There are many reasons why San Francisco continuously rates as one of the most liveable cities in the USA. For starters, its residents retain a relationship between materialism and money on the one hand and cutting-edge thought and progressive politics on the other.

This dualism is played out in all facets of society: from eating, drinking and socialising, to art and design, music and culture, landscape and architecture. The reward for unleashing this creative and freethinking beast on everyday activity is a dynamic lifestyle on par with New York and streets ahead of most other cities in the country.

San Francisco is fortuitously positioned between the ocean and Sierra Nevada mountains to the east and west and redwood forests and the California desert to the north and south. On its doorstep, the Bay, which fits neatly between the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge, is not only tantalisingly beautiful, it’s home to 14 small islands, including Alcatraz. Not far away, the glorious vineyards of the Napa and Sonoma wine regions ensure weekend escapes are part of the San Francisco experience.

The city has a mild year-round climate but it should not be confused with hot and sunny Southern California. When the fog and cold sets in, as it often does, locals head indoors, to jazz venues, cosy restaurants, wine bars and old-school breweries to talk life, love, politics and people.

Though steadfast in its bright future, the city’s past is always remembered with a collective nod. Since its early days as Yerba Buena (Good Herb), a Spanish fishing village, it has seen peace and happiness, and depression and misery in equal parts. Both have helped shape the city’s personality.

The Gold Rush of 1849 inspired a migration from the west but also from the east – the humble beginnings of Chinatown and Japantown. In 1906, a devastating earthquake hit. From its ashes, development saw horse-drawn streetcars replaced with cable cars. In 1937 the completed Golden Gate Bridge provided a postcard-perfect city icon.

In the 1950s, the bohemian Beat movement fostered the city’s love of the literature. The counter culture flowered in the Haight Ashbury neighbourhood during the 1967 Summer of Love and the gay community fought for and found a home in Castro and Polk Street.

The city saw rapid growth in dotcom industries and has now recovered from downturns. Today it is the financial capital of the West Coast.

Tolerance for all ways of life is perhaps what buoys the city most today, and what inevitably makes it an unforgettable destination for people from all walks of life.

The great metropolis of the USA, New York casts a long shadow over the cities of the world. Besides being a global financial capital, the urban island of Manhattan is an unrivalled dynamo for the arts, making it one of the world’s great cultural centres.

The restless city moves at a frenetic pace, ever on the edge of invention. Its creativity has secured the reputation of its venerated restaurants, chic nightspots and cutting-edge theatre. Architectural masterpieces abound, with Manhattan a veritable drawing board for the great architects of the 20th century.

New York has always been a city of the world with multinational, multicultural inhabitants. Residents from some 170-odd foreign countries, speaking over 130 languages, call Gotham home. Like millions of immigrants who came before them, they help make the city what it is today, working among the 20,000 restaurants, 10,000 stores and 150 museums scattered about the metropolis.

The epicentre of New York life always has been the island of Manhattan, which is surrounded by four other distinct city boroughs (the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island) all of which have their own character and attractions.

The first European settlement on Manhattan was by the Dutch, during the 1620s. They named the city New Amsterdam. In 1664, the British took over and renamed it New York. The settlement rapidly flourished, expanding from south to north along the island. Over the next few centuries, Manhattan rapidly developed into the USA’s economic and cultural capital, housing an entire world within its 58 sq km (23 sq miles).

Today, New York still grapples with the events of 11 September 2001, when the USA suffered its worst ever terrorist attack. Although New Yorkers will never forget that day, the city has regained its vitality, and marches forward to confront a new set of issues (among them, making the city ‘greener’ in the face of global warming). After years of wrangling, construction finally began in 2006 on the 541m (1,775ft) Freedom Tower (a name that strikes many New Yorkers as rather Orwellian), which will rise above the former site of the World Trade Center.

New York is an excellent place to visit at any time of year, although it is particularly pleasant during the spring and autumn, when temperatures hover around 21ºC (70ºF). New York winters tend to be unpredictable, although cold temperatures bring less snow here than to other nearby cities, while summers are hot and muggy, often lasting until September.