# What is the largest city in your country, that you have not been to? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 9, 2014, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191 "2014-08-09T22:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/41 "2014-08-10T05:30:59Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > Does spending a week in Long Beach count as having been to LA? If so, Houston. Of not, LA. > [@Loach](#): > > How long a layover in an airport does it have to be to count? I’ve only been in the airport in Chicago on a long layover. After that it would be Phoenix. As per my post #40 – my standards are less exacting than those of Giles in his thread: for me, if you’ve landed at the airport but not been outside it, that counts. I had to look up Long Beach via-a-vis LA: would reckon for sure, that the one counts as the other ! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/42 "2014-08-10T06:07:50Z")
I’ve never been west of Niagara Falls, so Calgary. (I live an hour outside Toronto, so I’ve been there a lot, and I’ve spent a hell of a lot of time in Montreal while traveling.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/43 "2014-08-10T06:23:25Z")
Los Angeles for me. I’ve never traveled west of Texas. So Phoenix, San Diego, and San Jose are also off my list. I’ve spent a lot of time in Houston. And I’ve visiting Dallas and San Antonio but not Austin. I’ve also visited New York and Philadelphia several times. I’ve been to Chicago if you count the airport (which I personally don’t count). ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/44 "2014-08-10T08:40:26Z")
Philadelphia - 5th largest city in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/45 "2014-08-10T08:52:20Z")
For the US, that would be Chicago. In Thailand, that would be Surat Thani, [eighth largest at a population of 127,000](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Thailand). ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/46 "2014-08-10T10:47:20Z")
Düsseldorf (pop. 593k), Germany’s 7th largest city. NB I have passed through by train numerous times but never got off. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/47 "2014-08-10T11:12:26Z")
[Port Elizabeth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Elizabeth), which is (depending on how you count city population) the #5 or #6 city in South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/48 "2014-08-10T11:22:46Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Anchorage, AK Seriously? That’s some some pretty serious travel. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/49 "2014-08-10T11:31:45Z")
For cities where I’ve actually done anything, #25 Nashville is the first. But I’ve passed through there back in my hitch-hiking days, and if you count standing by the side of the road with my thumb out then #30 Las Vegas is the first I’ve never been to at all. ---
**Author:** ![Teuton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teuton/32/3864_2.png) [@Teuton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teuton)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/50 "2014-08-10T12:34:00Z")
I’ve not been to Liverpool, 4th on the list of UK cities. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/51 "2014-08-10T12:39:47Z")
Ooh, this thread is fun. So I live in Murica (like most of us), spent the first 24 years in the 2nd largest US city, currently living in the 3rd, been to the 1st. Largest one that has never had the pleasure of my visit is the 4th largest, Houston. I have been to 5 and 6, Philly and Phoenix. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/52 "2014-08-10T12:54:59Z")
Interesting question, OP. Hmmm…well, there are many ways to define the limits of a “city”, but I’ll go with Wikipedia’s main list. Not counting changing planes in airports, we see that the largest US city I’ve never visited is… **Phoenix** , Arizona. Not surprising. I have no interest in that city at all. (To be clear, parts of Arizona – e.g., Canyon de Chelly, on the Navajo reservation – are some of my favorite places on the entire planet. But Phoenix? No thanks.) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/53 "2014-08-10T12:56:52Z")
Never been to Lyon, second largest city in France with a 2 millions population, and 2 hours away by train from Paris, where I live. To be extremely precise, I’ve crossed it in trains and I think in cars, but never stayed there, not even to drink a coffee or something. If it’s restricted to cities where I never went at all, not even just technically entered the city limits, it’s Nice (7th largest French city, with a population of 1 million). ---
**Author:** ![iljitsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/77aa72/32.png) [@iljitsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iljitsch)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/54 "2014-08-10T13:08:27Z")
The Netherlands: Sittard-Geleen municipality (33). But you could probably visit the entire top 32 over the weekend with some planning… Europe: Istanbul (1). I have some more European traveling to do, because I’ve also never been to Moscow (2), Saint Petersburg (4), Athens (5), Kiev (8), Rome (9) and Minsk (11). I’ve visited London (3) and Paris (10) several times, Berlin (6) once and I’ve lived in Madrid (7). I’m going to Bucharest (12) next month. US: Houston (4). (I’m counting Santa Monica as LA.) I have been to Philly (5), though, as well as San Francisco (14) and Atlanta (40), and Minneapolis (46) several times. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/55 "2014-08-10T13:37:35Z")
Houston for me, strange given that my brother now lives there. I’ve only been to NYC and LA once each, Chicago many times. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/56 "2014-08-10T13:45:21Z")
Brisbane, 2.2m ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/57 "2014-08-10T13:51:58Z")
San Jose, CA. #10 by population. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/58 "2014-08-10T14:32:35Z")
Edmonton. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/59 "2014-08-10T14:42:19Z")
In the UK, and I’d guess that Liverpool is the largest city I’ve never been to, as I’m pretty sure it’s bigger than Cardiff. I also lived in the US, and Los Angeles must be the one there, though I’ve never been to Chicago either. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191/60 "2014-08-10T15:37:41Z")
Another for Houston. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-largest-city-in-your-country-that-you-have-not-been-to/695191.md?page=4)