New York has topped a list of the world’s best cities beating the likes of Melbourne, London and Chicago.
The Big Apple claimed the top spot thanks to its excellent combination of restaurants and bars, culture and fun entertainment, according to a study by Time Out.
Each year it releases its annual City Life Index, which scores places on categories such as food, drink, culture, friendliness, affordability and happiness.
New York, pictured, has been named the best city in the world in a new study, beating the likes of London, Melbourne and Chicago
New York scored highly thanks to its diversity as well as its live music scene and nightlife, earning it the accolade of one of the cities that most people worldwide want to visit in 2019, second only to Tokyo.
In second place, Melbourne ranked highly across the board for happiness, creativity, eating and live music.
Chicago is at number three, but second to none in the rankings for eating, drinking, fun and happiness. In fact, it is the happiest city in the world, with 85 per cent of residents saying they have felt content in the past 24 hours.
Londoners, meanwhile, are proud of their city when it comes to culture, food and live music and the unpredictability of Brexit doesn’t seem to be putting off travellers, as London is following right behind Tokyo and New York as the city most want to visit this year.
And completing the top five of this year’s ranking of the best cities is Los Angeles.
Angelenos are the most likely to dine out among residents of any U.S. city, thanks to an exciting food scene that has finally caught the attention of the rest of the world.
Melbourne, pictured, came second in the ranking and was found to rank highly across the board for happiness, creativity, eating and live music
Outside of the top five, many cities around the world in the Time Out Index have stand-out statistics, either confirming local clichés or defying them.
The study found Bangkok is the world capital of eating on your feet as people there devour more street food, visit more food markets and pick up more takeaways than anywhere else, three times a week on average.
No other city can outdo Madrid when it comes to bars and going out – the city is the world leader with their love of going to bars (44 times a year) and clubs (19 times) and drinking beer.
Paris, is the most sociable place in the world despite Parisians proclaiming their city to be the least friendly.
Chicago, pictured, is at number three in the overall list and is found to have the happiest residents
Parisians meet up with their friends most frequently, go out on a weeknight most (41 times a year) and go to the most art exhibitions, galleries and museums (23 times a year).
Parisians also have more sex on average than anyone else in the world: 33 times a year.
Las Vegas is the city rated number one in the world by its residents for amazing nightlife – but it is also rated as the third most expensive city globally for a night out, the study found.
Berliners are curbing the excess as they are most likely to be vegan (eight per cent) or reducing meat (29 per cent), and have the highest proportion of drinkers cutting down alcohol (one in four).
Tel Aviv residents solidify their risqué reputation: they take the most drugs, have the most one-night stands and are most likely to cheat on their partners.
The home of Bollywood is a hub for cinema and theatre lovers and people in Mumbai go out to see films and drama more than anyone else, checking out 31 movies and 24 shows and plays a year.
Despite the current political uncertainty ahead of Brexit, Londoners are proud of their city when it comes to culture, food and live music
People in Hong Kong are mad about dining out, eating at restaurants more often than anyone else.
Meanwhile, people in Singapore are so dedicated to the city’s great food that they are most likely to queue for their favourite restaurant.
Manchester is home to the highest percentage of drinkers in the world – and, not surprisingly, have more hangovers than anywhere else, spending an average of 25 days a year suffering the aftereffects.
People in Edinburgh were most likely to say their city is beautiful and residents in employment clock up the fewest working hours a week (35.3 hours).
But Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, comes top of the world ranking for friendliness and affordability.
While it is no surprise that Porto, the home of fortified wine, has the biggest wine drinkers in the world.
Completing the top five of this year’s ranking of the best cities is Los Angeles, pictured
James Manning, global projects editor of Time Out, said: ‘Time Out has been helping people explore and enjoy the best of the city since 1968, starting in London and now curating the best of 315 cities.
‘The Time Out Index lets us understand what makes the world’s greatest cities tick right now.
‘The cities at the top of our list are centres of diversity, diversion and dissent dotted across the world: places where anything can (and does) happen, where new ideas, delicious food and world-class art and entertainment are born every day, and where people from all corners can come together with a shared civic identity.
‘Every single one of these cities should be on your travel bucket list for 2019.’