Why have you're visited some cities ?

Beer and Impressionism art.

Well, that took a lively turn. Well done, Gerry ;-)

Gerry, I absolutely delighted in your answer! Don't edit!

I had fun writing, and there's more I've left out ;) Age and health has kinda caught up with me the last few years, but you know what they say, nostalgia's not as good as it used to be :)

I pass through Istanbul regularly now (or as regularly as I can). It's a great city with plenty of fascinating things to do and see. Plus, I love the lentil soup they serve in the Turkish Airlines lounge there. I like the airline, too.

We have a trip to Puglia (southern Italy) coming up in the fall, and our flights home will take us to Budapest for 3 days so we could catch a great deal on a Turkish Airlines flight home in business class - with a stopover in Istanbul for some soup, of course. The details worked out nicely - 3 bonus days in Budapest and a lovely flight home (and lentil soup).

Hopefully, this doesn't get me flagged for extra scrutiny by ICE upon return. I'll take my chances (that soup is really tasty).

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I went to Vienna in 2002 and it was “nice” but just didn’t speak to me. So with very little time and money each year for holidays in Europe I knew I would have to move on fast. Without any planning I ended up in a city I knew nothing about. Among my first views thanks to a cooperative taxi driver was this view: https://images3.alphacoders.com/117/1178204.jpg It took my breath away. I have been back every year, then multiple times a year every year since then. Well, now its my temporary home.

Odesa for the summer life. None better. It had become my summer break before the war.

Kyiv for the people and the current culture. None better. I had learned about the Madian protests in 2013/14 and had to meet these people. When I did i developed so much admiration for them and their ambitions in life that I just kept returing to be among them.

Rome for the history. To be able to walk where great men walked, touch the same marble as they did is something for me.
Paris for the charm and beauty.

Rome is my favorite city to visit, it is loaded with history, art and great food.
Other favorite cities are Paris, London, Cairo, Jerusalem, Athens, Florence, Venice, Toledo, Copenhagen (married there), Kyoto, Cuzco (Peru), Sydney, Hong Kong, and Budapest.

Berlin is my favorite city to visit. I made my fifth visit there two weeks ago. Is it beautiful the way so many other European or even other German cities are? No. Not at all. But it is endlessly interesting and fascinating and I can never get enough of it. There are layers upon layers of history and culture to be explored. I'll probably never do or see or absorb everything I want to from Berlin in my lifetime.

Outside of Berlin, I have an affinity for Germany that I don't have with other countries, so I've made more visits to Germany by far than any other country.

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The very spirit of your comment itself! :)

Eight times (so far) to Napoli. There is a certain excitement to this crazy place that speaks to me. And then there’s the food…

Well darn, now I wanna know what Gerry had said !

I go back to the cities I go back to for beauty, history, culture (painting, symphony, architecture, applied arts), food, gardens, cafe culture, relaxing, walking, boat rides, people, often for being immersed in different culture and hearing a different language spoken (even if it's English !), and in the case of Budapest, a heavy, heavy dose of nostalgia and comfort.

And for cities like London, Edinburgh, Glasgow . . . .for enormous and nice English-language bookstores.

I grew up in Tidewater, Virginia, in the shadow of Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown, and the Bicentennial. I couldn't help but end up in a museum education career. I always seem to go back to England, because so much of the story - the names, dates, places start there. Planning to visit Prague this year and then taking trains all the way across Europe to finish back in London.

Liverpool. Four visits so far, and i know plenty more to come. We first went for the football. Then we found the spectacular architecture, culture, and museums. But it was the people in the end. When a stranger offers you help, and tells you that since you support Liverpool you are family and that you'll "Never walk alone", well, it's a special place. And when restaurant servers see you in the city two days after you were at their restaurant and ask how the trip is going, well, it's a special place. When the family beside you at a match offers to give you a drive to your hotel after the match because getting a bus or a taxi will be impossible, well, it's a special place.

Can't wait to return!

I took my current job strictly so I could wander around Europe in my free time. History is my main driver, but everything else becomes so entangled with that that it becomes a question of sorting out eras and making priorities. For me it would be just as pertinent to ask why return to a country as to a city. I have lived in every corner of the USA, visited every State, traveled other parts of the world, and now, because I can, I'm doing my best to learn this corner of Europe.

I rarely have ever returned to any city unless it is as a pass through gateway. I think that people become comfortable returning to a city they, well, return to. There is familiarity and comfort in to your knowledge of transportation and foods, and the general ambiance.
There are so many cities and towns, and countries that I would rather not spend time in a place I have seen, as much as I might want to.
It could be a swell thing to return as an add on few days at the tale end of a trip to somewhere new. Once I spent time on Malta and followed that with a few days in Paris, a city I had been to before.
Of course there are cities and there are cities. The large cities hold so much that unless your previous visit had been lengthy, you did not see everything. So a return is warranted. And to keep it new, stay in a different area of that city. Same with a country. Go to southern Germany, then return to northern Germany.
My thinking is that I do not want to become stuck in place. Stuck in related trips to the same city. My cousin is a Francophile, speaks French. She returns again and again to France. France is an amazing and large country, yes. But she has never been to Italy, Spain, or other.
Me, I fancy myself a traveler and have the notion that so much awaits that returning is tantamount to giving up on something new, because the old is so comfortable. It is easy to be comfortable and the older I get, the more it appeals and I have to fight back against comfort that traps me in space and time.

Main reasons for visiting (repeatedly) certain cities:

esoteric history and cultural museums, the war memorials and monuments, the architecture , the churches and cathedrals, the

atmosphere (vibes) of the city (very subjective here as regards to Paris and Berlin in the course of 27 trips over 50+ years, ) the food, the scenery and people too., the particular city /town as a singular historical site.eg, Fontainebleau, Potsdam ,Lüneburg

"but keep returning to France".....likewise

Hi Gail,

Pat’s question was a fun exercise to try to remember which cities I have stayed in more than once! I really enjoy returning to some, and I see my repeat list encompassed 8 European countries! So it’s not country-specific. My list isn’t even city-size specific, although Paris, London & Rome, as larger cities tend to get mentioned more often on mine & others.

I wouldn’t say a reason is the people, specifically, although I have great memories of the people I’ve met. But, I have found nice people in almost every city - small or large, that I have visited, although the smaller towns tend to magnify the friendliness. Speaking some of the language, even if it’s very elementary French has always been worth the effort. Traveling solo usually opens up a little more opportunity to meet locals because I’m not talking with a co-traveler.

The food - well that can conjure up many cities to return beyond my repeats - LOL! If it was food, I would have returned to all 40 Italian cities where I have stayed. ; )

The scenery was certainly the reason we returned to Wengen, Switzerland - my husband’s favorite!. And I would concur it’s a reason for Stresa, Venice, Estepona & Salzburg.

I listed 21 repeated cities (from 20 trips to Europe), and the main reason for the repeats for at least 75% of them is the way the city made me feel. They’re the ones when I flip through my travel photo books later on that make me pause, maybe audibly say, “Ahh!” Stresa will always be a place to return when I’m in northern Italy (see note below) - same with Sevilla when I’m in Spain. There’s also many cities that currently aren’t repeats, yet that make me feel the same way.

Personally, I don’t have any bucket list driving my future travel goals, other than to complete a Mother/Daughter trip with our younger daughter. …well, and one unfinished wish. Hopefully someday, Nelly. ; )

Note about Stresa: Boutique Hotel Elvezia on tiny Isola Bella is one of the main reasons. Stresa can be busy, but staying out on the island is magical in the evening & overnight!
https://www.elvezia.it/

Over the decades my reasons for travel and what I’ve seen and done.

Venice because it’s sinking

London because it’s London. Spent 6 weeks there last Fall.

Paris because it’s Paris. Visited in 72, Climbed the Eiffel Tour. Ah youth. Discovered and enjoyed the Rodin Museum. On Same trip saw and explored Amsterdam, Brussels, Munich, Luxemberg, Geneva, Zurich, and London with College boyfriend. Been back to Paris a couple times via the Eurostar.

Honolulu in high school as my high school football
team was playing an Hawaiian team. I was Rally Commisioner. Had to make certain “ my “ cheerleaders and letter girls didn’t go “ crazy! “
Only one who was a pot head went off the rails. Dean of Boys nearly sent her back to the mainland on her own dime. Honestly, if memory serves after we graduated she returned to Hawaii and lives on Maui. Aloha

Havana because of the late, great, Anthony Bourdain. Why does he get to go there and I can’t?

NYC Christmas there after 9/11 to pay respects

Istanbul on a 7 day RS tour. Went early, stayed after.

Washington DC for Obama’s 1st inauguration.

Grand Canyon to raft the Colorado

Italy to take some of my best friend’s ashes to Lake Como. She was Italian and loved George Clooney. Got as close to his villa as I could. Scattered some, then took the rest to the town where her mother and father met ( name escapes me and it was a journey especially finding lodging in the small towns )

Yosemite since age 5 camping with Mom and Dad. Then in college hiking the Yosemite Upper Falls trail and camping overnight. In last decade or so going yearly with friends I worked with at San Jose State University.

In fact we leave this Friday to spend Easter weekend in Yosemite. These days we stay at the Lodge. We also bring too much food!

Denver to watch the filming of the Perry Mason TV movies. Dear friend was the Production Manager.

Belfast to watch Game of Thrones production. Friend Executive Produced.

Mt Whitney and Mojave Desert on the same day. Drove LA to Lone Pine. Spent the night. Explored the Alabama Foothills and found where 1939’s Gunga Din was filmed. Then headed to the Mojave desert and drove back to LA. A few years later scouted the area for truck commercial. Same reason for scouting various Frank Lloyd Southern California properties, commercials.

Returned to Mt St Helens when it became a National Park. I was doing paper work on the Sunday in my office at Lower Columbia College in Longview when it blew. Bowed my head in prayer saying goodbye Harry. Google Harry Truman ( not President Truman). Then climbed up onto the roof to watch it spew ash and lava.

The intriguing reality was the mudflow on the Cowlitz river. In some photo album have a picture of a naked baby doll covered in mud on the river bank.

Vegas for a friend’s 60th. Will never return. So not me.

Lake Tahoe for a Christmas with the same group. Same birthday girl who loves the slots. The laugh was I have zero interest in gambling but was bullied into playing the Game of Thrones slot machine. Jack pot on 3rd spin. Won $140.00.

Regarding Belfast had been there years earlier.

Troubles were still a thing. Armed British soldiers in fields outside of Belfast. Barbed wire, sand bags and saw horses woutside the City Hall. Just my friend and her sister. We started in Dublin and I drove. We stopped in Armaugh. Friends last name is Collins.

We also traveled from Dingle over the Sally Gap On same trip enroute to Glendalough.

Also whilst in England trained to Salisbury and took a bus to Stonehenge. Just the 3 of us and 5 other passengers. Early 90’s.