If, like me, you want to travel the whole
world, you might be thinking ‘how?’ Sacrifice. It’s sometimes best to
sacrifice, especially if you’re short on funds or time. What I would suggest is
a touring holiday of all the
continents, but by picking one city in each to visit on one big tour of the
world, but then that would be too difficult as how do you pick just one city in
Europe or Asia? So I thought I’d share with you some non-capital cities I’ve
travelled too that you should definitely consider.
Kyoto
(Capital: Tokyo)
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| Photo credit: www.japan-guide.com |
Swap the syllables of Japan’s capital
around and you get its second city: Kyoto. Kyoto blends the modernity Japan, as
seen in Tokyo, with the classic traditions of its rich and ancient past. Tokyo
is exciting and wondrous to be in, but Kyoto is beautiful. It is one of my
all-time favourite cities and not far from Tokyo if you’re ever in the area.
Seek it out and you will understand why I hold it with such reverence.
Florence
(Capital: Rome)
My favourite European non-capital of them
all (and that includes the English city I currently live in!). Florence, to me,
is enchanting and it has enthralled all who go there, whether they arrived
after reading Rushdie’s The Enchantress of Florence or from
being an art buff and needing to see UffiziGallery and Palazzo Pitti with their own eyes. The city drips history and
culture out of every pore, plus the architecture is so incredibly beautiful
that it boggles the mind. You can keep your Venice, Rome, and Naples, as
Florence is all I need.
Barcelona
(Capital: Madrid)
Barcelona!
It was the first time that we met! I first went to
Barcelona on a school trip when I was 13 and from the moment I saw the Sagrada
Familia (the most striking building ever built, in my opinion) I was captivated
by it. This coastal city trumps the capital, Madrid, in terms of beauty and
culture. The docks are stunning, the Mercardo de la Boqueria is delicious,
and Las Ramblas is breath taking. People sometimes dismiss Spain as a ruin of
an ancient empire with its only worthwhile use being a place where young
British people go to get drunk and meet member of the opposite sex, but it’s so
much more than that. It’s rugged and has charm in abundance – and no city more so
than Barcelona.
Canberra
(Capital: Canberra)
Okay, I cheated! Canberra is the capital of
Australia, but a lot of people don’t know that and ignore it anyway for Sydney
or Melbourne (both lovely, by the way). I felt bad for Canberra so I included
it on this list as it’s a beautiful city with just as much to offer. It was designated
the capital to stop Sydney and Melbourne from arguing about it anymore. The
city was designed from the ground up and so is a stunning feat of city planning
that really needs to be seen from the airto understand. The city is filled to bursting with museums, monuments,
galleries, zoos, festivals, theatres and pretty much anything else you can
think of. It’s a treasure trove relatively hidden from the world, despite being
the nation’s capital. Yes, Sydney is amazing, but don’t ever dismiss Canberra.
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