Hong Kong versus Paris versus London versus New York versus Tokyo (ski resorts, home)
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NYC's better day trips (two hours or less) are the Hamptons and other Long Island beaches like Fire Island, the Catskills and the hiking (and skiing in winter) available there, the Hudson River valley with its older towns and scenic views, the Jersey Shore including Atlantic City (though that has seen better days), lower New England towns, and Philadelphia and its environs.
It'd be nice if high speed rail put Montreal, Boston, and DC in two hour distance.
Overall Number Things to Do: Tokyo->London->New York City
Museums/Culture: London-Paris-New York City (3 way tie)
History: Paris historical aesthetic, London overall history
Green Spaces: London or Tokyo (all really though)
Natural Scenery: Immediate setting, Hong Kong no question, Region, Hong Kong and Tokyo tied
Food: Too hard to determine, honestly (subjective)
Safety: Tokyo->Hong Kong (all relatively safe though)
Transit: Tokyo most expansive, Hong Kong most user friendly
Climate: Out of these, I personally would take Paris climate I think for year round tastes, but Hong Kong's is quite nice too. Summers even aren't too hot there thanks to the constant breeze and cooling influence being up in mountains at anytime.
Location: Paris, probably.
Most Vibrant: Hong Kong.
It's hard to pick a favorite out of the hat here, as each has great and different appeals. Right now though I think MIGHT take London, though I don't know. Having just recently been to the Far East, there's just something addictive and overwhelming to the senses about those cities that any other region in the world sort of seems to lack. This might seem heretic, but had Beijing been in the poll, or Mexico City, they might top all these. Maybe not for long term, but there's something about both of them that is just, addicting to me.
But in term of hiking and beaches, Hong Kong tops all other 4 cities.
Basically the other 4 cities don't have beaches at all or if they have, it is not suitable for swimming.
For hiking, I tried hiking at Mt. Takao in Tokyo. Really really crowded.
NYC has wonderful beaches and Long Island has some great beaches (including the exclusive Hamptons area), London has lots of beaches just a short train ride away and Tokyo also has some nice beaches. Paris is further inland but is still within visiting distance of a beach.
There is also hiking in up state NY, in the Chilterns and Sussex Downs near London and Paris has some beautiful countryside only a short train ride away and there are some very impressive trials and hiking around Tokyo.
NYC has wonderful beaches and Long Island has some great beaches (including the exclusive Hamptons area), London has lots of beaches just a short train ride away and Tokyo also has some nice beaches. Paris is further inland but is still within visiting distance of a beach.
There is also hiking in up state NY, in the Chilterns and Sussex Downs near London and Paris has some beautiful countryside only a short train ride away and there are some very impressive trials and hiking around Tokyo.
In this ranking, outside of Hong Kong and only if you extend Hong Kong far out, NYC and its region has a much greater and more diverse in terms of what the vibe is like for its beaches. NYC is mostly on islands and always close to the coast while having transit to beaches and being at a more southerly position than London or Paris. In some ways, the great beaches of NYC and its general area are a saving grace for a lot of things that aren't great about the city and its metropolitan region. The closest beaches to London are quite a bit colder than those of NYC in the summer prime beach months.
Paris to Honfleur, Houlgate, Cabourg, Deauville, Etretat... Sympathic places 2h from Paris but then again I don't like sea.m that much.. It's weekend spots for parisians, and you feel it Sunday evening on the road..
I m more 'mountain', and for this, Tokyo wins. HK with a top barely at 960m doesn't have 'mountains'.
Gonna go ahead and respectfully disagree with both of you on beaches (NYC) and mountains (Hong Kong) here. First, yes, Tokyo's mountains are overall higher than the ones found near Hong Kong, sure. But, if you've ever seen how immediately prominent, lush, etc, the mountains around Hong Kong are, I don't think you'd be saying the same regarding the mountains there. The image is from the top of Lion Rock. If you don't find that impressive? Well, I'm not quite certain exactly what you'd find impressive lol. Personally, Hong Kong just supplanted Vancouver for me as the city with the most stunning immediate backdrop (and I've been to Rio, as well as all 7 continents). Vancouver, as Tokyo, may be even or on the level of Tokyo when thinking about region. But, for someone in Tokyo to get up into a mountain hiking trail, it'd take probably 2 hours, at least over an hour, so not something they could do every day. But, in Hong Kong, one could literally walk from LKF or Central and be on the Victoria Peak trail in 15-20 minutes, not to mention there's a 100 KM hiking trail north to south across the SAR.
Beaches, maybe when real far out, like 3 plus hours. But keep in mind that right within Hong Kong you have:
-I believe the world's largest continuous volcanic basalt formation. Beaches with Black Sand
-Pink dolphins and Bioluminescent Waters
-Telegraph Bay, with resorts and the like
-Shek O Beach, the one popular with locals I think
-Tai Long Wan (just look at the pictures of it)
-Tai O (more coastal fishing village, than beach, but again, I don't think you'll find an atmosphere that different in NY, as you can find present in HK)
And I'm sure there's more. Not that NYC and region doesn't have nice beaches, as it does, but...
Gonna go ahead and respectfully disagree with both of you on beaches (NYC) and mountains (Hong Kong) here. First, yes, Tokyo's mountains are overall higher than the ones found near Hong Kong, sure. But, if you've ever seen how immediately prominent, lush, etc, the mountains around Hong Kong are, I don't think you'd be saying the same regarding the mountains there. The image is from the top of Lion Rock. If you don't find that impressive? Well, I'm not quite certain exactly what you'd find impressive lol. Personally, Hong Kong just supplanted Vancouver for me as the city with the most stunning immediate backdrop (and I've been to Rio, as well as all 7 continents). Vancouver, as Tokyo, may be even or on the level of Tokyo when thinking about region. But, for someone in Tokyo to get up into a mountain hiking trail, it'd take probably 2 hours, at least over an hour, so not something they could do every day. But, in Hong Kong, one could literally walk from LKF or Central and be on the Victoria Peak trail in 15-20 minutes, not to mention there's a 100 KM hiking trail north to south across the SAR.
Beaches, maybe when real far out, like 3 plus hours. But keep in mind that right within Hong Kong you have:
-I believe the world's largest continuous volcanic basalt formation. Beaches with Black Sand
-Pink dolphins and Bioluminescent Waters
-Telegraph Bay, with resorts and the like
-Shek O Beach, the one popular with locals I think
-Tai Long Wan (just look at the pictures of it)
-Tai O (more coastal fishing village, than beach, but again, I don't think you'll find an atmosphere that different in NY, as you can find present in HK)
And I'm sure there's more. Not that NYC and region doesn't have nice beaches, as it does, but...
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