America’s Rainiest Cities

by Willy Volk on

Recently, my wife and I were discussing places we’d like to live, and Seattle popped up. During our discussion, she worried that Seattle might be too gloomy, too overcast, and too rainy for us. I guess I’ll have to share with her this list, which ranks the rainiest cities in the US. Seattle doesn’t even crack the Top 10.

  1. Mobile, Alabama
  2. Pensacola, Florida
  3. New Orleans, Louisiana
  4. West Palm Beach, Florida
  5. Lafayette, Louisiana
  6. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
  7. Miami, Florida
  8. Port Arthur, Texas
  9. Tallahassee, Florida
  10. Lake Charles, Louisiana

Amusingly, I live outside the fourth rainiest city (which is currently in its fifth week of water restrictions, thanks to a drought). Maybe it’s time to pack up and move to Seattle, after all.

Other rainy-day thoughts:

10 Worst Cities to Visit/10 Best Cities to Visit

by Willy Volk on

Of course, no one wants to waste their time and money traveling to a crummy destination. In an effort to help you steer clear of those crummy destinations, Road Junky put together a list of what they consider to be the 10 worst cities in the world to visit. In no particular order, they are:

  • Mumbai
  • Dubai
  • Liverpool & Manchester
  • Any American Suburb
  • Guatemala City
  • Sao Paulo
  • Beijing
  • Singapore
  • Milan
  • Cancun

Weird. I always wanted to visit Bombay (or Mumbai, as it’s now called). And Ember seems to be having a great time in Beijing, so I guess the list is colored by Road Junky’s perceptions — which is, of course, totally acceptable. Personally, I hope I never make it back to Harare. Or Bulawayo. So depressing.

Rather than simply mention the dregs and not point out the shining stars of world travel, here’s Travel + Leisure’s list of what they consider to be the 10 best cities in the world to visit. In no particular order, they are:

  • Florence
  • Rome
  • Bangkok
  • Sydney
  • Chiang Mai, Thailand
  • Cape Town
  • Buenos Aires
  • New York
  • Beirut*
  • San Francisco

I’ve spent several weeks in Cape Town, and if I could retire this weekend, I’d move there and start a weekly “What’s Going On About Town” newspaper. I love that place. In my opinion, other great cities to travel to include Amsterdam (easy to navigate); Cairo (Culture! History!); and Key West (F-U-N).

Nevertheless, if you think T+L’s list stinks, check out Cool Town Studios for their regional run-down of the world’s best cities to visit or peep National Geographic Traveler’s Top Urban Places.

* T+L’s list was selected prior to the war in Lebanon.

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2007’s 10 Hottest Destinations?

by Willy Volk on

By “hottest,” we don’t mean the places that will literally be the warmest, thermostatically-speaking. Rather, we’re talking about the places that’ll generate the most buzz, grab the most headlines, or be on the most tongues.

Previously, we’ve suggested Greenland, Culver City, and even New Zealand as some pretty smokin’ destinations, but Concierge has a different take. According to them, the 10 sizzling-est destinations for 2007 are:

  1. Beijing, China
  2. Itacaré, Brazil
  3. Puebla, Mexico
  4. Gabon
  5. Istanbul, Turkey
  6. Argentina’s Estancias
  7. Macau, China
  8. Dominican Republic
  9. Ljubljana, Slovenia
  10. Miami

I’ve only ever hit one of the destinations — Miami — and I loved it. If I could choose any of the remaining destinations for my next adventure, I’d go with Gabon.