It’s a New Year 🎉

Now let us never talk about what happened in 2017 ever EVER again.

This year we’ve got 5 shiny cities to add to your bucket list. Check out our top cities for 2018…

The planet’s "most beautiful encounter between the land and the sea".

- Fan boy Lord Byron was on point.

Like a miniature Dubrovnik, Kotor beams with Venetian walls and terracotta roofs which spill out onto the coastline.

This Montenegrin beaut has come into its own (since independence from Serbia in 2006) and overflows with good food, tiny wineries and rub-your-eyes scenery.

Get lost in the winding old town with a sugar-dusted cherry strudel.

There’s a new kid on the (ex-Soviet) block.

Tirana’s turned its back on grey, brutalist architecture and oppressive communist regimes. It’s had a makeover (literally) and is showing off new rainbow-coloured buildings and gondolas up to the mountains.

Bursting with culture (take that Stalin) and virtually untouched by western tourism, the Albanian capital is having a moment.

You’ll find museums in underground bunkers and the remains of giant brutalist architecture.

“The Capital of Africa”

Home of the African Union Headquarters and the gateway to East Africa, Addis is a sprawling, chaotic city stuffed with the country’s best restaurants and jazz bars.

Join a traditional coffee ceremony to try the world’s best coffee (it’s a fact) and eat spongy injera with your hands.

It’s worth visiting for the ethio-jazz scene alone. A mix of Ethiopian tribal music, early American jazz and traditional afrobeat, ethio-jazz was big in the 60s. It’s making a comeback thanks to weekly gigs in The African Jazz Village and Mama’s Kitchen. Listen to Éthiopiques to get in the mood.

“Azerbaijan… don’t they do a mean Eurovision?”

Baku is the country’s extraordinary capital city. Mad architecture, volcanos that erupt mud and musical stones… what is this place?

Dubbed as ‘the next Dubai’, buildings are popping up daily thanks to an industrial-hungry (somewhat undemocratic) ruling family.

There’s an old town which looks frankly bizarre next to the modern, dystopian skyscrapers and traditional ‘caravanserais’ (Persian traveller inns) where you can get an earful of ethnic folk music with your dinner.

Iran’s capital is a tug-of-war between ornate history and hassling modern life. And carpets.

There’s Persian bazaars, shisha cafes and rebellious street art, all tucked into the Alborz mountains.

Head up to Mount Tochal to ski on top of the city and to ride the world’s largest cable car. It’s a whole lot cheaper and less crowded than the Alps.

For bean bag chilling and yoga vibes, get to Darband - the ‘village within the city’. It’s all mountain views and glittery lamplight.