I love big cities.
The first time I realized that was when entering Chennai, India, in 2014.
Back then, we were cycling all around India, and, after 5 months of travel, Chennai was our finish line. I remember entering the city and thinking to myself – whoa, this is so cool, this feeling of being a tiny piece of this enormous mass of people.
Here, on this page, I’m tracking my progress on visiting all cities in the world with a population exceeding 5 million people.
Traveling to All Cities in the World With a Population of 5 Million or More
At first, I didn’t think of it as a goal.
I was just traveling. We were just traveling.
However, I do remember from early on that whenever there was a chance of visiting a huge city on the way, it got me super excited. I really wanted to go.
So now, more than a decade later, I’ve started to track the progress
For reference, I’m using this list below from Wikipedia (from December 25th, 2025).
Progress: 40/83 done
There are 83 cities in the world with a population exceeding 5 million people, according to 2025 estimates by the United Nations. (Wikipedia)
- Jakarta, Indonesia – done, twice, for about a week.
- Dhaka, Bangladesh – done. Spent some 10 days there when traveling solo in Bangladesh. I really wanted to see the Buriganga River. The city exceeded my expectations.
- Tokyo, Japan – done, multiple times. I’ve spent more than a month in Tokyo, and will gladly return. One of my travel dreams was to spend a few weeks living in a capsule hotel in Tokyo. I did that in November 2025. Tokyo is one of my all-time favorite cities.
- Delhi, India – done, multiple times. I have spent around a month in Delhi.
- Shanghai, China – done, twice, for a few days.
- Guangzhou, China – done, but only for an afternoon and evening.
- Cairo, Egypt – done. It’s my favorite place in Egypt. The old-world feel that you can get in Cairo is unlike anything else.
- Manila, Philippines – done, twice, for a total of around a week. Manila and Jakarta are two megacities in Southeast Asia that I don’t like. Yes, you can spend time in the Bonifacion Global City, and feel good there, but as soon as you leave, it’s not good.
- Kolkata, India – done, twice, for a few days. One of my all-time favorite cities in India. The historical feel you get there is unmatched almost anywhere else in India. I’ve been to some 100 cities in India.
- Seoul, South Korea – done, twice. One of my all-time favorite cities in the world. I love K-pop, and that plays a big role in that, too. Plus, the feeling of well-being I get there is comparable only to Bangkok, Tokyo, Naha, Taipei, and a few more places in Thailand.
- Karachi, Pakistan – done, once, for a few days. And interesting city for me, party because of the old British architecture.
- Mumbai, India – done, twice, for about a week.
- São Paulo, Brazil – done, for about a week.
- Bangkok, Thailand – done. More than 20 visits. One of my all-time favorite cities in the world.
- Mexico City, Mexico – done, once, for a few days.
- Beijing, China – not yet.
- Lahore, Pakistan – done, once, for a few days.
- Istanbul, Turkey – done, several times, for a few weeks. It was a travel dream to spend a few weeks in Istanbul. Did that in 2021.
- Moscow, Russia – done, once, for a few days. Beautiful, impressive city.
- Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – done, twice, for a few weeks. Probably, my favorite place in Vietnam.
- Buenos Aires, Argentina – not yet.
- New York City, United States – done, for about a week. It was a dream of mine to be in New York on summer. Did that in June 2022.
- Shenzhen, China – done, for a couple of days.
- Bengaluru, India – not yet.
- Osaka, Japan – done, for almost a month.
- Lagos, Nigeria – not yet.
- Los Angeles, United States – not yet.
- Luanda, Angola – not yet.
- Chennai, India – done, for almost a month.
- Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo – not yet.
- Bogotá, Colombia – not yet.
- Lima, Peru – not yet.
- London, United Kingdom – done, a few times, for about a week in total.
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – done, for about a month, living right next to the beach. The summer-feeling there is unlike anywhere else in the world in a big city. Just wow.
- Paris, France – done, for a few days.
- Hyderabad, India – not yet.
- Tehran, Iran – not yet.
- Bandung, Indonesia – not yet.
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – done, many times, for several months in total. For many years, it was my favorite city in the world.
- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – not yet.
- Suzhou, China – not yet.
- Ahmedabad, India – done, twice, for a few days.
- Hangzhou, China – not yet.
- Wuhan, China – not yet.
- Tianjin, China – not yet.
- Alexandria, Egypt – done, for a few days.
- Nagoya, Japan – done, only for two days. It could become one of my favorite cities in Japan.
- Johannesburg, South Africa – not yet.
- Chongqing, China – done, only for two days. I can see it becoming my favorite city in China, and one of favorite big cities in the world.
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – done, for a few days.
- Surat, India – done, for a few days.
- Surabaya, Indonesia – done, for a few days.
- Pune, India – done, for a few days.
- Khartoum, Sudan – not yet.
- Nanjing, China – not yet.
- Santiago, Chile – not yet.
- Chicago, United States – not yet.
- Chengdu, China – not yet.
- Xi’an, China – not yet.
- Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR – done, several times, for a few weeks.
- Dongguan, China – not yet.
- Foshan, China – not yet.
- Shenyang, China – not yet.
- Baghdad, Iraq – not yet.
- Madrid, Spain – done, for a few days.
- Harbin, China – not yet.
- Houston, United States – not yet.
- Dallas, United States – not yet.
- Toronto, Canada – not yet.
- Miami, United States – not yet.
- Belo Horizonte, Brazil – not yet.
- Singapore, Singapore – done, several times, for a few weeks in total. One of my all-time favorite cities in the world.
- Philadelphia, United States – not yet.
- Atlanta, United States – not yet.
- Fukuoka, Japan – done, a few times, for about a week in total. One of my favorite cities in Japan.
- Barcelona, Spain – done, for a few days.
- Saint Petersburg, Russia – not yet.
- Qingdao, China – not yet.
- Dalian, China – not yet.
- Washington, United States – not yet.
- Yangon, Myanmar – not yet.
- Jinan, China – not yet.
- Guadalajara, Mexico – not yet.