel — High-end trains, lodges and resorts, reviewed without the hype.
• Travel Tips — Packing, insurance and booking advice that saves money and stress.