Chiang Mai make it In Lonely Planet’S Top 10 Cities For 2011

[george]

Chiang Mai in Lonely Planet’s top 10 cities for 2011

Who doesn’t love a city? Lonely Planet has scoured the globe for next year’s hottest cities. Our top picks show that a city doesn’t need to be a heaving metropolis to get on the list. Then again, sometimes it helps. One of our favourites is the world’s largest city that cannot be reached by road. And there are even a couple of European cities that remain criminally underrated. Here they are, Lonely Planet’s top 10 cities for next year, ranked in order:

1. New York

Since 9/11, the site of the World Trade Center’s twin towers has stood out as a closed-off, out-of-view, painful gaping void. This year that changes, as the former WTC site finally reopens to the public with the National September 11 Memorial, a 6-acre, tree-filled plaza with 30ft-deep waterfalls at the footprint of the former towers, rimmed by the name of each victim and illuminated at night (its museum will follow in 2012). For the city, this will be more momentous than if the Yankees, Knicks, Rangers and Giants won simultaneous championships while the ball dropped in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. For all of New York, 11 September 2011 will be a defining moment.

2. Tangier

From its extraordinary position perched on the northwestern-most tip of Africa, Tangier looks in two directions: one face towards Spain and Europe, and the other into Africa. The ‘white city’ announces a culture excitingly different from that of its close cousins across the water. With the recent arrival of a new city governor, the town beach now sparkles, the hustlers are off the streets and even the taxi drivers are polite. A stylish new Tangier is being created with a dynamic arts community, renovated buildings, great shopping and chic new restaurants.

3. Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv is the total flipside of Jerusalem, a modern Sin City on the sea rather than an ancient Holy City on a hill. Hedonism is the one religion that unites its inhabitants. There are more bars than synagogues, God is a DJ and everyone’s body is a temple. Yet, scratch underneath the surface and Tel Aviv, or TLV, reveals itself as a truly diverse 21st-century Mediterranean hub. By far the most international city in Israel, Tel Aviv is also home to a large gay community, a kind of San Francisco in the Middle East. Thanks to its university and museums, it is also the greenhouse for Israel’s growing art, film and music scenes.

4. Wellington

Wellington is Cool-with-a-capital-C, crammed with more bars, cafes and restaurants per capita than New York, and a slew of gourmet producers including some 10 independent coffee roasteries. Year-round you’ll find arts and cultural events in abundance. Likewise, its film industry, ‘Wellywood’, centred on the Miramar Peninsula, is booming thanks in large part to the success of Wellingtonian Sir Peter Jackson (executive producer of the 2011 and 2012 Hobbit movies currently being made here). This little capital will be front-and-centre on the world stage in 2011 when New Zealand hosts the Rugby World Cup.

5. Valencia

Valencia sits coquettishly and again confidently along Spain’s Mediterranean coast. For centuries, it was overshadowed by larger Spanish cities – hard-nosed, commercially-minded Barcelona and Madrid, the nation’s capital. Not any more. While retaining its provincial charm, Spain’s third city now mixes with the international crowd. Host of a couple of America’s Cup yachting jamborees and an annual street circuit Formula 1 motor race, it’s also European Capital of Sport for 2011 and a favourite destination for conferences and congresses. Valencia enjoyed its golden age two full centuries before the rest of Spain.

6. Iquitos

After days forging by boat along rainforest-fringed rivers, Iquitos, mighty megalopolis of the Peruvian Amazon, comes as a shock to the system. Pulsating with life, the city’s latest boom is tourism: visitors may flock to reconnoitre the rainforest but taking time to imbibe Iquitos itself is imperative too. This is a sultry slice of Amazon life: Brazilian, Colombian, indigenous and expat. Clubs bounce to salsa and rock until the early hours with the vigour you’d expect of Peru’s jungle capital, but Iquitos is also a cultural hub: expect works by Peru’s top artists, opulent rubber-boom mansions and a museum on Amazon ethnography for starters. As a trading post for rainforest tribes, market mayhem and riverboat bustle are part of the package, all conspiring to fill the city with an addictive, round-the-clock energy.

7. Ghent

Here’s a secret within a secret: Ghent might just be the best European city you’ve never thought of visiting, in a country that continues to be criminally overlooked. Ghent hides away in the middle of Belgium’s big three – Brussels, Bruges and Antwerp. Most Belgium-bound visitors rushing between these see nothing more than the stately fortifications of Ghent’s St Pieter’s Station. Those who do hop off the train and stroll along the Leie River to the historic centre will have their eyes out on stalks. Here hides one of Europe’s finest panoramas of water, spires and centuries-old grand houses. But this is no place to simply kick back: Ghent has one of Europe’s most dynamic festival scenes, which vies for visitors’ attention. This year the entire centre will emerge from a major program of rebuilding designed to show off the huge pedestrianised squares.

8. Delhi

The great metropolis of Delhi, encompassing Old and New Delhi and sprawling out for miles, has not looked this smart and sparkling in centuries. Huge preparations for the Commonwealth Games, which took place in October 2010, improved the city’s infrastructure, cleaned up its streets and added to its accommodation options. Aside from, of course, a bounty of new or improved sporting facilities, there’s the marvellous artery of the Metro – an underground transport system that’s a futuristic, egalitarian world away from the sometimes chaotic, class-ridden situation above ground. This year marks 100 years since New Delhi was founded in 1911. At least eight cities are known to have been founded on this spot. The commemoration of this anniversary is sure to be a colourful and lively affair.

9. Newcastle

Is it Australia’s most underrated city? Anyone surprised to see Newcastle on the list of 2011′s hottest cities (and there’s a few of you, right?) probably hasn’t pulled in off the Pacific Highway, or at least not for a while. Newcastle flies under the radar of Aussies and international travellers in part because it’s overshadowed by its bigger, bolder and better-known sibling, Sydney, 150km south. But, at around one-tenth the size, Australia’s second-oldest city has Sydney-like assets: surf beaches, a sun-drenched subtropical climate, and diverse dining, nightlife and arts. Not only is Newcastle ideally located just two hours by road or rail or 30 minutes by plane or seaplane from Sydney, it’s less than an hour’s drive west to the Hunter Valley wineries, south to sailboat-filled Lake Macquarie, north to whale-watching and sharkfeeding at Port Stephens and to sandboarding at Stockton Beach (the southern end of the 32km-long beach is a five-minute ferry ride across Newcastle’s harbour).

10. Chiang Mai

If Chiang Mai were a person, it would be Bob Dylan. With a history dating back further than anyone can remember, its influence remains enormous. And despite its great age, there’s still a bohemian chic that makes it as relevant and hip as ever. Culture capital of Thailand, Chiang Mai was once the heart of the Lanna kingdom. Today those wanting to flee the bustle of Bangkok visit to lounge in coffee shops and drink in the city’s artisanal atmosphere. With a friendly, cosmopolitan feel, this is one easy, safe and pleasant place to explore. There are dozens of well-preserved temples here, too. Many new ecotours and adventure trips are appearing, and with a choice of river rafting, elephant rides, trekking and off-road cycling, even the biggest adrenaline junkie will be sated.

-- Lonely Planet 2010-11-02

[escaped]

Lonely planet,isn't that the magazine that came in the news some time ago for publishing travel advisory's without ever having visited the place.

[givenall]

Lonely planet,isn't that the magazine that came in the news some time ago for publishing travel advisory's without ever having visited the place.

It is even lonelier since there are really no tourists

[Bagwan]

The very epitome of waxing lyrical. Whoever wrote this must have cut their teeth on writing blurbs for estate agents. 

[lee68]

well ive lived her for 6 years,and i like the place.i previously lived in patong beach,so its like a breath of fresh air compared to that.plus the local people are much nicer.

[jayjay0]

Thailand take note. Bangkok is not the be all to end all.

[bristolgeoff]

no surprise chiang mai is a beautiful city to live in

[personchester]

no surprise chiang mai is a beautiful city to live in

As is well known, Chiang Mai is Khun Thaksin's home town, and whilst in political power he organised a tremendous traffic improvement in Chiang Mai by creating "super-high-ways" both as "ring-roads and centre roads" together with "tunnels and fly-overs' which has given Chiang Mai a new and very impressive image as Thailand's northern capital ... and so called second city.

At the time there was opposition to the scheme from politicians from BK and other cities, but they were of course overruled and the scheme was completed.

[moetownblues]

well ive lived her for 6 years,and i like the place.i previously lived in patong beach,so its like a breath of fresh air compared to that.plus the local people are much nicer.

Yep it is the jewel in the Thai Crown and is of little wonder it rates above places like Pattaya and Bangkok. Hang on a moment didn't Tourism Authority release a statement last week saying that Bangkok was the worlds best city.

[Portlandstone]

Lonely Planet isn't exactly the kind of source I go to for honest, unbiased, straight forward information.

[Sao Jiang Mai]

No of course not. Lonely Planet, Travel+Leisure...they obviously know nothing about the travel industry when compared with such knowledgable and insightful people as you all! For God's sake, can you stop being so cynical for a moment and realise that two travel industry giants have - through independent readers' vote, and in house ranking - complimented two cities in Thailand. If you can't be happy about it - and it is obvious that there are many posters here who would have an apoplectic fit if Thailand turns out to do well - then at least use argument, not scorn, to put your point accross. It appears that scorn is the highest form of wit around here...I live in Chiang Mai and think it is one of the most marvellous places on earth, so I can understand why some other people would agree.

[Ulysses G.]

No of course not. Lonely Planet, Travel+Leisure...they obviously know nothing about the travel industry when compared with such knowledgable and insightful people as you all!

Are you insinuating that some Thai Visa posters are not exactly the cream of the crop?

[moetownblues]

No of course not. Lonely Planet, Travel+Leisure...they obviously know nothing about the travel industry when compared with such knowledgable and insightful people as you all!

Are you insinuating that some Thai Visa posters are not exactly the cream of the crop?

read it's other posts. Sao Jiang Mai thinks she/he is an elitist. Only tours thailand in limo's and stays in the finest hotels but is an expert on Thailand. Watches the DVD's from the safty of the hotel.

[chiang mai]

well ive lived her for 6 years,and i like the place.i previously lived in patong beach,so its like a breath of fresh air compared to that.plus the local people are much nicer.

Like "a breath of fresh air" you say, perhaps not the most appropriate choice of words but I think we all get your meaning!

[Portlandstone]

Chiang Mai is probably a pretty nice place -- my comment was in reference to the source of the top 10 poll, not the city.

[anonymouse]

No of course not. Lonely Planet, Travel+Leisure...they obviously know nothing about the travel industry when compared with such knowledgable and insightful people as you all!

Are you insinuating that some Thai Visa posters are not exactly the cream of the crop?

read it's other posts. Sao Jiang Mai thinks she/he is an elitist. Only tours thailand in limo's and stays in the finest hotels but is an expert on Thailand. Watches the DVD's from the safty of the hotel.

Sao Jiang Mai is female, born and bred in Chiang Mai and runs a successful business up there. I certainly wouldn't describe her as an elitist and think that she made a valid point.

[chiang mai]

No of course not. Lonely Planet, Travel+Leisure...they obviously know nothing about the travel industry when compared with such knowledgable and insightful people as you all! For God's sake, can you stop being so cynical for a moment and realise that two travel industry giants have - through independent readers' vote, and in house ranking - complimented two cities in Thailand. If you can't be happy about it - and it is obvious that there are many posters here who would have an apoplectic fit if Thailand turns out to do well - then at least use argument, not scorn, to put your point accross. It appears that scorn is the highest form of wit around here...I live in Chiang Mai and think it is one of the most marvellous places on earth, so I can understand why some other people would agree.

Fair comment and regardless of what others may think, I'm pleased to see Chiang Mai receive positive press. But the review in question can hardly be complete and/or objective given the air quality issues that exist there for a quarter of each year, I mean, in all fairness to its readership how can Lonely Planet recommend any city to its top ten list when it's barely habitable for two months of the year or more because of pollution!

[personchester]

No of course not. Lonely Planet, Travel+Leisure...they obviously know nothing about the travel industry when compared with such knowledgable and insightful people as you all! For God's sake, can you stop being so cynical for a moment and realise that two travel industry giants have - through independent readers' vote, and in house ranking - complimented two cities in Thailand. If you can't be happy about it - and it is obvious that there are many posters here who would have an apoplectic fit if Thailand turns out to do well - then at least use argument, not scorn, to put your point accross. It appears that scorn is the highest form of wit around here...I live in Chiang Mai and think it is one of the most marvellous places on earth, so I can understand why some other people would agree.

Fair comment and regardless of what others may think, I'm pleased to see Chiang Mai receive positive press. But the review in question can hardly be complete and/or objective given the air quality issues that exist there for a quarter of each year, I mean, in all fairness to its readership how can Lonely Planet recommend any city to its top ten list when it's barely habitable for two months of the year or more because of pollution!

Yes, that is true, but this negative aspect of Chiang Mai is not created by nature, but by farmers in the surrounding near and far country sides, and of course also by some local residents with a farming background who burn their rubbish in their garden like their forebears did centuries ago, and this has to stop.

Fortunately, within the last two years, due to activities from the "city hall' there have been some improvements, and hopefully with a bit of luck those improvements will continue, thus we must keep your fingers crossed.

[Ulysses G.]

No of course not. Lonely Planet, Travel+Leisure...they obviously know nothing about the travel industry when compared with such knowledgable and insightful people as you all!

Are you insinuating that some Thai Visa posters are not exactly the cream of the crop?

read it's other posts. Sao Jiang Mai thinks she/he is an elitist. Only tours thailand in limo's and stays in the finest hotels but is an expert on Thailand. Watches the DVD's from the safty of the hotel.

She is Thai and a Thai Visa sponsor and knows much more about about every aspect of Thailand than we will ever hope to. Who cares if she prefers to live in luxury when on vacation?

[Ulysses G.]

how can Lonely Planet recommend any city to its top ten list when it's barely habitable for two months of the year or more because of pollution!

The burning season bothers some people, but there are plenty who hardly notice it. In fact, I hardly ever hear anyone mention it other than on Thai Visa.

[chiang mai]

how can Lonely Planet recommend any city to its top ten list when it's barely habitable for two months of the year or more because of pollution!

The burning season bothers some people, but there are plenty who hardly notice it. In fact, I hardly ever hear anyone mention it other than on Thai Visa.

It's known as boiling frog syndrome UG.