528 Cities, One App: How Wandora Maps the World's Best Destinations

When we started building Wandora, we had a simple question: what if a travel app could know a city the way a well-traveled local does? Not just the top ten attractions from a guidebook, but the quiet courtyard where students read in the afternoon, the bakery that's been making the same bread since 1923, the viewpoint that only residents know about.

That ambition led us to build what we believe is the most comprehensive curated city guide ever put into a mobile app: 528 cities, over 21,000 landmarks, across 6 continents. Here's how we did it, and why it matters.

How We Choose Cities

Not every city makes the cut. Wandora focuses on cities that reward exploration — places with layers of history, distinctive neighborhoods, genuine local culture, and enough depth to surprise even repeat visitors. A city needs to have enough interesting, visitable places to justify a dedicated guide.

Our selection criteria weighs several factors: historical significance, cultural richness, traveler demand, geographic diversity, and practical visitability. We want coverage across every continent and region, not just the obvious tourist hubs. That's why Wandora includes not just Paris and Tokyo, but also Tbilisi, Valletta, Cartagena, and Luang Prabang.

The result is a collection that spans from megacities (Istanbul, Mexico City, Mumbai) to compact gems (Bruges, Dubrovnik, Hoi An). Every city in Wandora has been individually researched and curated — there's no auto-generated filler.

The 12 Landmark Categories

Every landmark in Wandora is classified into one of twelve categories. This isn't just organizational tidiness — it powers the app's recommendation engine and helps travelers find exactly the kind of experience they're looking for.

• Historical — monuments, ruins, heritage sites, battlefields
• Art & Museums — galleries, museums, public art, cultural centers
• Food & Drink — restaurants, markets, street food, cafes, bars
• Nature — parks, gardens, natural landmarks, hiking trails
• Hidden Gems — under-the-radar spots that most visitors miss
• Viewpoints — rooftops, observation decks, scenic overlooks
• Religious — mosques, churches, temples, synagogues, shrines
• Shopping — markets, bazaars, artisan districts, shopping streets
• Nightlife — bars, clubs, live music venues, evening entertainment
• Architecture — notable buildings, bridges, urban design landmarks
• Entertainment — theaters, sports venues, amusement parks, cinemas
• Beaches — swimming spots, coastal walks, waterfront areas

The category system means you can ask the Wandora AI something like "show me hidden gems near the city center" or "what's the best viewpoint for sunset?" and get precise, filtered results. It also means that a food-focused traveler and a history-focused traveler get fundamentally different experiences from the same city guide.

Data Quality: The Hard Part

Anyone can compile a list of tourist attractions. The hard part — the part that makes Wandora different — is quality control. Every landmark in Wandora goes through a multi-step curation process:

1. Initial sourcing — We pull from multiple data sources including OpenStreetMap, travel databases, and local tourism boards to build a comprehensive initial list for each city.
2. Category classification — Each landmark is manually classified into the correct category. A place like Istanbul's Grand Bazaar could be "shopping," "historical," or "architecture" — we choose the primary category that best serves the traveler.
3. Description writing — Every landmark gets a human-written description that tells you why it matters, not just what it is. We focus on context, history, and practical visitor information.
4. Insider tips — Each landmark includes at least one insider tip — the kind of advice you'd get from a friend who lives there. "Visit before 9 AM to avoid crowds" or "the second floor has better views than the observation deck."
5. Photo verification — We verify that every photo actually shows the correct landmark. This sounds obvious, but automated photo sourcing frequently returns wrong images — a different building, a stock photo, or an image from a completely different city.
6. Coordinate verification — Every landmark's GPS coordinates are verified to ensure the map pin lands on the actual location, not across the street or in the wrong neighborhood.

The Most Popular Cities

Based on early user testing and waitlist data, here are the cities generating the most interest among Wandora users:

1. Istanbul — by far our most-requested city, with over 80 curated landmarks spanning two continents
2. Rome — layers upon layers of history, from ancient ruins to Renaissance masterpieces
3. Paris — the depth of neighborhood-level exploration keeps users engaged far beyond the obvious monuments
4. Barcelona — Gaudi, beaches, food markets, and nightlife create a uniquely complete city
5. Tokyo — the contrast between ancient temples and hyper-modern districts fascinates travelers
6. Prague — compact, affordable, and extraordinarily photogenic
7. Lisbon — rapidly becoming Europe's favorite city break destination
8. Athens — ancient history plus a revitalized modern food and art scene
9. Kyoto — temples, gardens, and geisha districts create a deeply immersive experience
10. Budapest — thermal baths, ruin bars, and grand architecture at Central European prices

Continent Breakdown

Wandora's 528 cities span the globe. Here's how coverage breaks down by region:

• Europe — 210+ cities, our deepest coverage. From Reykjavik to Rhodes, Lisbon to Lviv.
• Asia — 120+ cities across East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East.
• Americas — 90+ cities across North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
• Africa — 50+ cities from Marrakech to Cape Town, Cairo to Zanzibar.
• Oceania — 20+ cities across Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.

We're actively expanding coverage, with a focus on underrepresented regions. Upcoming additions include more cities in Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia — regions with extraordinary travel potential that are underserved by existing travel apps.

What's Coming Next

528 cities is just the beginning. Here's what's on the roadmap:

• More cities — We're adding approximately 20 new cities per month, prioritized by user requests and geographic gaps.
• Seasonal content — Landmark descriptions and tips that adapt to the time of year. A park's entry changes between "cherry blossoms in full bloom" in April and "autumn foliage at peak color" in October.
• Community contributions — A system for verified local contributors to suggest new landmarks and update insider tips, ensuring information stays current.
• Deeper neighborhood guides — City-within-a-city guides for major neighborhoods in large cities. Not just "Tokyo" but "Shimokitazawa" and "Yanaka" as distinct explorable areas.
• Audio guides — AI-generated walking tour narration for the most popular landmarks in each city.

Why Curation Matters

In a world where Google Maps shows you every restaurant, cafe, and shop on a street, why does curation matter? Because more information isn't better information. When you're standing in a foreign city with limited time, you don't need a list of 400 restaurants — you need someone to tell you which three are worth your evening.

That's what Wandora does. Every city, every landmark, every tip has been chosen because it genuinely enhances the travel experience. We'd rather have 40 carefully curated landmarks per city than 400 auto-scraped points of interest. Quality over quantity, always.

528 cities. 21,000+ landmarks. One app. And we're just getting started.