What are the world’s best cities to live in if you’re just starting out in married life? Seoul takes the top spot for the best city for foodie loving couples. With around 83,239 restaurants to choose from, couples will be spoilt for choice.
A new study has revealed the top cities for newlyweds to consider, based on the elements that are the most important to new married couples.
Prague tops the list as the best place to ‘Czech’ out for newlywed couples. The city scored highly on the number of green spaces, the cost of transport and the number of cultural activities on offer.
Interestingly, the top four best cities for newlyweds are situated in Europe; with Prague taking top spot and Athens, Venice, and Rome taking second, third, and fourth, respectively.
The lowest-scoring cities were Tokyo, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Osaka. Whilst these cities had the most job opportunities and paid the highest salaries, they also had very expensive commutes, few green spaces, and sky-high rents, proving that there’s more to life than just money.
The Best Cities Around the World For Food and Culture
When looking to settle down and begin married life, the amount of eating establishments and activities such as museums, theatres, and cinemas will be a deciding factor for many couples.
The Top 10 Cities for Foodies Ranked:
- Seoul
- Tokyo
- Paris
- London
- Osaka
- New York City
- Shanghai
- Hong Kong
- Taipei
- Istanbul
Seoul, the capital of South Korea takes the top spot for the best city for foodie loving couples. With around 83,239 restaurants to choose from, couples will be spoilt for choice. Seoul offers traditional South Korean cuisine that’s tasty and exciting. Plus, a diverse food scene to rival any Asian capital city.
Tokyo and Paris take second and third positions, respectively. Tokyo is much bigger than Paris and has more restaurants.
However, for couples that are a fan of high-end restaurants, Tokyo tops the list of cities with the largest number of Michelin-starred restaurants with two-thirds of the restaurants serving Japanese cuisine, while the others serve a variety of foods including French, Spanish, Chinese and Italian.
The Top 10 Cities for Culture Ranked:
- Tokyo
- New York City
- Istanbul
- Prague
- Seoul
- Bangkok
- Singapore
- London
- Paris
- Berlin
Each city in the study was ranked based on the number of museums, theatres and cinemas to give an overall culture score.
Tokyo takes the top spot for culture, with a whopping number of restaurants, museums, and cinemas it is no surprise that the city is ranked the best for culture-loving newlyweds.
New York City and Istanbul take second and third positions, respectively. With around 100 museums in New York and 80 in Istanbul, the two cities offer plenty for couples looking for a cultural move.
The World’s Best Cities For Cheaper Commutes
Top 10 Cities Ranked by Cheapest Monthly Tickets:
- Mumbai – £4.00
- Ho Chi Minh City – £6.05
- Chennai – £11.44
- Delhi – £11.44
- Shenzhen – £18.15
- Guangzhou – £18.15
- Prague – £18.27
- Kuala Lumpur – £19.48
- Shanghai – £24.20
- Istanbul – £26.95
Mumbai came out on top as the cheapest city to commute, a monthly ticket costs around £4.00 per person.
In seventh position is Prague which came out as the top city in the study, a monthly ticket is equivalent to £18.27 per person. This is around seven times cheaper than London’s average monthly commute and Prague is 77% cheaper than Tokyo when it comes to the price of a monthly transport ticket.
Best Cities for Newlywed Earning Potential
If you’re planning on moving to a city, you need to know how easy it will be to get a job and ultimately how much you will earn, so if careers are at the top of you and your new spouse’s priority list these are the cities for you.
Top 10 Cities Ranked By Average Monthly Earning Potential:
- Tokyo – £2,588.89
- Shanghai – £1,209.95
- Guangzhou – £884.20
- Osaka – £2,201.91
- Shenzhen – £1,043.45
- New York City – £4,817.72
- Paris – £2,220.23
- London – £2,751.90
- Bangkok – £621.66
- Los Angeles – £3,840.07
The cities were scored based on the average monthly salary, job listings on Indeed, and the average working week hours. With over 757,000 jobs listed on Indeed, plus the highest average salary, Tokyo tops the list for earning potential, followed by Shanghai and Guangzhou. However, in Tokyo, you’ll be expected to work 42+ hours on average each week, and in Shanghai, over 46 hours a week.
If flexible hours and working from home is important to both of you, then you should take a look at Berlin, Dubai, and Amsterdam. All three of these cities scored high based on the number of job vacancies offering flexible or remote working options.
Top Cities for Green Space and Culture
Green spaces can enhance the health and wellbeing of people living and working in any city. Getting out for fresh air and exercise will be an element newlywed couples will be looking for when choosing where to live.
Prague topped the list as the city with the most green spaces compared to Tokyo with 139 more outside space for physical activity and recreation.
Combining the number of museums, restaurants, cinemas and theatres put Tokyo in the top spot for culture, followed by New York and Istanbul.
David Allen from Purely Diamonds commented on the results of the study: “You will probably look for many of the same qualities in a city as you do in a spouse; it makes you feel safe, it’s fun to be around, and it’s easy on the eyes. More importantly, you want a city that’s a good fit for your lifestyle.
“We’re talking cities with plenty of fun-loving married millennials, affordable rental options, tons of green space and plenty of cultural things to do, as well as the more practical aspects such as a cheap commute or a high number of job vacancies.
“The study spans the globe from the bright lights of Las Vegas to the romantic city of Venice, they all have something to offer, depending on what you place importance on together as a couple.”
So, if you’re tying the knot in 2021, will you be looking further afield? Many of the top scoring cities in this study have a few things in common. They have plenty of cultural attractions, a great foodie scene and plenty of scope for family life and employment prospects, but what if you can’t agree on where to put down roots?
