Glasgow has ranked above the likes of Barcelona and Sydney in Time Out's list of the 50 best cities in the world in 2024.
New York tops the sixth annual list released by Time Out on Tuesday, ranking highly across the board for the quality of its food and cultural scenes, as well as everything it offers making residents happy.
The Big Apple was also by far the city that the most urbanites from other cities would love to live in, with 15% of all survey respondents globally saying they’d relocate there in a heartbeat: proof of its continued status as ‘capital of the world’.
The Best Cities in the World list provides inspiration for travel this year, but also a global snapshot of city living, with an emphasis on the factors which Time Out believes make cities great places to live and visit.
Each year, Time Out surveys thousands of locals to get a unique insight into the reality of living in the world’s greatest cities right now. This year, city-dwellers were asked about the quality and affordability of the food, culture and nightlife scenes in their city and how their city makes them feel, from happiness to romance.
READ MORE: Lerwick named among best small town-gems in Europe for a romantic escape
Local insights were combined with those of more than 100 well-travelled Time Out staff writers and editors, based in cities all over the world, to come with the ranking of Time Out’s Best Cities in the World for 2024.
Grace Beard, Travel Editor at Time Out said: “Time Out knows cities like no-one else, and that’s thanks to the opinions and insights of our global network of local expert journalists on the ground in cities around the world. Our annual survey lets us keep a finger on the pulse of city-dwellers to create a global snapshot of city living right now.
“Every city that made the list did so because locals rate it highly – so whether a city ranked at one or fifty, it’s still one of the greatest amongst the thousands of cities around the globe. This year, the top cities are not only incredible places to visit and go out in, with world-class restaurants, culture and nightlife, but they’re also great places to live, with strong community spirit and an undeniable vibe.”
Four UK cities made the top 50 this year in London (4), Liverpool (7), Manchester (15) and Glasgow (30).
Writing about Glasgow, Time Out noted that while "plenty of cities boast world-class food, beautiful scenery and popping nightlife", only one that is "full of Glaswegians".
Photograph by Samuel J Mitchell
Expect to be welcomed with open (albeit playfully mocking) arms as you explore a world of unique museums, indie bookshops, and £1 shots.
"Your wallet will escape Glasgow unscathed, with restaurants like Sugo and Topolobamba offering cheap but delicious grub, and in a place that was recently named the best UK city break for architecture, simply walking around becomes an event in itself," Time Out wrote.
Time Out referenced that Glasgow’s identity and sense of community "spare no newcomer", as well as the fact that it is a city where "culture is taken seriously".
"It’s no surprise Glasgow has produced most of Scotland’s best bands and actors, considering the city’s thriving live music scene and the enduring appeal of the near century-old Glasgow Film Theatre. Whoever you are, Glasgow awaits with great patter and a cool pint of Tennent’s", Time Out wrote.
Time Out also gave special mention to "the eclectic" Barras Market, which "remains a perfect distillation of the city’s good-hearted chaos".
Glasgow’s 92% food quality score and happiness rating saw it rank in the top 50 ahead of the likes of Sydney (31), Barcelona (38), Marseille (45) and Osaka (48).
The full list of Time Out’s 50 Best Cities in the World right now can be found here: timeout.com/bestcities
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel