{"data":[{"id":"lst_yusuf_istanbul","destinationId":"dst_istanbul","title":"A day on foot in the old city","curator":"Yusuf Demir","curatorRole":"Walks and slow routes","description":"In order, and all of it walkable. Roughly six hours with stops.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_ist_1","plc_ist_2","plc_ist_4"],"placeNotes":{"plc_ist_1":"Open at 9. Start here while the light is still coming through the upper gallery windows.","plc_ist_2":"Four minutes away across the park. Closed to visitors during prayer, so check the board before you queue.","plc_ist_4":"Fifteen minutes uphill. Finish here \u2014 it is covered, which matters when the afternoon turns."}},{"id":"lst_layla_muscat","destinationId":"dst_muscat","title":"An Omani weekend","curator":"Layla Al-Hashimi","curatorRole":"Food writer, Manama","description":"Two nights from the Gulf, and the only one of these cities that still cooks like itself.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_mct_5","plc_mct_2","plc_mct_6"],"placeNotes":{"plc_mct_5":"Shuwa if they have it \u2014 a day in the ground, and you will not find it done properly in a hotel.","plc_mct_2":"Buy frankincense here, not at the airport. Ask for hojari and expect to pay for the difference.","plc_mct_6":"Walk it at sunset before dinner. Everyone else in Muscat is doing the same."}},{"id":"lst_marco_singapore","destinationId":"dst_singapore","title":"Architecture that had to be green","curator":"Marco Ferretti","curatorRole":"Architecture critic","description":"A city that legislated planting into its building code and then had to work out what that looked like.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_sin_1","plc_sin_2","plc_sin_4"],"placeNotes":{"plc_sin_1":"The Supertrees are structure and irrigation before they are sculpture. The conservatories are the real achievement.","plc_sin_2":"A 340 m cantilevered boat. Worth understanding how it stands up; less worth the queue for the deck.","plc_sin_4":"UNESCO-listed, and older than the country. The counter-argument to everything at Marina Bay."}},{"id":"lst_nadia_zanzibar","destinationId":"dst_zanzibar","title":"Blue hour in Stone Town","curator":"Nadia Okonjo","curatorRole":"Photographer","description":"The doors are the subject. Everything else is context.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_znz_1","plc_znz_4","plc_znz_2"],"placeNotes":{"plc_znz_1":"Carved doors face every direction, so there is no good hour \u2014 just walk the same three lanes twice a day.","plc_znz_4":"Smoke, lamplight and no tripod room. Push the ISO and stop apologising for grain.","plc_znz_2":"The one beach here where the tide does not walk out half a kilometre and take the composition with it."}},{"id":"lst_layla_istanbul","destinationId":"dst_istanbul","title":"Both sides of the water","curator":"Layla Al-Hashimi","curatorRole":"Food writer, Manama","description":"The good eating is on the Asian side, and almost nobody staying in Sultanahmet crosses over.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_ist_5","plc_ist_3","plc_ist_4"],"placeNotes":{"plc_ist_5":"Take it to Kad\u0131k\u00f6y rather than the full Bosphorus tour. Transit fare, and it drops you where you want to eat.","plc_ist_3":"Regional Anatolian cooking you will not find on the European side. Point at what looks good on the counter.","plc_ist_4":"For spices and copper, not carpets. The stalls near the Nuruosmaniye gate are the least aggressive."}},{"id":"lst_marco_rome","destinationId":"dst_rome","title":"Concrete, and what it made possible","curator":"Marco Ferretti","curatorRole":"Architecture critic","description":"Two buildings that explain most of what Rome contributed to building.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_rome_2","plc_rome_1"],"placeNotes":{"plc_rome_2":"Still the largest unreinforced concrete dome anywhere, 1,900 years on. The aggregate gets lighter towards the oculus \u2014 that is the whole trick.","plc_rome_1":"Go for the substructure rather than the arena. The machinery underneath is the engineering."}},{"id":"lst_yusuf_amman","destinationId":"dst_amman","title":"Downtown to the citadel","curator":"Yusuf Demir","curatorRole":"Walks and slow routes","description":"Uphill, but short. Do it in the morning before the white stone starts throwing heat back at you.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_amm_2","plc_amm_1","plc_amm_3"],"placeNotes":{"plc_amm_2":"Start at the bottom. Sit high in the rake for a minute \u2014 the acoustics from up there are genuinely absurd.","plc_amm_1":"Twenty minutes up, or a very cheap taxi if the day is already hot. Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad stacked on one hill.","plc_amm_3":"Down the other side, in an alley, no menu, open all night. Lunch for the price of a coffee."}},{"id":"lst_layla_cairo","destinationId":"dst_cairo","title":"Downtown, then old Cairo","curator":"Layla Al-Hashimi","curatorRole":"Food writer, Manama","description":"Skip the Nile-view restaurants entirely. The city eats inland.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_cai_5","plc_cai_3","plc_cai_4"],"placeNotes":{"plc_cai_5":"Since 1959, and the room is full of birdcages. Ta'ameya made with fava, not chickpeas \u2014 that is the Egyptian difference.","plc_cai_3":"Tea at El Fishawy inside the market. It has been open more or less continuously for two centuries.","plc_cai_4":"Walk it after dark when it is lit and cool. Eat before you come; this stretch is for looking."}},{"id":"lst_marco_london","destinationId":"dst_london","title":"Free and monumental","curator":"Marco Ferretti","curatorRole":"Architecture critic","description":"A city where the best rooms cost nothing to stand in.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_lon_1","plc_lon_2"],"placeNotes":{"plc_lon_1":"The Great Court roof \u2014 3,300 panes, no two identical. Worth the visit even if you skip every gallery.","plc_lon_2":"Nine centuries of continuous alteration on one site. Read it as accretion, not as a castle."}},{"id":"lst_marco_barcelona","destinationId":"dst_barcelona","title":"Gaud\u00ed, without the queue","curator":"Marco Ferretti","curatorRole":"Architecture critic","description":"Three buildings, booked in the right order, in a city that will otherwise cost you a morning in line.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_bcn_1","plc_bcn_5","plc_bcn_2"],"placeNotes":{"plc_bcn_1":"Book the first slot with tower access. The east windows are the point and they are gone by eleven.","plc_bcn_5":"The roof terrace, which most people skip. The whole argument of the building is up there.","plc_bcn_2":"A failed housing estate. Read it as speculative property development and it makes far more sense."}},{"id":"lst_yusuf_marrakesh","destinationId":"dst_marrakesh","title":"Getting lost properly","curator":"Yusuf Demir","curatorRole":"Walks and slow routes","description":"The medina is designed to disorient you. Stop fighting it and give it an afternoon.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_rak_1","plc_rak_4","plc_rak_2"],"placeNotes":{"plc_rak_1":"Come back at dusk rather than staying through. It is a different square entirely once the kitchens are lit.","plc_rak_4":"Agree the price before anything is wrapped. Walking away is part of the conversation, not the end of it.","plc_rak_2":"Go early. It is small, and by eleven you are looking at ceilings over other people's heads."}},{"id":"lst_nadia_sydney","destinationId":"dst_sydney","title":"Harbour angles","curator":"Nadia Okonjo","curatorRole":"Photographer","description":"Everyone shoots the Opera House from the same three metres of Circular Quay. These are the other options.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_syd_1","plc_syd_2","plc_syd_3"],"placeNotes":{"plc_syd_1":"From the Botanic Garden side at sunrise, with the bridge behind it. Not from the ferry terminal.","plc_syd_2":"Walk the eastern footpath \u2014 free, and it puts you above the harbour rather than beside it.","plc_syd_3":"Six kilometres and four beaches. Start at Bondi early and finish before the light goes flat."}},{"id":"lst_hana_singapore","destinationId":"dst_singapore","title":"Hawker first, everything else after","curator":"Hana Sato","curatorRole":"Chef","description":"The best food in this city costs four dollars and always has.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_sin_3","plc_sin_5"],"placeNotes":{"plc_sin_3":"Tian Tian for chicken rice, and yes the queue is correct. Go at 11 to eat before the office crowd.","plc_sin_5":"The street market after dark, for the stalls rather than the shops."}},{"id":"lst_nadia_capetown","destinationId":"dst_capetown","title":"Mountain, then coast","curator":"Nadia Okonjo","curatorRole":"Photographer","description":"Two days, assuming the wind lets you up. It often will not.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_cpt_1","plc_cpt_5","plc_cpt_6"],"placeNotes":{"plc_cpt_1":"Check the cable car status before you commit to the day. It closes on wind more often than anyone tells you.","plc_cpt_5":"The drive down is the photograph. Stop at Chapman's Peak and give it an hour.","plc_cpt_6":"Late afternoon. The boardwalk puts you low and level with the colony instead of above it."}},{"id":"lst_layla_dubai","destinationId":"dst_dubai","title":"Old Dubai on foot","curator":"Layla Al-Hashimi","curatorRole":"Food writer, Manama","description":"The half of the city that was there before the towers, and where the food still is.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_dxb_2","plc_dxb_3"],"placeNotes":{"plc_dxb_2":"Start here, cross to Deira on the abra for a dirham, and walk back through the souks.","plc_dxb_3":"Persian kebabs since 1978 and not a thing on the walls has moved. Cash, and go early or queue."}},{"id":"lst_yusuf_tbilisi","destinationId":"dst_tbilisi","title":"Old town, and up","curator":"Yusuf Demir","curatorRole":"Walks and slow routes","description":"Tbilisi is vertical. Take the mechanical help in one direction and walk the other.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_tbs_1","plc_tbs_2","plc_tbs_5"],"placeNotes":{"plc_tbs_1":"Book a private room rather than the public hall. An hour, and your legs will thank you afterwards.","plc_tbs_2":"Cable car up, walk down through the botanic garden. Doing it the other way round is a mistake you make once.","plc_tbs_5":"The funicular, on a separate evening. Go for the ride and the view, not the fairground."}},{"id":"lst_nadia_alula","destinationId":"dst_alula","title":"Sandstone at golden hour","curator":"Nadia Okonjo","curatorRole":"Photographer","description":"AlUla is a light problem before it is a landscape one. Everything here is about being in the right valley at the right forty minutes.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_ula_1","plc_ula_2","plc_ula_6"],"placeNotes":{"plc_ula_1":"Go at first light. The tomb facades face east and only read properly for about an hour.","plc_ula_2":"Shoot it from the sunken firepits rather than the car park \u2014 the arch frames against open sky from down there.","plc_ula_6":"Midday, oddly. The canyon walls are in shade and the inscriptions stop blowing out."}},{"id":"lst_layla_doha","destinationId":"dst_doha","title":"Souq Waqif after dark","curator":"Layla Al-Hashimi","curatorRole":"Food writer, Manama","description":"Doha does not really start until nine. Eat late, the way the city does.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_doh_2","plc_doh_5"],"placeNotes":{"plc_doh_2":"Go after 9pm. Before that you are in a very handsome empty market.","plc_doh_5":"Persian, and the room is lined entirely in cut mirror. Order the tahchin and sit where you can see the ceiling."}},{"id":"lst_marco_doha","destinationId":"dst_doha","title":"The museum quarter","curator":"Marco Ferretti","curatorRole":"Architecture critic","description":"Two buildings by two architects at the ends of their careers, ten minutes apart.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_doh_1","plc_doh_3"],"placeNotes":{"plc_doh_1":"Pei's last major building, and he insisted on the island so nothing could ever be built against it. Go for the atrium before the collection.","plc_doh_3":"Nouvel's interlocking discs. Structurally absurd, and the only building in the Gulf where the plan is the story."}},{"id":"lst_hana_london","destinationId":"dst_london","title":"Two meals worth planning around","curator":"Hana Sato","curatorRole":"Chef","description":"London eats better than its reputation, but not by accident \u2014 you have to pick.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_lon_4","plc_lon_3"],"placeNotes":{"plc_lon_4":"No bookings for small tables. Go at opening or after nine; the bacon naan is worth arranging a morning around.","plc_lon_3":"A working market before it was a destination. Come on a weekday \u2014 Saturday is unmovable."}},{"id":"lst_nadia_newyork","destinationId":"dst_newyork","title":"Vertical","curator":"Nadia Okonjo","curatorRole":"Photographer","description":"A city best photographed by looking up, or from something else that is tall.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_nyc_3","plc_nyc_5","plc_nyc_2"],"placeNotes":{"plc_nyc_3":"From the Brooklyn side at sunrise, walking towards the skyline. At any other hour you are photographing a crowd.","plc_nyc_5":"The one place in Manhattan where you get height without buying a ticket for it.","plc_nyc_2":"The roof garden, not the galleries \u2014 Central Park below and the skyline behind it."}},{"id":"lst_nadia_maldives","destinationId":"dst_maldives","title":"Water, without a resort","curator":"Nadia Okonjo","curatorRole":"Photographer","description":"You do not need the overwater villa to photograph this place. You need a boat and someone local driving it.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_mdv_2","plc_mdv_3","plc_mdv_5"],"placeNotes":{"plc_mdv_2":"Base yourself here. Guesthouse rates, and the dive boats leave from the same jetty.","plc_mdv_3":"Overhangs and grey reef sharks. Go on the incoming tide when the visibility opens up.","plc_mdv_5":"The most alive corner of Mal\u00e9, and nobody photographs it. Afternoon, when the tuna comes in."}},{"id":"lst_hana_tokyo","destinationId":"dst_tokyo","title":"Where I actually eat","curator":"Hana Sato","curatorRole":"Chef","description":"Not the tasting menus. The places I go on a day off.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_tokyo_3","plc_tokyo_4"],"placeNotes":{"plc_tokyo_3":"The outer market, not the auction. Grilled scallops and tamagoyaki standing up, by eight, then leave.","plc_tokyo_4":"A solo booth and a form to fill in. Ask for the noodles firm and the broth rich; the defaults are set for tourists."}},{"id":"lst_hana_bangkok","destinationId":"dst_bangkok","title":"Worth the queue, and what is not","curator":"Hana Sato","curatorRole":"Chef","description":"Bangkok rewards queuing more than any city I know, but only in specific places.","sourceUrl":"","imageUrl":null,"placeIds":["plc_bkk_4","plc_bkk_5"],"placeNotes":{"plc_bkk_4":"A Michelin star for crab omelettes cooked over charcoal. Book weeks out or accept three hours standing.","plc_bkk_5":"Eat at the edges rather than the middle. The stalls facing the car park are where the vendors themselves eat."}}]}