Bathing is the main purpose of the venue: sauna, thermal bath, hot spring, onsen, hammam, banya, jjimjilbang, bathhouse or Nordic spa.
Anyone can buy a day ticket. A hotel spa is eligible only if non-guests can buy access.
The venue has a fixed address and an operator, and is open.
Not eligible: water parks, gym saunas, cabins for private hire only, medical spas that require a prescription, adult venues.
No country is excluded.
Ice Cream Parlours
Ice cream or gelato is the shop’s main product, and the shop makes it.
The shop has a counter open to anyone, a fixed address, and is open.
Not eligible: frozen yoghurt and shaved-ice shops, dessert cafés, bars and pastry shops with an ice cream counter on the side.
A brand with more than ten shops is not eligible. Of a smaller brand, one shop is listed.
No country is excluded.
Coffee Houses
Coffee is the main product: specialty coffee bars, espresso bars, roastery cafés and traditional coffee houses.
Anyone can walk in and order a coffee. The venue has a fixed address and is open.
A brand with more than ten branches is not eligible. A smaller brand is listed once, with one branch.
Not eligible: bakeries, pastry shops and brunch restaurants, bean shops without a bar, tea houses, themed cafés.
No country is excluded.
Pastry Shops
Pastry made by the house is the main product: pâtisseries, Konditoreien, pasticcerie, pastelarias and bakeries known for their pastry.
The shop has a counter open to anyone, a fixed address, and is open.
Not eligible: bread bakeries, cafés and restaurants with pastry on the side, ice cream and chocolate shops, cake studios that work to order only.
Not eligible: shops built on one product (cheesecake, cookies, doughnuts, pastéis de nata), and bakeries that are gluten-free or vegan only.
A brand with more than 25 shops is not eligible. Of a smaller brand, one shop is listed.
No country is excluded.
Ramen Shops
Ramen is the main dish of the shop. Tsukemen, abura soba and Japanese-style tantanmen shops count as ramen shops.
The shop has a fixed address, serves anyone who walks in or books, and is open.
Not eligible: Japanese, pan-Asian and Chinese restaurants with ramen on the menu, udon and soba restaurants, instant-noodle shops, ramen museums and food halls.
A brand is listed with one shop per city and with three shops at most.
No country is excluded.
Hikes
A named hike that is walked in a day, two hours or more on foot: a trail, or a summit, lake, waterfall, gorge or viewpoint reached by it.
The reviews are written by people who walked it.
Not eligible: treks of several days, summits and viewpoints most visitors reach by cable car or road, climbs that need a rope or via ferrata gear.
Not eligible: whole national parks and ranges, sights next to a car park, city parks.
Of hikes within 60 km of each other, three are listed.
No country is excluded.
Beaches
A named beach or cove that anyone can walk onto without paying a club or a hotel. A parking or park fee, a booking system or a boat fare do not count.
City beaches, coves reached only by boat or on foot, and sandbanks that day boats land on are eligible.
Not eligible: beach clubs, hotel beaches closed to non-guests, private-island resorts.
Not eligible: whole bays, islands and coasts, viewpoints over a beach, beaches closed to visitors.
No country is excluded.
Waterfalls
One named natural waterfall, or a named group of falls on one river that is visited as one place. An entry fee, a required guide, a boat or a flight to get there do not count against it.
Falls reached only by a hike, and falls on private land with tickets for everyone, are eligible.
Not eligible: whole national parks, valleys and gorges; hiking trails as such; dams, fountains and built cascades.
Not eligible: rapids, swimming holes and pool terraces without a fall, falls only hotel guests can reach, falls closed to visitors.
No country is excluded.
Show Caves
A natural cave that visitors enter on a set route: a guided tour, a boat tour or a lit path with a ticket.
Dripstone and river caves, ice caves in rock, lava tubes with an operator, painted caves where the real cave is visited.
Not eligible: mines and quarries, replicas of caves, cave temples and underground cities, cenotes visited to swim.
Not eligible: sea caves without an operator of their own, glacier ice caves, wild caves without a ticket or a set route.
No country is excluded.
Botanical Gardens
The plants are what the visitor comes for: botanical gardens, arboreta, glasshouses, display gardens, and Japanese and Chinese classical gardens.
The garden has an operator, a boundary and opening hours, and is open to anyone on most days of its season.
Not eligible: city parks, the gardens of palaces and stately homes where the building is the visit, zoos, sculpture parks, garden centres and flower farms.
A glasshouse or a rose garden inside a listed garden is part of that garden, not an entry of its own.
No country is excluded.
Museums
An institution with a permanent collection or permanent exhibition that is open to the public as a museum.
Art museums, history and archaeology museums, science and natural history museums, technology and transport museums, open-air museums.
Not eligible: memorials and memorial museums, wax, illusion and brand attractions, club museums, exhibition halls without a collection.
Not eligible: palaces, castles, churches and excavation sites where the visit is the building or the site; children’s museums, zoos, aquariums.
No country is excluded.
Parks
A laid-out green space open to the public and visited for the park itself: city parks, landscape parks, and the parks and gardens of palaces, castles and villas.
Open on most days of the year. An entry fee is no obstacle.
Not eligible: national parks and nature reserves, botanical gardens and classical gardens, theme parks and zoos.
Not eligible: squares, promenades, cemeteries, sculpture parks with a museum ticket, and palaces whose building is the visit.
At most two parks per city. No country is excluded.
Palaces
A building made to live in and to show rank, open to visitors with rooms to see: royal and princely palaces, residences, châteaux, stately homes, villas, and castles shown for their furnished rooms.
Forts are eligible when the visit is the palace inside them.
Not eligible: fortresses and castle ruins, palace hotels, parliaments and town halls.
Not eligible: museums in a palace where the collection is the visit, and listings for the gardens alone.
At most two palaces per city. No country is excluded.
Landmarks
A structure people built, visited for the structure itself: towers and observation decks, bridges, statues, monuments and memorials, arches and gates, lighthouses, fountains, landmark buildings, complete mausoleums and named squares.
Not eligible: churches, mosques, temples and other places of worship; memorials to genocides, massacres, terror attacks and camps.
Not eligible: castles, palaces, archaeological sites, museums, stadiums, cable cars, parks and natural sights, which have their own lists.
Not eligible: old towns, streets, promenades, markets and viewpoints without a built structure.
At most two landmarks per city. No country is excluded.
Pizzerias
Pizza is the main dish: Neapolitan, Roman, al taglio, New York slice, New Haven, Detroit, deep dish and pinsa.
Not eligible: Italian restaurants where pizza is one part of the menu, fast-food and delivery chains, delivery-only kitchens, bakeries, bars and food halls.
A brand is listed with one pizzeria per city and with three pizzerias at most.
No country is excluded.
Breweries
Beer is brewed at the address and the public can drink it there or tour the brewery: craft breweries with a taproom, brewpubs, monastery breweries, a Brauhaus with its own brewhouse.
The brewery’s own tap next to the brewery counts. A visitor centre on a working brewery site counts; a brand museum where nothing is brewed does not.
Not eligible: pubs, beer bars and beer gardens that do not brew, brewpub chains with more than five brewing branches, cideries and wineries.
A brand is listed with one brewery per city and with three breweries at most.
No country is excluded.
Libraries
A library with rooms a visitor can walk into: historic halls, monastery libraries, national, city and university libraries.
A monastery or palace library is eligible when its Google Maps listing is the library hall, not the whole abbey or palace.
Not eligible: bookshops, archives and libraries closed to visitors, museums with library in the name, ruins of ancient libraries.
Not eligible: libraries whose reviews come more from their own readers than from visitors.
At most two libraries per city. No country is excluded.
Archaeological Sites & Ruins
The remains of an ancient or pre-modern settlement, sanctuary, burial ground or monument, shown as an excavation or a ruin that visitors enter.
Fortified places of antiquity and all pre-Columbian sites are eligible.
Not eligible: museums, castles and fortresses built after antiquity, palaces standing with rooms.
Not eligible: ancient buildings that stand complete and are in use, temples in worship, ruined medieval abbeys, ghost towns.
A site with several listings is one entry. At most two sites per city. No country is excluded.
Castles & Fortresses
A building made to be defended and visited for its walls, towers and position: medieval castles, fortresses, citadels, forts, kremlins, kasbahs, Japanese castles and castle ruins.
Furnished rooms are no obstacle when the castle is a fortification first.
Not eligible: palaces and residential castles shown for their rooms (they are on the Palaces list), castle hotels, follies and theme parks.
Not eligible: ancient sites, city walls as such, single towers and gates, whole walled towns.
At most two castles per city. No country is excluded.
Cable Cars & Mountain Railways
A line with an operator and a ticket that visitors ride for the ride or the view: cable cars, gondolas, funiculars, sightseeing chairlifts, rack railways and short mountain railways.
Cable cars and funiculars in cities are eligible when visitors ride them for the view.
The stations of one line count as one entry.
Not eligible: ski lifts that only serve pistes, long-distance scenic trains, ordinary trams and metros, elevators.
Not eligible: the summit or viewpoint as such, and cable cars inside a theme park or zoo.
At most two lines per town. No country is excluded.
Canyons & Gorges
A named canyon, gorge, ravine or slot canyon that visitors look into from the rim, walk through or travel through by boat.
The rim viewpoints, trails, entrances and visitor centres of one canyon count as one entry.
Not eligible: waterfalls, show caves, open valleys, fjords, and national parks that hold much more than one canyon.
Not eligible: bridges, dams, skywalks, and rafting, canyoning or tour companies at a canyon.
A canyon on the Hikes list is not listed again. Of canyons within 60 km of each other, three are listed.
No country is excluded.
Kebab & Döner Shops
Kebab is the main dish: döner, dürüm, Adana, İskender, şiş, shawarma, gyros and souvlaki in pita, Persian kabab.
Takeaway counters and sit-down kebab houses are both in.
Not eligible: restaurants with a full menu where kebab is one part of it, falafel shops, general grills, fast-food and delivery chains.
A brand is listed with one shop per city and with three shops at most.
No country is excluded.
Cocktail Bars
Cocktails are the main thing: cocktail bars, speakeasies, hotel bars with their own listing and tiki bars.
Not eligible: restaurants where the bar is one part, pubs, beer and wine bars, sports and karaoke bars, nightclubs and chains.
A brand is listed with one bar per city and with three bars at most.
No country is excluded.
Hotels
Hotels, resorts, safari lodges, ryokans, inns and palace, castle and casino hotels where anyone can book a room for a night.
Not eligible: hostels, holiday rentals, serviced flats, campsites and members-only clubs.
At most two hotels per city or resort town.
No country is excluded.
Wellness Hotels
Spa and wellness hotels, thermal and hot-spring hotels, onsen ryokans, destination spas and health retreats where anyone can book a room for a night.
Not eligible: hotels whose spa is a side amenity, day spas and thermal baths without rooms, clinics without hotel stays, holiday rentals.
At most two hotels per town.
No country is excluded.
Airports
Airports with scheduled passenger flights, one entry per airport.
Not eligible: lounges, shops, car parks and hotels at an airport; military, private and general-aviation fields.
At most two airports per city.
No country is excluded.
Theme Parks
Theme parks, amusement parks and family leisure parks with rides, shows or themed play areas, on a permanent site, including historic city amusement parks.
Not eligible: water parks on their own, zoos, safari parks and aquariums, indoor play centres, ropes and zip-line parks, single rides and seasonal fairs.
At most two parks per city.
No country is excluded.
Shopping Malls
Shopping malls and shopping centres, enclosed or open-air, historic shopping arcades and galleries, and outlet villages.
Not eligible: department stores, bazaars, souks and markets, shopping streets, and attractions inside a mall.
At most two malls per city.
No country is excluded.
Football Stadiums
Stadiums where association football is the main sport or is played regularly, visited on a match day or for a stadium tour.
Not eligible: indoor arenas, and stadiums built for American football, baseball, cricket, rugby or athletics where football is not played regularly.
At most three stadiums per city. No country is excluded.
Bakeries
Bread baked on site and sold over the counter is what the bakery is known for.
Not eligible: pâtisseries and other pastry-led shops, cafés where bread is a side, sandwich shops, supermarket counters, bake-off chains, gluten-free or vegan-only bakeries.
A brand is listed with one bakery per city and with three bakeries at most.
No country is excluded.
Wineries
A winery that makes its wine there or from the vineyards around it and receives visitors for tastings, tours or a meal.
Champagne houses, port lodges and sherry bodegas count when the house makes or ages its wine in the cellars visitors see.
Not eligible: wine bars, wine shops and merchants, wine tour companies, wine museums, and tasting rooms far from where the wine is made.
Not eligible: cideries, meaderies, breweries, distilleries and sake breweries.
At most three wineries per town. No country is excluded.
Rest Stops
A stop built for people travelling by road: motorway service areas, Autohöfe, truck stops and travel centers, Japanese service areas and roadside stations.
A service area with one listing on each side of the road is listed once.
Not eligible: filling stations in towns, restaurants and fast-food branches that are not a rest stop, hotels, roadside attractions.
A name is listed with one stop per city and with three stops at most.
No country is excluded.
Brunch & Breakfast
Breakfast or brunch is what people come for: it is named in at least a fifth of the place’s reviews.
Not eligible: hotel breakfast rooms, bakeries and coffee bars, dinner restaurants and bars with a weekend brunch, dessert cafés, vegan-only and gluten-free-only places, chains.
A name is listed with one place per city and with three places at most.
No country is excluded.
BBQ Smokehouses
Smoked barbecue is the main food: brisket, pulled pork, ribs, burnt ends, smoked sausage.
Not eligible: steakhouses, churrascarias, parrillas, Korean and Balkan grills, burger restaurants and diners where barbecue is one item, chains with more than ten branches.
A brand is listed with one place per city and with three places at most.
Venues in the United States are not eligible.
Smokehouses
Smoked barbecue is the main food: brisket, pulled pork, ribs, burnt ends, smoked sausage.
Not eligible: steakhouses, Korean, Hawaiian and Brazilian barbecue, burger restaurants, bars and diners where barbecue is one item, chains with more than ten branches.
A brand is listed with one place per city and with three places at most.
Venues in the United States only.
Burgers
Burgers are the main dish: they are named in at least a quarter of the place’s reviews.
Not eligible: pubs, steakhouses, sports bars and restaurants where a burger is one item among many, chains with more than ten branches.
A brand is listed with one place per city and with three places at most.
No country is excluded.
Zoos & Aquariums
A zoo, aquarium, safari park, wildlife park or bird park with a fixed site and a gate, where visitors go round to see a collection of animals.
Not eligible: petting farms, pet and aquarium shops, marine theme parks where rides and shows are the draw, national parks and reserves, animal encounter tours.
An aquarium, house or gate inside a listed zoo is part of that zoo, not an entry of its own.
No country is excluded.
Food Markets
Markets where food is what people come for: covered market halls, open-air food and produce markets, food halls with independent stalls, night markets, hawker centres, fish markets and farmers’ markets.
Not eligible: flea, antique, craft and Christmas markets, bazaars where the reviews are about goods, food courts in shopping malls, single shops and farm stores, supermarkets and wholesale markets closed to visitors.
At most two markets per city.
No country is excluded.
Butchers
Shops where most customers buy raw or cured meat over a counter to take home: butchers, meat markets, sausage makers.
Not eligible: restaurants, steakhouses and BBQ places, delis and sandwich shops, supermarkets, online-only sellers, makers of one packaged product, chains with more than ten shops.