Where We Went: London, Paris, Toronto

What's also interesting about the information is that it's from hotels.com which says in the first line it's helping us find "the best cities around the world".  I'm not sure I buy the premise that popular is best.

Another index I also find VERY interesting, in the quest to locate interesting places for longer stays on a budget, is the cost of living index for places around the world.  While visitor costs and resident costs are not the same, still, it's an interesting tool and also gives us ideas for places to visit we not otherwise think of or consider (it does for me anyway).  See it here.

That's a great point! I never like "best" lists, anyway...and like to stray into any place that looks good and take a chance on whether it's "Zagat-quality."

The cost of living is interesting, too, especially for travelers on tight budgets; my experience in Portugal last summer (see BLOG here on TravelGumbo) has sent a couple of younger colleagues off to plan Portugal trips instead of more expensive parts of Europe.