Armin Babaei

Canada's largest city on Lake Ontario - 6.8 million residents speaking 200+ languages, the CN Tower, the Distillery District, the Toronto Islands, and gateway to Niagara Falls 90 minutes south.

Quebec's largest city - 4.3 million people on an island in the St. Lawrence, French as the working language, the Old Montreal cobblestone core, the bagel-and-smoked-meat institutions, the jazz festival in summer, and Mont-Royal as the daily backdrop.

British Columbia's coastal city - 2.6 million people on the Pacific between the Coast Mountains and the Salish Sea, Stanley Park's 400-hectare seawall, Granville Island, the gateway to Whistler 2 hours north and Vancouver Island 90 minutes by ferry.

The United States' largest city on the Hudson River - five boroughs, the Empire State Building, Central Park, the Met, Broadway theatre, and 25000 restaurants.

Texas's third-largest city on the Trinity River - Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum, the Arts District with Klyde Warren Park, and gateway to Fort Worth and Texas Hill Country.

France's capital on the Seine - 2.1 million in the city proper, 20 arrondissements, Haussmann boulevards, the Louvre, and the food culture to match.

France's UNESCO-listed wine capital on the Garonne - 18th-century stone, the world's most famous Cabernet, and the food culture to match.

The UK capital on the Thames - 9 million people across 32 boroughs, the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern free, the Tube, Elizabeth Line, the West End theatre district, and the gateway to the rest of England, Scotland, and Wales.

Italy's capital on the Tiber - Colosseum, Forum, Pantheon, Vatican City inside the walls, 2800 years of layered history, and the four classic Roman pastas.

Italy's lagoon city on 118 islands linked by 400 bridges. San Marco mosaics, the 1516 Jewish ghetto, Murano glass since the 13th century, and vaporetto rides past Renaissance palaces.

Italy's only landlocked region between Rome and Florence - Assisi's Basilica of Saint Francis, nine medieval hill towns, Sagrantino wines, and black truffles from Norcia.

Emilia-Romagna town 30 minutes by train from Bologna with the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit through a public park on the Santerno River. Site of the 1994 Senna and Ratzenberger accidents and entry to Motor Valley.

Japan's capital and the world's largest urban region on Honshu with 37 million people, the Yamanote loop neighbourhoods, and more Michelin stars than any other city.

Japan's imperial capital for 1,074 years - 17 UNESCO sites, 1,600 temples, 400 shrines, geisha districts, and kaiseki cuisine.

Japan's 800 year old tea village in southern Kyoto Prefecture, 40 percent supplier of Uji tea with terraced fields of matcha, sencha and gyokuro since the Kamakura period and a Japan Heritage site.

Hong Kong travel guide: Victoria Peak, Kowloon street markets, dim sum, Dragon's Back hike, outlying islands, Star Ferry, and how to navigate one of Asia's greatest cities.