Famous Darwin sunset

Darwin has officially been labelled one of the best cities in the world to visit in 2012. Featured in Lonely Planet’s new travel book on the best things to see and do next year, Darwin is up there with the top ten cities from around the world.

Host of the 2012 Olympics, London has made number one, followed by Muscat and Bangalore. Other cities that came in ahead of Darwin were Cadiz, Stockholm, Guimares, Santiago, Hong Kong and Orlando.

"It was once easy to dismiss Darwin as a frontier town full of brawling fishermen, dreamy hippies and redneck truckers. With a pumping nocturnal scene, magical markets and restaurants, and world-class wilderness areas just down the road, today Darwin is the triumph of Australia's Top End," the book says.

The top ten cities to visit during 2012 were chosen by Lonely Planet travel experts who based their decisions on topicality, excitement, value and uniqueness.

Amoung cities, a list of top ten countries were also listed. Uganda was named as the top country to visit in 2012, followed by Burma, Ukraine, Jordan, Denmark, Bhutan, Cuba, New Caledonia, Taiwan and Switzerland.