Skip to content

Top Navigation

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Trip Inspiration
  • Plan Your Trip
  • World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises
  • Travel Tips
  • News
  • Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Join Now

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
My Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
  • Explore

    Explore

    • World's Best

      World's Best

      The greatest islands, cities, hotels, cruise lines, airports, and more — as voted by you. Read More
    • The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2021

      The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2021

      Whether you're traveling solo or planning a family vacation, here are the 50 best places to visit in 2021. Read More
    • Let's Go Together Podcast

      Let's Go Together Podcast

      Start listening to T+L's brand new podcast, Let's Go Together! Hosted by Kellee Edwards. Read More
  • Trip Inspiration

    Trip Inspiration

    • Trip Ideas
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Spring Travel
    • Summer Travel
    • Fall Travel
    • Winter Travel
    • Solo Travel
    • Romantic Getaways
    • Luxury Travel
    • Beach Vacations
    • Adventure Travel
    • Road Trips
    • Family Travel
    • National Parks
    • Holiday Travel
    • Travel Photography
    • Photo of the Day
    • Culture and Design
  • Plan Your Trip

    Plan Your Trip

    Norwegian Cruise Line Will Require Vaccinations for All Passengers and Crew

    Norwegian Cruise Line Will Require Vaccinations for All Passengers and Crew

    Norwegian Cruise Line hopes to resume sailing out of the U.S. on or around July 4.
    • Travel Deals
    • Attractions
    • BookTandL.com
    • Amusement Parks
    • Festivals and Events
    • Bus and Trains
    • Flight Deals
    • Budget Travel
    • Hotels and Resorts
    • Disney Vacations
    • Airlines and Airports
    • Ground Transportation
    • Travel Guides
  • World's Best

    World's Best

    • Top Hotels
    • Top Cities
    • Top Islands
    • Domestic Airlines
    • International Airlines
    • Tours
    • Safaris
    • See All World's Best
  • Destination of the Year
  • A-List Travel Advisors
  • Cruises

    Cruises

    • Find A Cruise
    • Caribbean Cruises
    • River Cruises
    • European Cruises
    • All-Inclusive Cruises
    • Family Cruises
    • Alaskan Cruises
    • Disney Cruises
    • See All Cruise Vacations
  • Travel Tips

    Travel Tips

    • Travel Trends
    • Packing Tips
    • Points + Miles
    • Budgeting + Currency
    • Customs + Immigration
    • Responsible Travel
    • Travel Etiquette
    • Travel Warnings
    • Weather
    • Mobile Apps
    • See All Travel Tips
  • News

    News

    • Wellness
    • Celebrity Travel
    • Animals
    • Jobs
    • Offbeat
    • See All News
  • Food + Drink

    Food + Drink

    • Restaurants
    • Wine
    • Beer
    • Cocktails + Spirits
    • Bars + Clubs
    • Celebrity Chefs
    • Cooking + Entertaining
    • Food Fairs + Festivals
    • World's Best Restaurants
    • See All Food + Drink
  • Travel Accessories

    Travel Accessories

    • Travel Bags
    • Shoes
    • Travel Tech
    • Shopping
    • Style
    • Gift Guides
    • See All Travel Accessories
  • Check-In

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Join Now

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
My Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • My Profile
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Help
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

LIVE
  1. Home
  2. Trip Ideas
  3. World's Top Waterfront Cities

World's Top Waterfront Cities

By Ann Shields
January 19, 2010
Skip gallery slides
Save Pin
Credit: Ericka McConnell
“Blank walls.” “Sterile plazas.” A “dead zone.”

Is this some war-ravaged town? Some broken-down inner city? Nope, it’s a description of Bilbao, Spain, where a Frank Gehry–designed Guggenheim Museum sits right on the edge of a picturesque river. Yet one organization not only called Bilbao’s waterfront area all of the above, it also proclaimed the waterfront one of the world’s most alienating.

That organization is the Project for Public Spaces (PPS)—a nonprofit group that promotes community-friendly places over haute design—and the judgment on Bilbao came from studying more than 200 cities worldwide. The result: a list of destinations where the waterfront has become (or has always been) a vital place for city residents and tourists to shop, work, and gather.

One of PPS’s criteria is what it calls the Power of Ten: a minimum of 10 destinations or purposes for visiting. These elements can include cafés, playgrounds, historic sites, museums, outdoor markets, performance arenas, gardens, ferry landings, or shops. Waterfronts conceived for many uses—or ones that naturally evolved that way—trump single-use designs (like the riverfront area beside Bilbao’s Guggenheim) every time.

Ironically, one city that breezily aces the Power of Ten test lies just 60 miles from Bilbao. In San Sebastián, the waterfront—two white-sand crescents of beach bisected by the mouth of the Urumea River—is fringed by a promenade of parks, pavilions, and wide walkways. And right across the boulevard is a human-scaled assortment of shops, cafés, and hotels. The busy area remains the thriving heart of San Sebastián. Yet no city planners were involved in this success story: the old town was settled at the water’s edge and never lost its vital role as the marketplace, no matter how development sprawled away from the waterfront.

On the other side of the planet, Sydney’s waterfront reveals another mostly unplanned success. You’ll find icons like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Nearby Circular Quay is the city’s central transit hub for ferries, trains, and buses. Offices, restaurants, and trendy shops have taken up residence in renovated shipping warehouses. Airy, green parks and busy walking paths line the harbor. Sydney lives on the water, and the harbor is so fundamental to the city’s character that it’s unfathomable to imagine visiting without riding the ferry or hoisting a pint in a docklands bar.

Waterfronts like Sydney’s crowd the list of top waterfront cities compiled by the Project for Public Spaces. From old-world stalwarts like Helsinki to new-world entries like San Francisco’s north waterfront, these cities invite you down to the river, harbor, lake, or sea to watch an engaging waterfront at work.

The experts at PPS have spoken, but the true test of a great waterfront is traveling there and experiencing it for yourself.
Start Slideshow

1 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Stockholm

Stockholm, Sweden
Credit: Hans Strand/Corbis

What PPS Says: As a city of islands, the waterfront here really is the heart of town and has quietly adapted over time as Stockholm evolves, providing many new and different ways for people to use it.

What We Like: As in Venice, water surrounds and defines Stockholm. When crossing bridges or walking along canals, you’re served with striking views of the city’s picturesque neighborhoods and diverse architecture that are reflected, lit, and framed by water. Sprawled across 14 islands, the city was named one of the EU’s two Green Cities for 2009, and no wonder: Stockholm has set aside 40 percent of its land, much of it on the waterfront, for well-used green spaces and parks.

1 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Venice

Venice, Italy
Credit: iStock

What PPS Says: In most cities, roadways are the most problematic aspect of the urban landscape; in Venice, the “roadways” are the most beautiful part.

What We Like: Walking across bridges and wandering down the narrow streets of the 188 small islands that make up the city, you may get lost, but you will definitely find yourself engaged by the rhythms and charm of Venice. When one of the streets opens into a sunlit piazza or campo, busy with cafés and shoppers and pickup soccer games and vaporetti chugging at the water’s edge, you’ll experience your own age of discovery.

2 of 13

3 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Helsinki

Helsinki, Finland
Credit: Robert Harding World Imagery/Corbis

What PPS Says: In addition to its role as a regional transit center for ferries, tourist boats, and ocean liners, the waterfront serves as a popular gathering spot, with markets, parks, and an esplanade.

What We Like: Helsinki’s cobbled streets funnel downhill past buildings, design stores, restaurants, and cafés to Market Square at the harbor’s edge. Once you reach the waterfront, stroll the square’s open-air market (open spring through fall) or its covered market, and browse the stands for cloudberries and lingonberries, fresh fish and pickled herring, and just-baked rye bread. Whether gazing across the Gulf of Finland or watching the stylish Finns going about their business, you’ll be enchanted by how Helsinki works its waterfront.

3 of 13

Advertisement

4 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

San Sebastián, Spain

San Sebastian, Spain
Credit: Robert Harding Picture Library Ltd / Alamy

What PPS Says: Hugging the rim of the Bay of Biscay, its beautiful promenade follows the arcing coast from one end of the city to the other. Dotted with lively public spaces that connect to an ancient street layout well-suited to pedestrian use, this waterfront feels like the center of the city.

What We Like: San Sebastián, a popular Spanish beach resort between Biarritz and Bilbao, entices visitors to its waterfront with features like two crescent beaches that run along the Bay of Biscay at the edge of the old city and the Parte Vieja, a neighborhood that buzzes with activity. The happy result is an intersection of commerce and leisure, beach and downtown, bucolic seaside and urban energy—a waterfront for tourists and locals alike.

4 of 13

5 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Sydney

Sydney
Credit: Meghan Lamb

What PPS Says: One of the most visually stunning bays in the world, Sydney Harbour is also an amazing place to stroll, take a boat ride, or just sit a spell.

What We Like: Sydney’s waterfront is where the city’s varied and distinctive flavors merge: the fresh sophistication of the Opera House, the rowdy saltiness of the quayside bars, the iconic beaches, the busy water traffic, and calm parks jutting out over the water. View the Circular Quay from a perch atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge by taking a BridgeClimb trek, then relax at one of the many spectacular urban beaches, like Bondi, Tamarama, or Bronte.

5 of 13

6 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Hamburg

Hamburg, Germany
Credit: Imagebroker/Alamy

What PPS Says: Despite its sometimes gritty character, the waterfront is accessible to people through a scenic promenade linking the shore to the downtown.

What We Like: Hamburg already boasts a busy port on the Elbe River, two lakes, and 2,400 bridges along its canals. Now the city has expanded its link with the water with a far-sighted harbor revival development—the carefully planned HafenCity project. It’s a textbook example of the Power of Ten multiuse concept, with a concert hall, shops and restaurants, apartments, public transportation hubs, promenades, museums, marketplaces, parkland, ship terminals, and schools.

6 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Baltimore

Baltimore, Maryland
Credit: Russell Kord / Alamy

What PPS Says: Baltimore was part of the first wave of waterfront renewal. It has a perfect setting with a small, compact, and diversified harbor with ample activities to engage both visitors and residents.

What We Like: A wide boardwalk forms a U-shape proscenium around the harbor, with the water center stage and historic ships moored along the wharf. Glass-sided buildings house shops and restaurants, while a semicircle of tiered brick seating creates a place to watch the water traffic. The boardwalk marches east toward enclosed piers with more shops, restaurants with outdoor seating, art galleries, and the National Aquarium, and then extends beyond to the working port.

7 of 13

8 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
Credit: Courtesy of Project for Public Spaces

What PPS Says: On a typical day one can see crowds of people swimming, walking, biking, playing chess at path-side tables, buying food and drinks from vendors, relaxing on rented beach chairs (with umbrellas), or having a meal at an outdoor restaurant overlooking a Little League game.

What We Like: Millennium Park may be Chicago’s new focal point, but passing through the acclaimed landmark park is a waterfront path that stretches more than 18 miles. Lake Michigan’s shoreline paths and parks snake past glass-sheathed high-rise condos and low-rise ethnic neighborhoods. From Navy Pier, with 50 acres of attractions, up to North Avenue Beach or down to Jackson Park Beach (both full-blown urban beach scenes), the well-used linear park unites the proudly diverse city.

8 of 13

9 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Montreal

Montreal, Canada
Credit: iStock

What PPS Says: Montreal’s historic and still bustling Old Port district flows onto spacious, formerly industrial piers. The park paths connect destinations with restaurants and flexible programmed spaces.

What We Like: When Montreal’s new port facilities opened in the 1970s, an exodus of residents left the old port dark and dangerous. Today, the old city has been reinvented as a design destination and has taken its place as the true heart of Montreal. Tourists beeline to the port, eager to explore the oldest urban area in North America (and eat French food), while locals bike, boat, ice-skate along the port and its canals, and browse the 160-year-old Bonsecours Market.

9 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Nice

Nice, France
Credit: © FirstShot / Alamy

What PPS Says: Nice is a bustling, energetic, and engaging city strongly associated with the magnificent waterfront. From the Colline du Château with its magnificent views overlooking the port, the Mediterranean, and the old city to the promenade along the waterfront and the grand hotels, restaurants, and the fabulous market in the Cours Saleya, Nice is among the best destinations along the Mediterranean coast.

What We Like: La Promenade des Anglais, known familiarly as La Prom, follows the Mediterranean coast past this picturesque resort town and continues to the seaside airport. In town, La Prom leisurely follows the pebbly beachfront, accessed by clearly marked pedestrian crossings over a slow-moving boulevard from the grand old hotels. The route is planted with stands of palm trees and islands of lawn, and is artfully strewn with monuments and fountains.

10 of 13

11 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Porto, Portugal

Porto, Portugal
Credit: Jennifer Lamb

What PPS Says: Much of the public, set in an historic district, has been redesigned with contemporary materials and amenities. The new design features are very attractive, functional, and in no way ostentatious, serving as a sort of flexible platform for activities and supporting a range of gathering options for groups.

What We Like: The old city, a bright patchwork of centuries-old buildings and narrow streets, tumbles downhill to meet the Douro River. On the opposite bank rise the roofs of the port wine houses of Vila Nova de Gaia. Local flavor is strong, in spite of the throngs of tourists. Sip a coffee or glass of Vinho Verde and people-watch on the Praça, or walk across the spectacular Dom Luís Bridge for the best view of the busy waterfront.

11 of 13

12 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Credit: Stuart Westmorland/Corbis

What PPS Says: Grand and expansive, Rio’s beachfront is an awe-inspiring spectacle where the well-dressed meet the nearly undressed. Its intricately designed promenade of black-and-white cobblestones, studded with cafés and vendors, is a ceremonial place where those who want to look can bond with those who want to be looked at.

What We Like: Rio, of course, is all about the beach. The paved waterfront promenades teem with bikes, runners, and strolling couples. Groups of teenage boys call out to passing girls, while vendors hawk beer and coconut water. Spend just one day at the beach (and try to head back down at dusk, when the Cariocas who worked show up to unwind), and you’ll understand why the very words Ipanema and Copacabana have become the stuff of legend.

12 of 13

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 13

Save Pin
Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message

San Francisco

San Francisco, California
Credit: Ericka McConnell

What PPS Says: San Francisco is well on its way to become one of the best waterfronts in North America. It has something for everyone, from long beaches and natural walkways, to local destinations like the Ferry Terminal—with its growing and vibrant market—to the tourist destinations of Fisherman’s Wharf.

What We Like: Even the most blasé urbanites will heed the bark of the sea lions and stroll the waterfront on their lunch hour, looking out toward Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. And the waterfront will only improve when the Exploratorium, the innovative science and art museum, relocates to the waterfront in 2011, in between Fisherman’s Wharf and the Ferry Building. The result: a unified, walkable, shoppable, enjoyable waterfront.

13 of 13

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Ann Shields

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 13 Stockholm
    2 of 13 Venice
    3 of 13 Helsinki
    4 of 13 San Sebastián, Spain
    5 of 13 Sydney
    6 of 13 Hamburg
    7 of 13 Baltimore
    8 of 13 Chicago
    9 of 13 Montreal
    10 of 13 Nice
    11 of 13 Porto, Portugal
    12 of 13 Rio de Janeiro
    13 of 13 San Francisco

    Share options

    Facebook Tweet Mail Email iphone Send Text Message
    Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Sitemap
    • Travel Guide Sitemap

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    Travel + Leisure Group
    Other Meredith Sites

    Other Meredith Sites

    • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
    • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
    • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
    • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
    • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
    • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
    • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
    • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
    • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
    • Health this link opens in a new tab
    • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
    • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
    • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
    • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
    • More this link opens in a new tab
    • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
    • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
    • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
    • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
    • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
    • Parents this link opens in a new tab
    • People this link opens in a new tab
    • People en EspaƱol this link opens in a new tab
    • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
    • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
    • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
    • Shape this link opens in a new tab
    • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
    • Southern Living this link opens in a new tab
    • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
    MeredithTravel + Leisure is part of the Travel + Leisure Group. Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Travel + Leisure is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation Travel + Leisure Group All Rights Reserved, registered in the United States and other countries. Travel + Leisure may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.travelandleisure.com

    View image

    World's Top Waterfront Cities
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.