World's Best Cities - Chiang Mai Achieves Recognition!

Udaipur in India has been named the World's Best City, taking over from last year's winner Bangkok, in Travel + Leisure magazine's fourteenth annual World's Best Awards.

Results from the magazine's poll of readers show that Bangkok has slipped to third behind Udaipur and Cape Town in the Top 10 Cities Worldwide category, but that Chiang Mai is a newcomer, in at No 5. Cities are judged for their sights, culture/arts, restaurants/food, people, shopping and value.

City of Lakes
Known as the City of Lakes, Udaipur is located in the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India.

It was once the capital of the kingdom of Mewar, ruled over for centuries by kings of the Rajput dynasties.

They left behind grand palaces which, along with the beauty of Udaipur's many lakes, have made the historic city the world's favourite this year.

"For a number of top-ranked cities - Udaipur, Cape Town, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Chiang Mai and Luang Prabang - value ratings were sky-high," says Nancy Novogrod, editor-in-chief of Travel + Leisure. "And while many far-flung metropolises made a strong showing, old favourites like T+L's hometown, New York City, as well as Florence, Rome and San Francisco remain in the top 10 overall.

Holidays on a budget
"This year's results reflect our readers' travel interests in this challenging economic reality - value, intimacy, service and discovery are top priorities. As for that old-fashioned sounding word, luxury, it's all about enclaves that shelter 'stealth wealth', from Amankora Paro in Bhutan to San Ysidro Ranch in California, where 'casual' and 'laid-back' are the names of the game."

The 2009 results will be announced in Travel + Leisure's August issue, which comes out on July 24. The winners will be honoured at an awards ceremony on July 21 at the Cooper Square Hotel in New York.

For full details of all the top World's Best Cities, please click on the link.

Source: The Nation - 14th July 2009