A new list of the world’s 1,000 best cities has got me thinking about where we should all be travelling over the next 12 months

I have a confession to make.

I love a list.

Best restaurants. Best hotels. Best beaches. Best places to retire. Best towns where you can eat a very expensive lunch while looking at something beautiful.

I’ll read them all.

So when I saw that a new ranking had just been released listing the world’s 1,000 best-performing cities, I did what any sensible traveller would do.

I immediately looked to see where the Australian cities finished.

And there was a pleasant surprise.

We’re doing rather well.

The Oxford Economics Global Cities Index ranks 1,000 cities around the world across things such as the economy, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance.

It isn’t a list of the world’s best holiday destinations.

But I reckon it makes for a pretty interesting travel list anyway.

Because if a city is a great place to live, has good infrastructure, a strong cultural life, plenty of things to do and a decent quality of life, there’s a fair chance we might enjoy spending a week there.

And seven Australian cities made the global top 100.

So let’s have a look.

Sydney – No. 13

Sydney is Australia’s highest-ranked city, coming in at 13th in the world.

Now, I know what you’re thinking.

Sydney?

I’ve been there. So have I.

But that’s the thing about Sydney. You can visit 20 times and still discover somewhere you haven’t been.

I’ve spent enough time there to know that you shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking the Opera House and Harbour Bridge are the beginning and end of the experience.

They’re simply the spectacular front cover.

There are beaches, galleries, restaurants, neighbourhoods, walks and ferry trips that can fill a very enjoyable week.

And if you’ve reached the age where you don’t have to squeeze everything into a weekend because work is calling on Monday morning, even better.

My advice: Go for four or five days and behave like a tourist. Even if you live in Australia.

Melbourne – No. 16

Melbourne comes in at 16th.

That doesn’t surprise me at all.

Melbourne is the city where you can start the day with a coffee, spend two hours looking at art, have an excellent lunch, wander down an alley you didn’t know existed and somehow end up at a sporting event before dinner.

It is also a city where getting lost is generally a good thing.

I’ve always thought Melbourne rewards slow travel.

Don’t hire a car. Don’t make a timetable. Find a good hotel in the centre and walk.

And eat.

A lot.

My advice: Give Melbourne four days and don’t try to “do” Melbourne. Just enjoy it.

Brisbane – No. 36

Now here’s one that made me smile.

Brisbane is No. 36 in the world.

Which means if you’ve been thinking of Brisbane as the place you fly into before heading to the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast, perhaps it’s time to rethink that.

Brisbane has changed dramatically.

South Bank. The galleries. The river. New restaurants. New hotels. New precincts.

And there’s something wonderfully relaxed about the place.

You can spend a morning wandering around the cultural precinct, have lunch beside the river and be back at your hotel before your feet start complaining.

Which, at our age, is an important consideration.

My advice: Give Brisbane three or four nights. Then add a day trip. You might discover you didn’t need to go anywhere else.

Perth – No. 44

Perth comes in at 44th.

This is one I’d put on the list for Australians who haven’t been west for years.

Perth has always suffered from one enormous problem.

It’s a bloody long way from everywhere.

But perhaps that’s its greatest attraction.

You don’t accidentally end up in Perth.

You have to make the decision to go.

And once you’re there, you’ve got beaches, Kings Park, Fremantle, the Swan Valley, wineries, restaurants and that extraordinary Western Australian light.

I’d also recommend Rottnest Island.

Yes, I know everyone tells you to go and see the quokkas.

Go and see the quokkas.

You’ll understand why.

My advice: Don’t do Perth in a long weekend. Give it a week.

Canberra – No. 45

Now this is the one that will have some people choking on their morning coffee.

Canberra is No. 45 in the world.

And it has climbed seven places since last year.

Even more interestingly, Canberra ranks first globally for quality of life in this particular index.

Which means perhaps we’ve all been unfair to Canberra.

I’ve always liked Canberra.

It’s clean, spacious, uncrowded and packed with things that are actually worth seeing.

The National Gallery. The War Memorial. Parliament House. The National Museum.

And these days, some seriously good restaurants.

You can also do Canberra without feeling as though you’ve been hit by a bus at the end of each day.

My advice: Three or four nights. Do the cultural stuff during the day and find somewhere good for dinner.

It’s a holiday, not a school excursion.

Adelaide – No. 70

Adelaide is 70th.

And I’m prepared to admit that Adelaide is one of those cities I probably don’t appreciate enough.

Perhaps it’s because Adelaide doesn’t shout.

It doesn’t need to.

It quietly goes about its business producing excellent food and wine while the rest of us are busy talking about how busy Sydney and Melbourne are.

There’s the Central Market, the Adelaide Hills, McLaren Vale, the Barossa and some very good restaurants.

And it’s easy to get around.

For travellers over 60, that’s not a minor consideration.

My advice: Make Adelaide your base for a week and let lunch take as long as it needs to.

That’s what holidays are for.

Gold Coast – No. 78

And then there’s home territory for many of our readers.

The Gold Coast is No. 78.

I grew up with a version of the Gold Coast that was basically beaches, theme parks and Surfers Paradise.

The modern Gold Coast is something quite different.

Burleigh.

The hinterland.

Restaurants.

Walking trails.

Wineries.

Art.

And, of course, those beaches.

The city also ranks 10th in the world for environment in this index.

That’s pretty impressive.

And it reinforces something I’ve always believed about the Gold Coast.

You don’t necessarily need to leave it to have a holiday.

My advice: Try being a tourist in your own backyard. Spend a couple of nights somewhere different, drive into the hinterland, have lunch somewhere you’ve never tried and rediscover the place.

You might save yourself the airfare.

But what about the rest of the world?

Here’s where the list gets really interesting.

The global top 10 includes some very familiar names:

New York. London. Paris. Seattle. San Francisco. Dublin. Boston. San Jose. Tokyo and Zurich.

And suddenly I’m looking at the calendar.

Because some of those cities are obvious.

Others aren’t.

London and Paris don’t need much selling.

But Seattle?

Now there’s a thought.

Dublin?

For Australians with Irish connections, that’s an easy one.

Tokyo?

If you haven’t been to Japan, put it on the list. If you’ve already been, go back. Japan is one of those places where a second visit can be better than the first because you aren’t desperately trying to see everything.

And New York remains New York.

You can go there at 30, 50, 65 or 80 and discover an entirely different city each time.

Here’s the thing about lists

I’m not suggesting you should book a flight simply because a city has appeared high on a spreadsheet.

The Oxford Economics ranking isn’t a tourism ranking.

It looks at how cities perform as places to live, work and prosper.

But perhaps that’s what makes it interesting for travellers.

Because we’ve all reached an age where the way we travel changes.

We’re not necessarily interested in ticking 25 attractions off a list before lunch.

We want a good hotel. A decent bed. A restaurant we can walk to. Interesting things to see. A bit of history. Somewhere pleasant to sit down with a glass of wine. And preferably not a 14-hour queue.

So I’ve decided to steal one idea from this list.

Not the rankings.

The destinations.

Over the next 12 months, I’m going to look at the cities I’ve never properly explored and ask a simple question:

“Why haven’t I been there yet?”

Because that’s the beauty of travel after 60.

We’ve got the time. We’ve got the experience.

And, hopefully, we’ve finally learned that there’s no prize for being the first person back at the hotel.

Take your time.

Stay an extra night.

Have the long lunch.

Get on the train going in the wrong direction occasionally.

And, above all, don’t let a bucket list tell you when you’re finished.

There are still 1,000 cities to investigate.

We’d better get started.