01 Night falls on the Thames and such iconic city sights as the London Eye and Houses of Parliament | GETTY IMAGES |

01 TONY C TONY FRENCH THE CITIES BOOK

01 A Buddhist monk sweeping the Red Chapel clean at the 16th-century Wat Xieng Thong complex in Luang Prabang Contents

Abu Dhabi 024 Dubai 124 Los Angeles 224 San Juan 324 Addis Ababa 026 Dublin 126 Luang Prabang 226 San Salvador 326 Alexandria 028 Dubrovnik 128 Luxembourg City 228 San Sebastián 328 Amman 030 Dunedin 130 Macau 230 Santa Fe 330 Amsterdam 032 Edinburgh 132 Madang 232 Santiago de Chile 332 Anchorage 034 Esfahan 134 Madrid 234 Santo Domingo 334 Antigua 036 Fez 136 Male 236 São Paulo 336 Arequipa 038 Florence 138 Manchester 238 Sarajevo 338 Asheville 040 Galway 140 Maputo 240 Savannah 340 Ashgabat 042 George Town 142 Marrakesh 242 Seattle 342 Asmara 044 Glasgow 144 Mecca 244 Seoul 344 Athens 046 Gonder 146 Melbourne 246 Seville 346 Austin 048 Granada 148 Mendoza 248 Shanghai 348 Baku 050 Hamburg 150 Mexico City 250 Siena 350 Bangkok 052 Hangzhou 152 Miami 252 SighiŞoara 352 Barcelona 054 Hanoi 154 Milan 254 Singapore 354 Beijing 056 Havana 156 Monaco 256 Sofia 356 Beirut 058 Heidelberg 158 Montevideo 258 Split 358 Belfast 060 Helsinki 160 Montréal 260 St Petersburg 360 Belgrade 062 Hiroshima 162 Moscow 262 Stockholm 362 Belize City 064 Ho Chi Minh City 164 Mumbai 264 Swakopmund 364 Bengaluru 066 Hobart 166 Munich 266 Sydney 366 Berlin 068 Hoi An 168 Muscat 268 Taipei 368 Bern 070 Hong Kong 170 Nairobi 270 Tallinn 370 072 İstanbul 172 Naples 272 Tbilisi 372 Bordeaux 074 Jaipur 174 Nara 274 Tehran 374 Bratislava 076 Jerusalem 176 Nashville 276 Tel Aviv 376 Brussels 078 Johannesburg 178 New Orleans 278 Thimphu 378 Bucharest 080 Kagoshima 180 New York 280 Tirana 380 Budapest 082 Kairouan 182 Nicosia 282 Tokyo 382 Buenos Aires 084 Kampala 184 Nuuk 284 Toronto 384 Bukhara 086 Kandy 186 Oaxaca 286 Ulaanbaatar 386 Cairns 088 Kathmandu 188 Ohrid 288 Ushuaia 388 Cairo 090 Kigali 190 Oslo 290 Valetta 390 Cape Town 092 Kolkata 192 Oxford 292 Valparaiso 392 Cardiff 094 Kotor 194 Panama City 294 Vancouver 394 Cartagena 096 Kraków 196 Paris 296 Varanasi 396 Cayenne 098 Kuala Lumpur 198 Phnom Penh 298 Venice 398 Charleston 100 Kyiv 200 Prague 300 Vienna 400 Chiang Mai 102 Kyoto 202 Pyongyang 302 Vilnius 402 Chicago 104 La Paz 204 Quebéc City 304 Warsaw 404 Christchurch 106 Lahore 206 Quito 306 Washington DC 406 Christiansted 108 Las Vegas 208 Reykjavík 308 Wellington 408 Copenhagen 110 Leipzig 210 RĪga 310 Willemstad 410 Cork 112 Lhasa 212 Rio de Janeiro 312 Windhoek 412 Cuzco 114 Lima 214 Rome 314 Yangon 414 Dakar 116 Lisbon 216 Saint-Denis 316 Yerevan 416 Dar es Salaam 118 Livingstone 218 Salvador da Bahia 318 Yogyakarta 418 Delhi 120 Ljubljana 220 San Cristóbal 320 York 420

Dhaka 122 London 222 San Francisco 322 Zanzibar 422 PLANET | LONELY SIMON IRWIN

4 5 THE CITIES BOOK

Abu Dhabi // United Arab Emirates

The UAE capital is the most inhabitants are expatriates from • Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque DO rent a bike and cruise along cultural of the emirates. Lots India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri • Glamorous hotels and resorts the seafront Corniche. of oil-rich Abu Dhabi’s cash Lanka, the Philippines, the United • Atmospheric souqs has been devoted to all-new Kingdom and from across the Arab WATCH any of the world-class galleries, museums, theme world. Although Arabic is the WEAKNESSES musicians appearing at the annual parks and cultural centres. official language here, English is • Searing heat F1 event concerts. widely spoken and understood. • Expensive accommodation Islam is the official religion. and nightlife BUY gold at the ever-popular gold VITAL STATISTICS • Downtown traffic souq in the Madinat Zayed BEST TIME • Little potential for interaction Shopping Centre. NAME: Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi really comes into its with Emiratis DATE OF BIRTH: 1760; named own during the winter (from AFTER DARK dress up and head by the first settlers, the Bani November to February). After for one of the top hotels’ glitzy Yas Bedouin tribe, meaning GOLD STAR ‘father of the gazelle’ months of scorching weather, the For utterly unbridled cultural bars and clubs. ADDRESS: United temperature finally starts to drop ambition: plans to open an Abu below 30°C, making it the perfect Dhabi Louvre, Guggenheim and Arab Emirates URBAN TALE 01 (map 5, O11) time for the city’s residents to Foster+Partners–designed The late architect Zaha Hadid HEIGHT: 27m throw themselves into events Sheikh Zayed National Museum designed the Sheikh Zayed SIZE: 972 sq km season. High-profile sporting are underway. 02 03 Bridge which connects Abu POPULATION: 1.5 million contests and outdoor concerts take place almost every weekend, STARRING ROLE IN… Dhabi to the UAE’s mainland. while the beaches, al fresco • The Kingdom (2007 – filmed but The distinctive symmetrical steel arches are said to ANATOMY restaurants and bars are packed not set here) represent desert dunes, but The emirate of Abu Dhabi is the with punters. • Sex and the City 2 (2010 – set but there’s a persistent rumour largest of the seven emirates not filmed here) that they were really inspired comprising the United Arab A PERFECT DAY • The Bourne Legacy (2012 – by a woman’s drawn-up legs, Emirates (UAE). The city itself Starting with a visit to the filmed but not set here) ‘giving birth’ to the traffic that occupies a main island linked by spectacular Sheikh Zayed Grand • Fast and Furious 7 (2015) runs through. major bridges with the mainland. Mosque, Abu Dhabi’s crowning • Star Wars: The Force Awakens It is also linked by bridge to Yas glory, taking time to admire the (2015) and Saadiyat Islands, which are beautiful design of cool white • Body of Lies by David Ignatius quickly transforming into leisure marble intricately laced with 01 The dramatic Etihad Towers complex and entertainment zones. The flowers and vines, before joining IMPORT former is home to Yas Marina a free guided tour which finishes • Real estate developers 02 A woman walks through the forecourt of Circuit, Yas Waterworld and the with a very open question-and- • South Asian cuisine Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque world’s fastest rollercoaster at answer session as visitors sit • Formula One race cars Ferarri World, while the latter is cross-legged on the world’s 03 Yachts moored at the marina at the earmarked to become a highbrow largest carpet under one of the EXPORT Intercontinental Hotel GETTY IMAGES cultural hub. Abu Dhabi’s scenic world’s biggest chandeliers. Later, • Oil | Corniche is bookended by the having a saunter around the • Pearls Mina Port to the east and the extraordinarily lavish Emirates Emirates Palace to the west. Palace hotel and enjoying a SEE the gilded Emirates Palace // JANE SWEENEY 500PX

Private taxis (with air- frothy cappuccino topped with and goggle in wonder at its gold | conditioning) are the best way real gold flakes. vending machine. of getting around – it’s almost always too hot to walk. STRENGTHS EAT a shawarma from one of the • Beachside promenade many top-notch Lebanese PEOPLE • F1 racing venue restaurants in town. GETTY IMAGES // GABLE DENIMS GETTY IMAGES Only one quarter of the • Ferrari World | population of Abu Dhabi is • Major UAE concert venue DRINK a sugary, lurid mocktail actually made up of UAE • Yas Marina on one of the terraces overlooking

nationals; the majority of • Diverse cuisines the Corniche. IMAGES VISTA BUENA

24 25 THE CITIES BOOK THE CITIES BOOK

ANATOMY just over 1% of the population. (Gold Museum), before WEAKNESSES EXPORT WATCH a play, opera or ballet VITAL STATISTICS Bogotá is bordered to the east by Spanish is the official language. conducting a night crawl around • Crime • Author Gabriel García Márquez at the recently renovated URBAN TALE NAME: Bogotá a mountain range topped by the the pubs, clubs and salsatecas of • Vast shantytowns (lived here for a while) Teatro Colón in , The Palacio de Justicia (Palace DATE OF BIRTH: Pre- two peaks of and BEST TIME Zona Rosa or Parque 93. • Traffic • Singer Shakira the city’s loveliest, and most of Justice) has had a tragic Columbian; inhabited by Guadalupe. Bogotá’s northern Bogotá is at its warmest in May, • Graffiti (as opposed to street art) • Emeralds historic, theatre. history. The first court one of the most advanced sector consists mainly of but the slightly cooler months of STRENGTHS • Cold and rainy weather • Magic realism (literary genre) building, erected in 1921, was pre-Columbian Indian groups, upmarket residential districts, June and July will leave you • Friendliness of the locals • Writer Álvaro Mutis BUY emeralds at one of the many burnt down by a mob during El the while the city’s southern part is reaching for your umbrella a lot • Museums everywhere, led GOLD STAR • Actress Sofia Vergara joyerías (jewellery shops) in the in 1948. A modern building was then constructed ADDRESS: a spread of undistinguished lower- less frequently. The city really by Museo del Oro and For the view of the city from the city centre. GETTY IMAGES (map 3, K10) | on Plaza de Bolívar, but in income suburbs, culminating in comes alive in August, when free, Museo Botero top of Cerro de Monserrate – on SEE more than 55,000 gold pieces HEIGHT: 2645m 1985 it was taken by M-19 the vast shanty towns on the open-air festivals such as Salsa • Bohemian hipster enclaves of a clear day you can even spot Los from all the major pre-Hispanic AFTER DARK head to Andrés SIZE: 25 sq km guerrillas and gutted by fire in southernmost outskirts. The al Parque and Festival de Verano Alto and Macarena Nevados, the volcanic range in the cultures in Colombia at the most Carne de Res in Chia, one of the POPULATION: 7.6 million a fierce 28-hour offensive by HOLTON // GEORGE urban bus service TransMilenio is get Bogotanos’ hips shaking, • Festival Iberoamericano de Cordillera Central, 135km away, important gold museum in the wildest nights out that you will the army in an attempt to 500PX 500PX efficient and fast. only to be outdone over the Teatro de Bogotá – one of | noted for the symmetrical cone of world, Museo del Oro. ever have. reclaim it. The ruin stood Christmas holidays, when Bogotá the best theatre festivals in the Nevado del Tolima. untouched for four years until PEOPLE is awash in a festival of lights – Latin America EAT the Bogotano speciality ajiaco authorities decided to Just over 70% of the population is weather be damned. • Colonial churches such as the STARRING ROLE IN… (soup made with chicken and construct a new building. composed of around 58% Iglesia Museo de Santa Clara • The People at Universal (1991) ) at Restaurante La Pola. mestizos (of mixed Spanish and A PERFECT DAY • Cerro de Monserrate • Maria Full of Grace (2004) RUEDA // JORGE GETTY IMAGES | Bogotá is a city of futuristic indigenous heritage) and 14% Strolling around La Candelaria, • The food-centric village • El Rey (The King, 2004) DRINK the excellent Colombian 01 Bogotá stretches out to the architecture, a vibrant and mulattos (with one black and one Bogotá’s charming historic of Usaquén • One Hundred Years of Solitude by espresso at boutique coffeehouses STRINGER | diverse cultural and white parent). There are also quarter, and stopping off for • Amazing variety of fruits, some Gabriel García Márquez like Amor Perfecto or Azahar Café. 02 A performer in the opening parade of the intellectual life, fine colonial about 3% zambos (of African- a santafereño (hot chocolate endemic to the country • Narcos (TV series 2015-present) Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro de Bogotá churches and great museums. Indian blood). Indians represent served with cheese and local • Futuristic architecture DO visit the salt cathedral at bread) at Pastelería Florida, then • Andrés Carne de Res IMPORT Zipaquira, one of only three 03 Cerro de Monserrate, topped by the white // GUILLERMO LEGARIA exploring the Museo del Oro • Intellectual life • Telenovelas (soap operas) cathedrals in the world to be church of El Señor Caído • African rhythms of the Caribbean carved from salt. • Roman Catholicism 04 A gold mask from the ancient Calima ALAMY STOCK PHOTO ALAMY STOCK PHOTO | • Cuban salsa culture on exhibit at the Museo del Oro // Colombia

Bogotá JESSE KRAFT

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03

04 THE CITIES BOOK

01 Princes Bridge crosses the Yarra River to Flinders St Station and Federation Sq

02 Cricket under lights at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Football League) game, afterwards • Kylie Minogue have to queue since it’s too dining at the hottest new place in • AC/DC popular to take bookings. URBAN TALE town before heading to a pub to • Nick Cave On 17 December 1967, watch the latest local band. • Melbourne Cup DRINK coffee – single-origin, Australia’s then prime • The Australian Ballet pourover, filter, espresso, flat minister, Harold Holt, popped out for a swim on STRENGTHS • Heidelberg School art movement white, you name it. Cheviot Beach not far from • Free city trams • Adam Elliot Melbourne and disappeared • St Kilda beach • Lonely Planet DO a kayak tour along the Yarra without a trace. Speculation • Live music • Eric Bana past city landmarks. was rife about what happened • Melbourne Zoo • Cate Blanchett to the head of state, with • National Gallery of Victoria • Percy Grainger WATCH a local band at the gritty theories ranging from suicide • Gold-rush-era architecture • Liam and Chris Hemsworth iconic Tote Hotel, Collingwood. to defection to China via • Expansive parks and gardens • Men at Work submarine. Holt’s • Full calendar of sporting events BUY the hippest homewares and disappearance remains a • Network of neighbourhoods SEE the patchwork design of hottest fashion on Fitzroy’s part of Melbourne culture with individual personalities Federation Sq: paved with pink Gertrude St and Smith St, through the rhyming-slang • Multiculturalism from the Kimberley Collingwood. expression ‘to do a Harold • A Unesco City of Literature region and with buildings clad in a Holt’ (or bolt) and Glen Iris’ • Street art everywhere fractal-patterned skin. AFTER DARK head down hidden ironically named Harold laneways or shoot up to rooftop Holt Swimming Centre. WEAKNESSES EAT creative degustation at the bars in the CBD (central • Tricky traffic hook turns hottest new place where you’ll business district).

01 • Unpredictable weather • High cost of living

02 GOLD STAR For Birrarung Marr: take a tranquil stroll along the banks of the Yarra past sculptures and indigenous flora along this path that is a Melbourne // Australia tribute to the Wurundjeri People. STARRING ROLE IN… • Malcolm (1986) Stylish, creative, coffee ANATOMY PEOPLE BEST TIME • Death in Brunswick (1991) obsessed and stark-raving Melbourne lines Port Phillip Bay Melbourne’s population is drawn Melbourne is a year-round • The Castle (1997) sports mad, Melbourne and stretches into the plains to from around the world, with destination where the culture and • The Wog Boy (2000) stands tall as the country’s the west and east and out to the postwar migrations of Italian, sporting calendar carries through • The Bank (2001) cultural and culinary capital. foothills of the Dandenong Greek and Jewish people giving it all seasons. December to March • Crackerjack (2002) Ranges. The city is divided by the a unique cultural make-up. sees hot days and balmy nights • Harvie Krumpet (2003) muddy Yarra River, with the Melbourne, famously, has the perfect for the Australian Open • Three Dollars (2005) VITAL STATISTICS central business district on the highest population of Greeks of and music festivals, while footy • Home Song Stories (2007) north bank, set in a neat grid that any city outside of Greece itself. finals fever takes hold of the city • My Year Without Sex (2009) NAME: Melbourne suits its tram transport perfectly. More recently Vietnamese, in September. May to September • Animal Kingdom (2010) DATE OF BIRTH: 1835; by To the north of the city centre, Indonesian and Malaysian people can be moody, wet and windy but Tasmanian entrepreneurs keen on a mainland base café-and-boutique filled hip have arrived, with Melbourne it’s the perfect weather for hiding IMPORT ADDRESS: Australia Collingwood and Fitzroy vie for having a particularly high away in Melbourne’s museums, • Paul Kelly (map 1, NN22) coolest-suburbs honours with St population of international cafés and cosy pubs. • Great coffee HEIGHT: 35m Kilda to the south of the Yarra students (the fourth-largest in the • Cathy Freeman SIZE: 36 sq km (city), 9985 sq with its palm-fringed promenade world). Melbourne’s original A PERFECT DAY • Formula One Grand Prix km (metro area) and stretch of sandy beach. Trams people, the Wurundjeri, have Running a lap of the Botanic POPULATION: 127,742 (city), and trains are the best way to get survived all of these waves of Gardens, then catching a tram to EXPORT 4.7 million (metro area) around the city. immigration. the Melbourne Cricket Ground • AFL

(MCG) for an AFL (Australian PHOTO STOCK ALAMY V | // MIKE SHUTTERSTOCK | TODOROVIC ALEKSANDAR • Neighbours TV series

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Oxford // England

Medieval colleges, Gothic BEST TIME GOLD STAR DRINK a pint of beer in three libraries, enthralling Visitors in spring (April and May) For maintaining age-old north Oxford pubs: the Gardeners histories, great pubs and river and autumn (September and architecture in a modern city. Arms, the Rose and Crown and the walks captivate in the world’s October) avoid the summer Old Bookbinders. most famous university city. onslaught of sightseers and STARRING ROLE IN… witness more of the daily • Shadowlands (1993) DO visit the Bodleian Library, one rhythms of student life. Budding • Three Harry Potter movies (2001, of the oldest, largest and most VITAL STATISTICS or falling leaves add to the 2002, 2005) majestic libraries in Europe. NAME: Oxford romance of the city. • The Golden Compass (2007) NICKNAME: City of • Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn WATCH open-air student theatre Dreaming Spires A PERFECT DAY Waugh in a college garden, weather DATE OF BIRTH: 9th century, Breakfasting at a cafe in Jericho, • Inspector Morse series by Colin permitting. founded by Alfred the Great then walking down Walton St to Dexter ADDRESS: England spend the morning exploring the • Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm BUY Oxford University Press (map 4, G8) art and antiquities in the • His Dark Materials trilogy by books from Blackwell’s bookshop.

HEIGHT: 72m Ashmolean Museum, the world’s Philip Pullman 01 SIZE: 45 sq km oldest public museum. Then, after AFTER DARK take in a classical POPULATION: 150,000 lunch, strolling around the IMPORT concert in the Sheldonian Theatre.

Radcliffe Camera, diverting to • Students from around the world 02 03 check out the quads of a couple of • Car manufacturers ANATOMY colleges close by, such as Exeter URBAN TALE Britain’s most beautiful city has or Hertford. If it’s a sunny summer EXPORT Australian Prime Minister Bob expanded around 35 colleges over day, heading down to the river to • British, Indian and Australian Hawke is fondly remembered the centuries without losing its rent a punt for a couple of hours. prime ministers for many impressive sense of space or poise. Its first If not, retiring to one of Oxford’s • American presidents achievements in his home colleges were established in the many excellent pubs, such as the • Scientists including Tim country – not least founding 13th century. When its students Eagle and Child, where authors Berners-Lee Medicare, Australia’s public are not at work in the University’s JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis once • Authors including Oscar Wilde health system – but top of the libraries and laboratories, or discussed Middle Earth. • Poets including TS Eliot and list is his world record for downing a yard of ale (2.5 musing in college quadrangles Shelley pints or 1.4L) in 12 seconds, and cloisters, they can row on the STRENGTHS • Philosophers including Thomas which he did while a Rhodes two rivers that flow through the • Medieval architecture Hobbes Scholar at Oxford. The feat city – the Isis (or Thames) and the • Libraries • Artists including WIlliam Morris took place in the dining room Cherwell – or walk in its parks and • The Pitt Rivers Museum • Explorers including Sir Walter of University College as a meadows. To the north of the city • The Covered Market Raleigh and TE Lawrence penalty for a minor infraction. centre are the affluent • G&D’s ice cream parlour on • Rowers including Sir Matthew But the Turf Tavern nearby neighbourhoods of Jericho and Little Clarendon St Pinsent on Turl St has become the Summertown. To the east lie • Bookshops • 50 Nobel Prize winners focus of pilgrimages by awe- Cowley and the industrial portion • Pubs • Guitar bands, including struck Antipodeans. of the city. West leads visitors • Port Meadow Radiohead, Ride and Foals into the rural Cotswolds. • River Cherwell • Books • Transport links to London by • Minis (the car) PEOPLE road or rail The heated rivalry between town • New bicycle-share scheme SEE fascinating ethnographic and gown – local residents and artefacts at the Pitt Rivers 01 The graceful Radcliffe Camera and All students – has cooled since the St WEAKNESSES Museum. Souls College Scholastica Day’s Riot in 1355 • Accommodation costs when 62 scholars were killed. • Shortage of outstanding EAT healthy organic food in the 02 Magdalen College’s vaulted ceilings are in Today, the 32,000 students co- restaurants undercroft of St Mary’s church on the English Gothic style exist with a large city population • City centre traffic Radcliffe Sq at the Vault & that is twice as ethnically diverse • Bicycle theft Garden cafe. 03 Punts awaiting punters on the River

as Britain’s national average. Cherwell GETTY IMAGES | APEXPHOTOS AT JON BOWER // GETTY IMAGES | HADDOW D. SCOTT // GETTY IMAGES | NIKADA

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ANATOMY PEOPLE A PERFECT DAY • View of the city from Mt Victoria IMPORT WATCH live music in Wellington’s VITAL STATISTICS Wellington’s harbour sits between New Zealand is a bicultural nation Taking a stroll around the Botanic • Mountain biking at Makara Peak • Director Peter Jackson oldest venue that keeps on URBAN TALE NAME: Wellington two peninsulas at the southern and Māori and English are the Gardens before riding the cable • More cafes per capita than New • Architect Ian Athfield delivering the goods: Bodega. Japanese aircraft carrying NICKNAME: Windy Welly tip of New Zealand’s North official languages. For most of car down to town for a freshly York City • International movie stars on submarines travelled through DATE OF BIRTH: 1840; when Island. Ferries regularly cross the Wellington’s population at least brewed coffee, getting behind the • Paddle boarding, sailing, and location BUY Kiwi fashion and cool gifts on Cook Strait during World War European settlers arrived to Cook Strait from here to South one of these (probably English) is scenes at Weta Workshops then windsurfing (make the most of • Rugby fans Cuba St. II on reconnaissance missions purchase land from the Māori Island. The main business street, their mother tongue, but the chasing the perfect drop at one of that wind) looking for American warships to sink. When a inhabitants Lambton Quay, used to sit on the number of inhabitants who have the many craft beer bars. EXPORT AFTER DARK take your pick of the Japanese aeroplane was ADDRESS: New Zealand waterfront but is now separated moved here from overseas is on WEAKNESSES • Director Taika Waititi bars and clubs on Courtenay Place (map 1, RR22) spotted over Wellington in from the sea by reclaimed land. the increase – particularly from STRENGTHS • Houses are rarely insulated • Director Jane Campion and Cuba St. HEIGHT: 127m 1942 the locals had visions of The city centre is bounded by the Asia and the Pacific Islands. • Film making and film touring • Wellington is on a fault line, no- • Author Katherine Mansfield SIZE: 290 sq km (city), 1388 being made to pull rickshaws train station, at the northern end • Te Papa (Museum of New one knows when it will quake • Director Lee Tamahori sq km (metro area) up Melrose Hill by their new of Lambton Quay, and Cambridge BEST TIME Zealand) • Windy weather a blessing and • Author Catherine Chidgey POPULATION: 204,000 (city), colonisers, if the war was lost. 409,200 (metro area) and Kent Terrace to the The southern hemisphere summer • Zealandia project, the world’s a curse • Rugby players That’s quite a climb! southeast. The historic and is a great time to visit, with Fringe first fully-fenced urban • It’s very hilly if you’re not used embassy area of Thornton lies just NZ, the New Zealand ecosanctuary to climbing SEE exhibits revealing New With its compact city centre, north of the centre. Wellington International Sevens rugby and • Government Buildings – among Zealand’s history and experience small bar scene, and has an efficient local-bus system warm, stable weather. From June the world’s largest all-wooden GOLD STAR an earthquake at the fabulous Te distinctive timber architecture, and suburban trains. to August it gets cold and windy, buildings For arts and culture on tap. From Papa museum. New Zealand’s beautiful and but you can stay indoors for the • Beehive – the architectural craft beer to arts and crafts, blustering capital has long New Zealand International Film emblem of New Zealand Wellington supports a host of EAT fresh fish and chips from The 01 Wellington’s cable car makes its way to been one of the country’s best Festival. In September book beds • Katherine Mansfield’s birthplace independent creatives flying their Chippery in Mt Vic or Thorndon. the Botanic Gardens cities to inhabit. early – the World of WearableArt • Botanic Gardens home-grown flags with pride. design festival consumes the city. • Red cable car DRINK Pinot Noir and Sauvignon 02 Wellingtonians love their coffee and the STARRING ROLE IN… Blanc at Toast Martinborough, a cafe lifestyle • Lord of the Rings trilogy food, wine and music bonanza. (2001-03) 03 The City to Sea Bridge and public • King Kong (2005) DO take a ride in Wellington’s red artwork connects Civic Sq to the waterfront • The Hobbit trilogy (2012-14) cable car up to the Botanic // New Zealand • Pete’s Dragon (2016) Gardens. 04 Sculptures outside the excellent Te

Wellington GETTY IMAGES | WALKER GERARD // GETTY IMAGES KAEHLER | WOLFGANG PLANET // | LONELY SEAWARD // PETE SHUTTERSTOCK MASCHEK | VICTOR Papa museum

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