Whether you’re talking to someone from Melbourne, New York, London or Lisbon, everyone thinks their city is the best city.

But when it comes to where to start the day, we now have a definitive answer thanks to science.

Regardless of whether your morning routine consists of walking in the sun or pulling the covers further up and scrolling social media, there are a few key factors that make some mornings better than others.

MattressOnline analysed the air quality (AQI), sunshine hours, and social media engagement from various cities around the world to determine once and for all where the best place to wake up is and unsurprisingly, Australia came out on top. 

If you’ve travelled to places throughout Europe or the US and been confused by the empty streets and closed cafes at 8 am, you’re likely aware and appreciative of Australians’ love for mornings. Our coffee and breakfast culture is world-renowned, and the popularity of morning run, swim and yoga sessions makes it pretty obvious we make the most of our mornings. 

So it which cities should you be booking a bed in?

The best cities to wake up in:

#1. Sydney

The Harbour City is officially the best place to wake up, with a scenic sunrise score of 9.40 out of 10, and the second cleanest air of the top ten cities ensuring we can get a good view of the sunrise. 

Even though six of the top ten cities have more average hours of sunshine each year, Sydney’s 2,468 is still just enough.

Whether they're waking up by the beach or the CBD, people online are loving Sydney at dawn, with 123,306 Instagram posts dedicated solely to the city’s beautiful sunrises.

#2. Melbourne

Always neck and neck in any competition, Sydney and Melbourne of course scored above the rest of the world.

Melbourne has the cleanest air of any of the top ten cities, and a scenic sunrise score of 9.17 out of ten, just 0.23 behind Sydney.

The coffee capital has 13,469 Instagram posts dedicated to its sunrises, particularly at top viewing spots like the Twelve Apostles and St Kilda Beach.

#3. Miami and Toronto

The US and Canada share the third best spots to wake up, with a scenic sunrise score of 9 out of ten.

Toronto beat Miami in air quality by 3 points, making it one of the cleaner cities to see the sunrise in, but Miami has an average of 3,154 more hours of sunshine than the Canadian city each year. 

Miami placed second to Sydney in Instagram dedications, with 37,925 posts of the beach city’s sunrises.

Toronto is also receiving some appreciation for its morning views, with the fourth most Instagram dedications of the top ten cities.

If you’re planning to compare these locations’ sunrises to Australia’s, you might want to head to South Pointe Park in Miami or Humber River and Don River in Toronto. 

Not all cities are built to capitalise on morning views, so where ranked last?

Last place: Frankfurt

While its stunning skyline offers incredible sunset views, the German city can’t contend with some of the more well known sunrise spots around the world.

Frankfurt received a scenic sunrise score of 3.82 out of ten from MattressOnline, and has an air quality index 47 points higher than that of Miami – so even the most beautiful sunrise could be obscured by air pollution at times. 

The city gets 1,662 average hours of sunshine each year and only 276 posts on Instagram are dedicated to its sunrises. 

Maybe best to grab a wine and watch the sunset over the city before a late night here instead of setting an early alarm to get outside.