[ THE DISPATCH ]
City Guides
Deep dives into neighbourhoods, food and culture. 181 dispatches and counting.
-
City GuidesWhere to Eat in Tbilisi: Khachapuri, Supra Feasts, and the Wine Nobody Warned You About
Georgian food will ruin other cuisines for you, gently. Here's where to eat in Tbilisi — the cheese-boat that defeats grown adults, the dumplings you eat wrong, and the amber wine that sneaks up like a friendly ghost.
-
City GuidesWhere to Eat in Tokyo's Toyosu and the Market That Replaced Tsukiji
Everyone mourns Tsukiji like it died. It didn't, and the new market is better than the nostalgia lets on. Here's where to eat in Toyosu, Tokyo, the honest breakfast plan included.
-
City GuidesWhere to Eat in Vancouver: Sushi, Dim Sum, and the Best Cheap Eats on Commercial Drive
Everyone sells Vancouver on salmon and mountains. The truth: its Japanese and Cantonese food is the real reason to eat here. Here's where to eat in Vancouver, mapped by neighborhood, cheap eats included.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Amsterdam Without Stepping in the Red Light Trap
Book a hotel near the Red Light District for your first Amsterdam trip and you'll sleep above a stag-do scrum. Here's where to actually stay — the canal belt, Oost, and Noord — and exactly what to avoid.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Bali for Surfers, Honeymooners, and Everyone In Between
Where to stay in Bali depends entirely on who you are. Surfer? Honeymooner? Broke and want to stay that way? Pick wrong and you'll spend your trip stuck in traffic regretting it. Pick right and Bali's a dream.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Budapest: Buda Calm, Pest Buzz, and the Ruin-Bar District
Where to stay in Budapest comes down to one question: do you want to sleep or do you want to party? The Danube splits the city into calm Buda and loud Pest, and picking the wrong side is a surprisingly easy mistake.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Cartagena: Walled City Postcards vs. Getsemaní's Street Art
Where to stay in Cartagena when the walled city's postcard romance and Getsemaní's grittier, cheaper, mural-covered cool are both pulling at you. I picked a side, and I'll tell you why.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Dublin: Temple Bar Trap vs. Stoneybatter & Portobello
Where to stay in Dublin without paying tourist-trap prices for a pint. I'll steer you out of Temple Bar and toward the neighbourhoods where locals actually drink, eat, and sleep.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Edinburgh: Old Town Drama vs. Stockbridge's Village Quiet
Where to stay in Edinburgh, depending on whether you want a castle out your window or eight hours of sleep. Plus the Festival-season warning I wish someone had hammered into me.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Istanbul: Sultanahmet Tourist Bubble vs. Karaköy and Cihangir
Sultanahmet puts you next to the big sights and inside a tourist terrarium. Karaköy and Cihangir put you in the real city with a ferry at the bottom of the hill. Here's where to stay in Istanbul, honestly.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Krakow: Old Town Square vs. Kazimierz's Bar Quarter
Where to stay in Krakow comes down to one trade: the postcard square at a premium, or Kazimierz's bars and food for less. Plus the stag-party warning nobody gives you.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Mexico City for First-Timers Who Don't Want to Get It Wrong
Roma and Condesa get all the press, but they're not automatically right for your first time. Here's how I actually pick a base in CDMX — safety, walkability, and the trap nobody warns you about.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Montreal: Plateau Charm vs. Old Port Cobblestones
The brochure wants you in Old Montreal. The metro map and your own two feet have a different opinion. Here's where to stay in Montreal if you care about actually walking places.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Nice: Old Town Color vs. the Promenade's Pricey Sea View
Where to stay in Nice when you've got Vieux Nice charm, a pricey sea view, and a market neighbourhood the locals quietly prefer all pulling at you. I'll help you pick — I've slept in all three.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Rio de Janeiro: Copacabana Cliché vs. Ipanema vs. Santa Teresa Hills
Copacabana's the postcard, Ipanema's the upgrade, and Santa Teresa is where I'd actually want to wake up. Here's the honest, safety-aware breakdown of where to stay in Rio de Janeiro.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in San Sebastian: Old Town Bars vs. La Concha's Beachfront
Light sleeper who loves a beach, or a night owl who lives for the pintxos crawl? That single question decides where to stay in San Sebastian. Here's the honest trade-off, neighborhood by neighborhood.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Tokyo: Yanaka Calm vs. Nakameguro's River of Cafes
Done Shinjuku and Shibuya? Good. On your second or third Tokyo trip, you want a base with a pulse you can actually feel. Here's where to stay in Tokyo's quieter neighborhoods — Yanaka vs Nakameguro.
-
City GuidesWhere to Stay in Vancouver: Gastown Brick vs. Kitsilano Beach Living
I've slept in both ends of this city and have opinions. Where to stay in Vancouver comes down to one question: do you want nightlife, mountains, or to actually sleep at a reasonable hour?
-
City GuidesAdams Morgan or Shaw? The Washington DC Neighborhood Food Showdown
Adams Morgan is jumbo pizza slices and rowdy nights on 18th Street. Shaw is Michelin stars, Ethiopian feasts and a restored food hall. Two DC neighborhoods, two completely different dinners. Here's which to book.
-
City GuidesBangkok for First-Timers vs. Second-Timers: Two Totally Different Cities
Bangkok first time vs second time: what to actually do on trip one, and the completely different city that opens up once you've learned the BTS and stopped flinching.
-
City GuidesBelleville vs. Canal Saint-Martin: Paris's Cooler-Than-Thou Neighborhoods
Two scrappy east-Paris districts, head to head. Belleville is multicultural, hilly, and gloriously unpolished; Canal Saint-Martin is the Instagram-famous picnic strip. Here's which one to stay in, where to eat, and who each is really for.
-
City GuidesCape Town by Neighborhood: Where to Stay Without a Car
Cape Town spreads out and the public transport is patchy, so picking your base is half the trip. Here's where to stay if Uber is your only wheels, ranked by how often you'll actually need one.
-
City GuidesCape Town Food Guide: Where to Eat from Bo-Kaap to Woodstock
A where-to-eat Cape Town food guide from Bo-Kaap to Woodstock: Cape Malay curries, township braais, and warehouse markets. Real names, prices, and when to go.
-
City GuidesCapitol Hill vs. Ballard: Where to Stay in Seattle for Food and Coffee
Capitol Hill is dense, queer, caffeinated and open until 2am. Ballard is a former fishing town with a Sunday market and the best beer-to-sidewalk ratio in the city. Here is which one feeds you better.