Warsaw, Poland included in Lonely Planet's Top Ten Cities for 2009

In the new travel book, "Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2009", Warsaw, Poland is one of the top ten cities listed according to articles.

Top 10 Cities (in alphabetical order)

Antwerp, Belgium

Beirut, Lebanon

Chicago, USA

Glasgow, Scotland

Lisbon, Portugal

Mexico City, Mexico

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Shanghai, China

Warsaw, Poland

Zurich, Switzerland

Congratulations Warsaw, my favorite large city in Europe as well!

My village is still the nicest place to live in the world though! :-)

Brilliant news!! And great to see my birthplace (Glasgow) included too.

Any idea what criteria LP used to compile this list?

Well, a joke now and again never hurt anyone ;)

The list is ridiculous.

Read what Lonely Planet says about these cities.

Beirut??? :)
When one hears Beirut he thinks refugee camps, civil war, bombings, ethnical and religious tensions and dangers...but not holiday!

Where is New York, London, Paris etc...what's that for a list? For adventurers???

Keep in mind, the list is for "2009". I would assume that "Lonely Planet" considers these cities worth visiting as an alternative to the more popular, common world cities. It wouldn't be suprising if they considered the term 'adventuresome' in their assumptions.

Also keep in mind: Mexico City, where they now provide buses for females only... to prevent gropping by males.

This must surely be a reason for it being in the top ten.

I thought it was great....i bought a coffee and it stirred itself....Some body said it was an earthquake , but not likely is it....?

maybe you set the saucer down on a cucharacha.

I can,t remember her name...but it wasn,t that....!

It's interesting that the European City of Culture is not on the list.

Not that I care for Liverpool that much.

Sz may put me right :)

You obviously don't like to expand your horizons - you
boring sausage. NY is over rated, London is up itself and Paris
has no soul.

What makes you say that? Have you ever been there?

I can't stand Warsaw.

Talk about scraping the barrel

I live here theres alot of nice areas...top 10???? maybe


give me a break, if you like the constant smell of diesel in the air.
Try not to get kidnapped either:)


Isnt that place going to break out in war anyday?

Sao Paulo and Shanghai might be quite dangerous for the general tourist as well. But as a well-off person one can get there as in Mexico City stuff unavailable in the "civilized west", like for example a new liver.

But Beirut, I would only visit if I had business to do or rather if I were into making money and or reputation from the ongoing conflict in this region. I mean what money can one make with dates?

what about Shanghai and Bombay..absolutely fantastic places to visit.. have something to appeal to all your senses.. anyone been there?

this list is surely a joke. It includes some of the most polluted and dangerous cities in the world. There are none here that I wouldnt visit, but most wouldnt be top of my list. However, each to their own and as the list is updated annually they must be running out of new places to include. Ive been to Bombay (although its now called Mumbai) but not Shanghai.

.... or the cities of the world are running out of cash to 'host' all these wonderful surveys.

As building sites go Shanghai is OK. Beyond me how anyone could claim Zurich to be vibrant and exciting. Maybe Backgammon and cribbage is the new cool?

It doesnt matter if warsaw is in their list or not. Its gonna remain my capital.

Hey Everyone maybe if you visited Beirut like the article writers did then you wouldnt make such a foolish comment. But then again the only news you listen to is bias. Beirut was rated no.9(in front of san franisco) in travel and leisure top 10 cities. So get your facts straight before posting comments like yours!

Being an american i visited beirut last year and it was spectacular!!!
It has many beautifull places like the beachs and downtown and the european style malls and cafes.there hasnt been war there since 13 mounths ago and that as a minor skirmish. Its not better then paris and Lisbon but it deserves to be in the top 10!!!

OK, I've been digging a little deeper on this.... Lonely Planet consulted the authors and editors of its travel guides. The list was compiled by what they thought were places with an interesting twist, places that seemed to be overlooked but shouldn't be ignored, somewhere that had undergone some sort of transformation over the years and deserved a second look.

The book does mention the gentrification of the Praga district.

You speak of Beirut like you have been there!!! Some countries are lucky that the media only posts the most beautiful (sometimes wrong) images about them while others are bombarded with bias footages and comments!!! The lonely planet based its list on lively cities that are rich historically and capable of some serious transformations! And Beirut got it all a 5000 yr old history, an incredible night life, the top education and best beach bars!! Look it up well before you stereotype!

Hahahahahah people posting here make me laugh!
You are still living in the 1980's probably...
I visited Beirut last April and it was spectacular!
I skied in the mountains; swam in the south; partied till 6 in the morning (in lame Ottawa nightclubs close at 2!!!!); visited the Baalbac ruins (like twice as big as the acropolis of Athens and 10 folds nicer!); hooked up with a stunningly gorgeous Lebanese girl (hottest by far!) and I managed not to see any destruction in the city (they did an amazing job refurbishing everything!)

I was visiting Israel in April and after I saw the NY Times article putting Beirut as number one on their 44 places to visit in 2009 I decided to go there (via Cyprus)... I will go there again the first time I find myself in the Middle East!

Apparently it's changed a lot. I was thinking of going there myself a while back. Decided against it mainly because transport from the airport is cr*p and it will take me a while to get my French up to a decent standard. You may laugh, but as Lebanon is one of the few countries around with a stable banking system, and may well get through the forthcoming Depresssion pretty much unscathed, I suspect that the Lebanese may well have the last laugh ;)


Overrated, overpriced and over-saturated with tourists. Personally I'd rather go to Milan than Rome, Chicago rather than NYC, and Warsaw instead of Krakow, but maybe that's just me, eh! haha

I think they should put Manchester on one of these lists as well, cos I was there not so long ago and it was great! Certainly not the cloth-capped Northern dump it used to be.