Top US Design Magazine Names Kyoto Among World’s 20 Most Beautiful Cities  

Paris, Cape Town, Rio, New York … Kyoto! That’s what Architectural Digest, an esteemed US monthly magazine founded in 1920, says are among the world’s 20 Most Beautiful Cities. 

Architectural Digest’s principal subjects are interior design and landscaping, rather than pure external architecture. The judges were on the hunt for cities that ticked these four boxes: architecture, cultural treasures, historical relevance and natural appeal.

Placed 12th, Kyoto scored high for its rich cultural heritage, cherry blossoms, bamboo forest and sacred shrines. Not lost were its 17 Unesco World Heritage Sites such as Kinkaku-ji Temple, the Zen rock garden at Ryoan-ji Temple and the moss-laden Saiho-ji Temple.

South Australian capital Adelaide came first thanks to its unique Art Deco architecture and dreamy sand dunes. “Surrounded by remarkable coastlines to the west and rolling hills to the south and east, Adelaide scored top marks across the board,’ wrote Time Out Australia. 

Second was Tallinn, the Estonian capital, which has preserved medieval cities, and third was Portsmouth for its beaches, mangroves and coral reefs. That’s Portsmouth in Dominica, not the navy base in southern England. 

Architectural Digest admits its list “is by no means definitive” and that 20 cities “is far too few to sum up all the world’s beauty. We have taken a stab at highlighting some supremely spectacular places, from the remote beaches of the Caribbean to the cultural capital of Japan.”

20 Most Beautiful Cities in the World:

1. Adelaide, Australia
2. Tallinn, Estonia
3. Portsmouth, Dominica
4. San Miguel de Allende, México
5. Antigua, Guatemala
6. Singapore
7. Paris, France
8. Chefchaouen, Morocco
9. Chiang Mai, Thailand
10. Luxor, Egypt
11. Istanbul, Turkey
12. Kyoto, Japan
13. Barcelona, Spain
14. Cape Town, South Africa
15. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
16. Florence, Italy
17. Djenné, Mali
18. New York City, USA
19. Amsterdam, Netherlands
20. Jaipur, India