London vs Rome

We mapped every place in 369 travel-creator videos filmed in London (62 creators, 862 spots) and 53 videos in Rome (40 creators, 233 spots), then compared what creators eat, how far one video walks, what the spots charge and when they close. A difference is only called when it holds at p < 0.01 with a 1.3x gap.

The short version

• A London video covers more ground: its spots sit a median 1.4 km from their middle, against 0.9 km in Rome.
• Sundays hurt more in Rome: 28% of its food spots are shut, against 13% in London.

Also worth knowing (descriptive, not a comparison):

• One base in London, Carnaby, puts 32% of its filmed spots within a 15-minute walk.
• One base in Rome, around Trevi Fountain, puts 46% of its filmed spots within a 15-minute walk.
• The named spot most London creators agree on: Borough Market (16 creators).
• The named spot most Rome creators agree on: Colosseum (19 creators).

How far you walk

In a typical London video the spots sit within 1.4 km of their middle; in Rome, 0.9 km. That gap is real (Mann-Whitney p = 0.0023, rank-biserial r = -0.29). 82% of London videos stay walkable (2.5 km) against 96% of Rome's (a gap, but p = 0.025: not one we call).

One video maps a median of 2 spots in London and 5 in Rome.

What closes when

• Monday: 13% of London's food spots closed, 18% of Rome's (a gap, but p = 0.23: not one we call)
• Sunday: 13% of London's food spots closed, 28% of Rome's (p = 0.0012)
• Monday sights and museums: 8% closed in London, 12% in Rome (a gap, but p = 0.57: not one we call)
• Open past 10 pm on a weeknight: 67% of food spots in London, 82% in Rome (a gap, but p = 0.017: not one we call)

From Google opening hours of the 475 food spots in London and 65 in Rome that have full-week hours.

Where creators agree

8% of London's mapped spots were filmed by three or more creators, against 11% of Rome's; 82% and 80% are one creator's pick.

In London: Borough Market (16 creators); Buckingham Palace (13 creators); Tower of London (12 creators); Big Ben (12 creators); London Eye (10 creators); The British Museum (8 creators). 17 more are on the locked London map (12 to see and do · 5 to eat).

In Rome: Colosseum (19 creators); Trevi Fountain (15 creators); Roman Forum (13 creators); Pantheon (11 creators); Spanish Steps (10 creators); All'Antico Vinaio (7 creators). 9 more are on the locked Rome map (6 to see and do · 3 to eat).

Where to stay

• London: Carnaby, by Piccadilly Circus: 277 filmed spots within a 15-minute walk (32% of London's), from 50 creators.
• Rome: around Trevi Fountain: 106 filmed spots within a 15-minute walk (46% of Rome's), from 38 creators.

What it costs

On Google's price levels, 22% of London's food spots are "$" and 22% "$$$" or more; in Rome, 19% and 28%. The typical spot is $$ in both.

How we measured this

Places come from Varedelo's maps of each creator video, grouped into kinds and assigned to a city by distance from its centre. Dishes come from each video's dish list and are counted by creators. Spot-level tests treat spots as independent, which overstates certainty when spots cluster inside one video, so we only call a difference at p < 0.01 with a 1.3x gap. Opening hours and price levels are Google's; hours that cover only part of the week are left out. Spots counted but not named are part of Varedelo's locked city maps. Covers the creators Varedelo maps, not all of YouTube. Data as of 2026-10-30.