In which, Hanoi ranks 25th and Ho Chi Minh City ranks 38th, surpassing many famous destinations in the world thanks to urban vitality, culinary culture and dynamic local communities.
Standing at position 25, Hanoi is assessed as one of the Asian cities that still retains its traditional identity, but is also undergoing a period of strong transformation.
Along with infrastructure development, the city's cultural and entertainment life is also changing rapidly. Many bars and creative spaces operated by Vietnamese people are attracting young people, contributing to making Hanoi a new bright spot in the nightlife map of Asia.
Time Out's survey shows that Hanoi received positive reviews in many criteria. About 62% of people believe that eating out in the city is reasonable, while 80% commented that enjoying coffee is very accessible in terms of price.
In addition, 73% of residents appreciate culinary culture, 67% are satisfied with nightlife and 72% think Hanoi is an easy place to make friends.
In 38th place, Ho Chi Minh City is described as a city that never stands still, where fast pace of life and creative spirit continuously create new trends.
One of the notable milestones is UNESCO's recognition of Ho Chi Minh City as a "Creative City in the field of cinema", becoming the first city in Southeast Asia to receive this title.
This event is associated with the development of Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival, an international film festival that attracted about 280,000 visitors right in its first edition.
Cuisine is also a prominent strength of the city. The young chef wave is bringing new ways of telling stories about Vietnamese cuisine, while many creative and sustainable restaurants are constantly appearing, from fine dining to alcohol-free models or reducing waste.
The survey results show that 75% of people appreciate Ho Chi Minh City's cuisine, 70% are satisfied with nightlife. The city also recorded a fairly high level of general satisfaction when 75% of residents said they felt happy living here and a similar percentage thought making friends in this city was quite easy.
The ranking of the best cities in the world "Best Cities 2026" is built from a large-scale survey with more than 24,000 residents in 150 cities worldwide. Participants were asked about important aspects of urban life such as food quality, nightlife, cultural space, parks, level of happiness, affordability as well as community engagement.
The survey results were then combined with the assessments of more than 100 city experts and editors from Time Out's network to identify the list of 50 most prominent cities in 2026.
According to Time Out, this year's ranking pays special attention to the real living experiences of local residents; not only based on tourism attraction. Criteria such as happiness, making friends, community friendliness, or the vibrancy of cultural and culinary life are included in the assessment.
In the 2026 list, many globally famous cities continue to hold prominent positions such as New York, London, Paris or Tokyo.
10 best cities in the world in 2026
Melbourne (Australia) Shanghai (China) Edinburgh (Scotland) London (England) New York (USA) Cape Town (South Africa) Mexico City (Mexico) Bangkok (Thailand) Seoul (Korea) Tokyo (Japan)
