Discover 10 of the oldest cities in the world you need to visit on your next trip

If you’re looking for the oldest city in Europe, the Greek capital is a good place to start. It’s said that this ancient city has been continuously inhabited for 5,000 years, and there’s a lot to see and do in Athens. You’ll immediately feel its rich history while strolling around neighborhoods like the millennia-old Plaka, where you can look up at the Acropolis. While the Acropolis and the almost 2,500-year-old Parthenon make Athens an exciting historic city to visit, there are plenty of other top ancient Greek temples to explore that are only slightly younger. Historic cities just don’t get more iconic than Athens.

We can’t talk about ancient cities to visit without mentioning a trip to Egypt, especially if you’re eager to answer that age-old question: What is the world’s oldest city? Cairo’s ancient heritage is well-known, but we’ll be heading farther south to the golden city of Luxor—which was originally known as Thebes when it was first inhabited in 3,200 B.C. This magnificent riverside city is often dubbed the world’s greatest open-air museum because of the collection of ancient artifacts and structures that you’ll find within and around its borders. In fact, some of Egypt’s best ancient ruins are in Luxor!

The city itself is home to the four-millennia-old Karnak Temple Complex and the Luxor Temple Complex, which was founded in 1,400 B.C. as the place where many of ancient Egypt’s pharaohs were crowned. Some parts of the Luxor Temple Complex were built by iconic pharaohs such as Tutankhamun and Ramesses II. Across the Nile River, you’ll find even more historic sites, including the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.

North Africa’s history is vast, so it’s no surprise that the region is full of some of the oldest cities in the world. Among them is the colorful ancient city of Fes and its surroundings. Visiting Fes is one of the top things to do if you have 48 hours in Morocco—it’s easy to lose yourself to the intoxicating mosaic of antiquity that you’ll find here. The city is located in the heart of the country, and areas that include Meknes and Volubilis have millennia of history that date back to the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Mauretania.

Given the English capital’s modern allure, it’s easy to forget that London is one of Europe’s ancient cities extending back nearly 2,000 years—which makes London one of our favorite historic cities to visit. Admittedly, ancient remnants are a bit tucked away these days given the modern expansion of the city. But on our London tours, plenty of free time will allow you to seek out the British capital’s historic attractions, such as the remaining chunks of the London Wall, originally built by the Romans in the 2nd century. No trip to England would be complete without seeking out London’s deep history.

Nicknamed the Eternal City, Rome is considered one of the world’s oldest cities, and definitely a candidate for oldest city in Europe. Everywhere you go on the city’s seven hills, you’ll find proof of this enduring history. As the legend goes, Rome was founded on April 21, 753 B.C., by twin brothers Romulus and Remus. During its peak, the Roman Empire occupied 2.3 million square miles spread across Africa, Europe, and Asia and housed up to 90 million people—and the city of Rome was at the center of it all. When it comes to ancient cities, Rome is one of the most famous.

We can’t talk about Rome without talking about the great city of Istanbul, which was first founded by ancient Greeks in 667 B.C. as Byzantium. In 324 A.D., it became the capital of the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine, who renamed it Constantinople—but it wasn’t until 1930 A.D. that it was officially named Istanbul. Today, it’s the largest city in modern-day Turkey, and with that kind of history, it’s easy to see why it’s in our lineup of the oldest cities in the world you need to visit now. There are so many can’t-miss moments to cross off your bucket list in Turkey, and exploring Istanbul is one of them.

If you love to travel for history, you need to add Cambodia to your list of destinations to visit. In the country’s northern pocket stands Siem Reap, home to the largest religious monument in the world: Angkor Wat. Originally built as a Hindu temple in the 12th century, Angkor Wat was the capital of the Khmer Empire. As Buddhism spread in the region, it eventually became a Buddhist temple, too. Covering over 400 acres and comprising over 1,000 buildings, there is no bigger religious complex than Angkor Wat, once the heart of one of the oldest cities in the world. There are so many things to know about Angkor Wat, and this one tops the list: It’ll stun you.

Delhi is, without question, one of the best places to visit in India. Like many of the oldest cities in the world, this destination is shrouded in mystery. While it’s been ruled by different South Asian empires over the years, legend has it that the city may be as old as the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. It tells the story of warring cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas, whose capital city, built in 1,400 B.C., may be where Delhi stands today. Today, Delhi is one of the best ancient cities to visit. You’ll marvel at the red sandstone facade of the Jama Masjid, one of the largest mosques in India, which was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan between 1,650–56 A.D. There’s also Humayun’s Tomb, the 16th-century mausoleum of Mughal Emperor Humayun. Located in a 67-acre, UNESCO-designated complex, this tomb is especially important, as it eventually defined the Mughal architectural style.

There are so many spectacular ancient cities to discover on a trip to India. If you’re not convinced that Delhi could be the oldest city in the world, maybe you’ll favor the spiritual heritage of Varanasi instead. Varanasi is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and its history stretches over 3,000 years. It’s said that Sarnath, located just outside Varanasi, was where Buddha held his first sermon in the sixth century B.C. As such, this northern Indian city holds immense significance to the Buddhist faith today. Many consider a trip to Varanasi an important spiritual pilgrimage.

What is the world’s oldest city? Well, historians believe that human settlement in Jerusalem started as far back as 3,500 B.C., making Israel’s capital a possible answer to that age-old question. Given its religious significance, Jerusalem is an important travel destination for Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike. The Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif, is of major significance to all three Abrahamic religions and is home to the Dome of the Rock, a seventh-century Islamic shrine that stands as one of the oldest examples of Islamic architecture in the world. Not far from the Temple Mount is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which was first consecrated in 335 A.D. and is believed to hold Jesus’ tomb. And, of course, there’s the Western Wall, a Jewish prayer site that is part of the fortification of the Temple Mount, from 19 B.C.