The Best and Worst Cities in Skyrim

[David]

Best: Solitude

 

Worst: (all of the minor cities e.g. winterhold) then Windhelm

 

Windhelm is a pile of shit. I get lost in it everytime I go there. That's not even getting into the fact it has a terrible layout, has random graves everywhere, is always super dark, and has messy rubble strewn throughout. I think it sheds light on how Ulfric is out for himself. His city is in ruins while he has this great palace. Meanwhile, Solitude under the Empire is beautiful and prosperous in all respects.

[Blake]

Best: Whiterun. Small enough to be easy to navigate, but still has all the major attractions that are easy to navigate too. Also, 3 smithers. Solitude is pretty nice as well, mostly because of it's arrow store.Worse: Markarth. While it probably has the coolest layout, it is harder to navigate than Windhelm. Also, there is a lot of bribery and blood shed there. And not even the organized, respected corruption like in Riften.On a side note, I recently discovered a section of Windhelm I've never knew existed. The Grey Quarter with all the elves.

[David]

How is Windhelm easy to navigate yet had a section you hadn't found before? LolMarkarth is difficult to navigate, but it has a really badass layout that makes it inevitable and more than makes up for it in my opinion. Yeah, the corruption thing is bad but the background story with the Forsaken makes it more interesting to me and thus gets a plus.

[Blake]

How is Windhelm easy to navigate yet had a section you hadn't found before? Lol

Oh fudge. Meant Whiterun.

[Death Knight]

I never really found any hard to navigate, wildhelm is simple, just four corners, bada boom bada bing, the hardest to navigate is markarth i guess.... I've just the type of person you can parachute into a forest blind folded and i'd find my way out licketey split, but i'm redneck so i guess that helps ? haha. My favorite cities...ah....I like riften ok, but not huge on it, My favorite is markarth, i like the whole "helms deep" feel of it plus i'm more into defense strategies than offense, so a near impregnable city is a big plus for me, plus towers to defend & keep sentries at is really nice for me, plus theres always combat Not far from the city against swarms of enimies, so plenty of training & money there. Its got alot of interesting quests & Theres a few daedric princes lurking around the city. I also like Windhelm for the Big game hunting and artifacts and ruins around it, plus it has like 3 general traders, the smith (includind the smelter) spellslingers & alchemists. Easy to get around and probably my favorite house by far, secret room, 3 manaqueins and plenty of weapon racks, plauqes, display cases etc, I always have ALOT of weapons, and like 3 sets of armor, I collect every war axe I can find, I like having Steel armor, Steel plate armor, Ebony armor, Nord hero amor, and maybe a set of fur armor for hunting. I like solitude, the house has 2 manaquins a few plaques etc its nice, the safe and all, it has the fletcher when i want to play as a bowman, and im a big customer at radient raiment for roleplaying purposes, plus its a nice place to pick up alot of enchantments.1.Markarth2.Windhelm3.Solitude

[David]

One thing worth mentioning is the landscape West/South-west of Riften is amazing. The actual city isn't anything out of this world (though the center elevated over the harbor thing is cool), but the area around it is some of the most interesting in the game. Not the usual snowy tundra look at all.

[Death Knight]

It does have some really nice secenery, and a bit of everything for hunting. thr south and south east parts of the map aaround riften are really nice, towers of stendarr vigilants to maim (if your one of those daedra worshippers..) camps, god knows how many forts, so mad money.

[Dovahkiin]

Best: Solitude. I just think the midieval look to it is nice.Worst: Markarth or Morthal. I just get lost in Markarth everytime I'm there, though I do admit the view of the Dwemer buildings is enjoyable. I hate the scenery of Morthal altogether, marshes scare me.

Best: SolitudeWorst: (all of the minor cities e.g. winterhold) then WindhelmWindhelm is a pile of shit. I get lost in it everytime I go there. That's not even getting into the fact it has a terrible layout, has random graves everywhere, is always super dark, and has messy rubble strewn throughout. I think it sheds light on how Ulfric is out for himself. His city is in ruins while he has this great palace. Meanwhile, Solitude under the Empire is beautiful and prosperous in all respects.

I never really thought of it that way. Your post has cleared my vision *_* Maybe Stormcloaks aren't the right faction to join...

[David]

Yeah, I'm not really a fan of the Stormcloaks. Remember to only post once in a row by the way, you can edit things into your posts if you forgot something or you can select the "Multiquote" button to select more than one quote response. :smile:Looking back, I may have been a bit harsh on Windhelm. I really enjoyed some of the city-specific quests it had, such as the murder mystery (even if it was horribly obvious).

[Dovahkiin]

Yeah, I'm not really a fan of the Stormcloaks. Remember to only post once in a row by the way, you can edit things into your posts if you forgot something or you can select the "Multiquote" button to select more than one quote response. :smile:Looking back, I may have been a bit harsh on Windhelm. I really enjoyed some of the city-specific quests it had, such as the murder mystery (even if it was horribly obvious).

Loll thankyou for the tip, I didn't even notice the button XD and same here haha. I was kind of hoping the murder mystery to be someone a little more unexpected. But to be honest, during my first Skyrim playthrough, I never spoke to the murderer and I wasn't even aware of their existence in Windhelm, so the revelation was a bit surprising to me XDI hated the Empire and I liked the Stormcloaks at first, but now, I've realized they're not all their cracked up to be. I assumed since in the beginning the Empire is attempting to execute you, it would make more sense to loathe them. XD

[Phantom]

I recently commited suicide in Markarth (falling off the cliff by my house... genius), plus I had that nasty bug where the entire population wants me dead for no damn reason.

Solitude is boring, and some people glitched in the palace after I 'killed' the emperor and now I can't rest/wait in parts of the city because I am being "pursued".

Riften is niften. I really like it there, though there is a lack of merchants with decent money that I haven't robbed blind.

Falkreath I always forget exists since I NEVER go there.

Whiterun gets boring after a while.

Windhelm... I found the grey quarter about a week after I got the game. They were mean to my Khajiit. So I killed most of them.

Winterhold makes my Nord cry manly tears.

[Guest Eden Riot]

Markarth and Falkreath are my favorite. The waterfalls in Markarth and the vertical layout make it beautiful and unique. Feels like a fantasy game should. Falkreath: I love that it's in kind of a ravine surrounded by huge pine trees. I wish I could buy a house there. I'm not a huge fan of Windhelm but it does have the best house IMO.Winterhold and Morthal are my least favorites. I feel like they were made at the tail end of development so they are just kind of bland.Solitude: love the look, love the atmosphere, but I ALWAYS get lost there. Just can't seem to make sense of the layout.

[Unknown ProbLem]

My favorite cities are Solitude and Markarth. IMO I feel that like Eden said, The house in Windhelm is the best, yet personally the city is pretty crappy, especially for the home of the "High King". My least favorites are Morthal, Windhelm and finally Winterhold, simply because the city itself is non-existant, it's 99% College, 1% City.

[Guest Plecostomus]

I hate markarth, the corruption is terrible and I always get lost. Windhelm is a joke, half the population live in slums while ulfric has a party in his castle. Morthal is boring and winterhold is tiny. Solitude is beautiful, Whiterun is easy to navigate, and Falkreath is the best town and hold for my hunter, along with Riftin. So 1.) Falkreath 2.) Riftin 3.) solitude 4.) Whiterun5.) dawnstar 6.) winterhold 7.)morthal 8.)Windhelm 9.)markarth

[owencave]

i personally like Riften the best. It reminds me of laketown from the hobbit and its just really cool with all the canals and the lake right by it. I also like Markarth just because of the scenery, even though it is so corupt. I hate windhelm, its super hard to navigate and its just a dumpy peice of crap. Solitude is OK, morthal sucks because of the swamps, and i hate winterhold cause its so far out of the way to get to and you cant be there for 5 minutes without it being a blizzard. I like Falkreath and it has awesome hunting there, even though its always rainy and gloomy. Whiterun honestly is one of the better cities cause its just home and its the first city you go to.

[Dragonborn_MF]

My favorite city is Whiterun. It is a cool city and it is the first one introduced to you in the game (assuming you follow the main questline) i ownly follow the questline until the quest Dragon Rising. Whiterun has some good followers like Uthgerd the Unbroken in the Bannered Mare, Lydia in Dragonsreach, you can hire Jenassa for 500 coins in the Drunken Huntsman. Whiterun also has the Companions, they are the best fighting guild to join. Once you finish the Companions questline, all the Companions will become your followers. You get the best follower in the game... Aela the Huntress, she is an Expert level Archer. Farkas is a Expert level Two-Handed, Vilkas is an Expert One-Handed. once complete the Companions questline, you become Harbringer (leader) of the Companions. I have completed all the quests in Whiterun, the hardest quest by far is one where you heal the Glidergreen Tree. Breezehome is the cheapest house in Skyrim, It may be small but it is still the best house in my opinion. Eorlund Gray-Mane is the best blacksmith in Skyrim. His works at the Skyforge. These are all the reasons why I choose Whiterun as the best city.

[Dragonborn_MF]

Whiterun. It is very easy to navigate and it is the first city you go to. Jarl Balgruuf is by far the best Jarl in Skyrim. Whiterun also has the best followers. Uthgerd the Unbroken in the Bannered Mare, Lydia in Dragonsreach, you can hire Jenassa for 500 coins in the Drunken Hunstman. Whiterun also has the Companions. The Companions are probably the best group of warriors in Skyrim. Companions questline is very exciting and active and to join them go to Jorrvaskr and then go down to the Jorrvaskr Living Quarters and talk to Kodlak Whitemane. Once you complete their questline, you get the best follower in Skyrim... Aela the Huntress, she is an expert level Archer, Farkas is a Two-Handed Expert, Vilkas is a One-Handed Expert. Breezehome is the cheapest house in Skyrim, you get it after becoming Thane. It is small but works very well and is my favorite house. The Whiterun Guards are awesome and there are several ways you can get their armor. These are the reasons why Whiterun is my favorite city.

[Dragonborn_MF]

My least favorite city in Skyrim is Winterhold. It is a useless city and is the only hold you can't live in. It's always constantly in a blizzard and always stormy. How could someone live there and be Jarl. Winterhold is a very useless and stupid city unless you want to become a mage at the College of Winterhold, which most people don't. Windhelm is by far the hardest to navigate though. 

[Og_Dovakhiin]

My favorite city is probably riverwood, well it was until I murdered the whole town because I accidentally transformed into a werewolf and everyone attacked me and when I ran off my follower stayed behind and killed everyone. Least favorite is Markarth because I can never find anything there.

[SkyrimKitten]

Its hard because I love all of the cities, even the small ones, but Solitude and Whiterun are the best to me, maybe its cause i have to visit them more often.. But everytime i see markarth i think dwemer i hate them so much, and there isnt much to do in small towns, I like riverwood because its plain and simple, but i dont like Windhelm because my character is nord and dark elf mixed.......... and riften is cool but its filled with theives, winterhold is small same as morthal, so i only really like solitude and whiterun, they seem the most friendly.