It may have been ranked as the second-best city in the world last year, but 2022 sees Amsterdam fall a few places in the Time Out Best Cities list, dropping into fifth place behind the likes of Chicago and Glasgow. 

The 53 best cities in the world to visit

Every year, Time Out Magazine polls thousands of city dwellers from all around the world with the aim of creating a “global snapshot of city living” and helping travellers find the hotspots and hidden gems in cities across the globe. While last year’s ranking focussed on how cities adapted to and overcame the pandemic, Time Out has shifted its focus back to its original goal: exploring and supporting international travel.

This year, the magazine has put together a list of the 53 best cities for visiting in 2022, looking at a number of different aspects of day-to-day life, including the quality of the nightlife, the range of museums and other cultural attractions, and the abundance of good food and drink. In addition to all this, the cities highlighted “aren’t boring or overly expensive or overrated” and “score well for practical stuff like walkability, good public transport and safety, as well as sustainability.” 

Amsterdam: A chilled, buzzy, and progressive city

The 2021 ranking saw Amsterdam achieve a very respectable second place behind San Francisco. This year’s ranking has been shuffled around - a lot - and while Amsterdam managed to cling on to a place in the top 10, the Dutch capital did fall into fifth place. 

In spite of this, however, the city was still praised by the Time Out team, who highlighted Amsterdam’s “chilled out” vibe and “walkable (or cyclable!)” streets. “The city combines a buzzy social scene and vibrant nightlife with tolerance and diversity,” the magazine writes, adding that those polled felt Amsterdam was “the easiest place in the world to express who you are.”

Top 10 global cities in 2022

According to the 2022 edition of the ranking, the top 10 cities in the world to visit in 2022 are: 

1. Edinburgh
2. Chicago
3. Medellín 
4. Glasgow
5. Amsterdam
6. Prague
7. Marrakech
8. Berlin
9. Montreal
10. Copenhagen

For the full list, visit the Time Out website.