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Describe a city you have been to and want to visit again.: IELTS Speaking Cue Card

You should say

  • Where is it?
  • When & why did you visit there?
  • Would you go back?
Show all 139 answers

Cue 1:Where is it?

  • Begin with a brief introduction of the city, including its geographical location.
  • Mention any notable landmarks or features that make the city unique.

Example

The city I want to talk about is Jaipur, located in the northern part of India, in the state of Rajasthan. It is famously known as the Pink City due to its distinct pink-colored buildings and rich cultural heritage.

Cue 2:When & why did you visit there?

  • Provide details about your visit, including the time of year and the duration of your stay.
  • Explain the reasons for your visit, such as tourism, family, or work.

Example

I visited Jaipur last year during the winter holidays for about a week. I had always wanted to explore its historical sites and experience the vibrant culture, especially the famous Amer Fort and Hawa Mahal.

Cue 3:Would you go back?

  • Express your feelings about returning to the city, highlighting what you would like to do differently or explore further.
  • Mention any specific experiences or places you missed during your last visit that you would like to see.

Example

Absolutely, I would love to go back to Jaipur! I want to visit the local markets to shop for traditional handicrafts and try more of the delicious Rajasthani cuisine, which I didn’t get enough of during my last trip.

Conclusion

  • Summarize your overall feelings about the city and your desire to return.
  • Reiterate the unique aspects that make the city special to you.

Example

In conclusion, Jaipur holds a special place in my heart due to its stunning architecture and rich traditions. I look forward to revisiting and immersing myself in its beauty once again.

Following this structure will ensure you cover all the essential points while providing a clear and engaging response to the cue card topic.

Tips to answer this Cue Card

1: Vague Descriptions

Using vague language can make your answer less engaging. Avoid general statements that don't provide specific details about the city.

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Tip

Include specific landmarks, cultural experiences, or personal anecdotes to make your description vivid and memorable.

2: Ignoring the Cues

Not addressing all the cues can lead to an incomplete answer. This may result in a lower score for coherence and relevance.

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Tip

Structure your response by clearly answering each cue: location, visit details, and your desire to return.

Overly Long Responses

Giving excessively long answers can lose the listener's interest and make it hard to follow your main points.

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Tip

Be concise and focused. Aim for clear, structured responses that cover all points without unnecessary elaboration.

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IELTS Cue Cards asked last week

Reported by Leap students who gave IELTS

Describe your favourite food at a traditional festival or a special event in your country
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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Pitampura Test Centre, New Delhi

Answer

I like to taste different types of cuisine. Here I would like to talk about my favorite dish at my traditional festival of Onam which is Sadya. Sadya is popular in my city. We are experimenting these cuisines on Onam festival day. Onam is a famous festival in my city. All family members get together in my home and we make a delicious Sadya. There are many ingredients includes that Sadya. Moreover, we make a big feast that day as well as we create a lot of memories together and we wear that day the traditional dress called Sari and men wear the Dhotis. That festival is really important to us because the whole day we are conducting different kinds of games at our homes and all the family members came together. It's a memorable day in my life. This is the festival. We are making the Sambar and Aviyal. These all the kinds of foods are making with the vegetables.
Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 8

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Sector 34 Test Centre, Chandigarh

Answer

The toy which I liked in my childhood was a panda doll, which makes me pleasant and makes me more blush. The pandas are the most beautiful creatures of the world, which looks gigantic and has pooshy cheeks and they are like stars in the clouds and they dream in me. Furthermore, these have been given by my father. My father is a very very beautiful artistic person, who makes me think of that. Every day you will face every difficulties and make you suffer and move forward. Pandas are always seen in Japanese countries. It is my lifelong dream to visit a Japanese country and click a photo with the original pandas, which makes sounds better.
Describe a time you were in a place where you didn't know the local language
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 6.5

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Whitefield Test Center, Bengaluru

Answer

As India is a very large country full of diversity, so there are many places which have their own language and speak their native language. The place which I visited and I didn't know about their language was Leladakh, which is about 300 km away from my hometown and it is a very good place as it consists of different kind of trees, animals and have many scenic views and I visited over there last year in summers as it was the best time to visit because it has many, it was cold over there and we had summers in our area so it was the best time to visit over there and I went over there with my whole family.
Describe a time when your friend damaged something you owned
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7

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Begumpet Test Centre, Hyderabad

Answer

When I was a kid, I had a little pencil box which had these four buttons which gave the pencil box an operative use. When you press the button, the box would open up. When you press the second button, a little part of it would slide out. Basically it was just a little electronical and a fun thing to have and I owned it when I was in 6th. One day after break, I was standing and talking there with one of my friends and another friend of mine was running through the hallway and accidentally she pushed my shoulder and my pencil box hit the ground and it broke into multiple pieces to the point that it was not functional anymore.
Describe a book you recently read
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Reported by

Anonymous student Band 7.5

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CBD Belapur Test Centre, Navi Mumbai

Answer

It Ends With Us is a book I read recently. It's by the author Colleen Hoare. It's mainly a story about two teenagers, Atlas and Lily, and how they just handle their life going through high school, adolescence, and just domestic violence at home. Both of them come from very, very different families. However, they have one common determining factor between them, which is domestic violence. The abuse that they've seen their moms go through is just insane, and they connect through that on a different level. They're actually in the same high school, but they never speak to each other until Atlas actually crashes into an empty house next to Lily's villa. When Atlas is homeless and he doesn't have anywhere to go, he just comes and breaks into the house next to Lily's, and Lily helps him with all the daily necessities like clothes and food, medicines and stuff. Furthermore, their friendship blossoms into love, but it doesn't really fructify as Atlas has to leave. This book really gave me a lot of knowledge about domestic abuse and how to deal with it.

All Answers

Here are all the answers by real-users practicing speaking for IELTS Cue Cards on our IELTS Prep App.

Band 7

This year, while vacationing with my family, we made an impromptu road trip to the beautiful heritage city of Orchha, which is in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is a city where, contrary to popular belief, Lord Ram is not seen as a God. Instead, he is seen as the ruler of the city and to this day, the common public is known as the subjects of the king. The city has a huge temple, which is known as the Palace of Lord Ram. The original idols of the Ayodhya temple in Uttar Pradesh had been shifted here in 16th century when the then ruling queen had a vision, or rather a dream. We will definitely like to go back and visit the city because we were unable to have a look at the entire temple. It has beautiful architecture and hill and heritage idols and monuments. It is a sight to look at. There are beautiful sceneries and it is a place which I would definitely like to visit again.

Band 7

Well, one city that really left a lasting impression on me is Kyoto in Japan. I visited about 4 years ago in the spring of 2021 when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Honestly, that timing couldn't have been more perfect. I went there with my cousin during a 2 weeks trip across Japan. We originally planned to spend just 3 days in Kyoto but we ended up extending our stay because we fell in love with the place almost instantly. What I loved most about Kyoto is the incredible blend of tradition and modernity. Unlike Tokyo which feels overwhelmingly fast-paced, Kyoto has this serene, almost timeless atmosphere. You can be walking through narrow cobblestone streets lined with wooden machiya houses for 1 minute and next you are surrounded by breathtaking temples like the Golden Pavilion glowing in the sunlight. The highlight for me was cycling along the Philosopher's Park at dawn. The cherry blossom petals were falling like pink snow and there was hardly anyone around. It was pure magic. I'd absolutely love to go back, preferably again in spring but maybe also in autumn to see the maple leaves turning fury red. I feel like I only scratched the surface last time. There are so many hidden temples, seasonal festivals and back streets I didn't get to explore. More than anything, Tokyo has this calming, more spiritual energy.

Band 7

My favorite city is New York. It is located in the state of New York in the United States of America. I wonder when I was 13 years old, which should probably be about 6-7 years ago, I went there as a trip with my family. So my father was actually working over there during that time. So my mom, my sister and I decided to go pay him a visit and during our visit to the US, we decided to go see New York. I immediately fell in love with the city. I mean, it was a beautiful city, rich in culture, it had a lot of skyscrapers and the bridges were fascinating. My most favorite part of town happened to be Times Square. It was an amazing area. It was very lively, it was filled with so many different people from different backgrounds and each building was covered with huge televisions, each showing different advertisements and all of that just made the whole experience so much more amazing.

Band 7

A city that I've been to and would love to visit again would be Manali. Manali is situated in the northernmost part of India in the state of Himachal Pradesh. When me and my boyfriend started dating approximately 3 years ago, Manali was one of the first places we decided to go together as a trip just to stay away from the hustling city life here in Gurgaon where we are settled. It was a peaceful, quiet and calm place with the mountain and the beauty of rivers flowing through. We visited it during the time of spring season with lots of flowers blooming and people as beautiful as the flowers that blooms across the city. I would definitely love to visit that place again because of the fact that it's very quiet, calm and peaceful and it is more like a time we can spend away from the chaos that's happening in city life. There is no pollution, there is no environmental hazards, anything that's happening and I often find that the time during spring that's March to June is a good season to visit Manali because I'm never a favourite person of winters, I'm hesitant to cold. Hence, I would love to visit Manali again during spring season with my boyfriend. May our love bloom as the flowers do there.

Band 7

A city I'd like to revisit is Copenhagen, which is the capital city of Denmark. I went there as an exchange student in 2023 to pursue a course in sustainability and entrepreneurship mixed a little with innovation. The city is filled with trees as well as concrete. It is one of the best planned cities that I have visited. The infrastructure and public transport is great and flawless despite the cold weather and otherwise windy days. The summer there which lasted unfortunately only two weeks was perfect. There are public swimming places, lagoons and pools that you can visit and cycle around the city to explore the landscapes of the same. Everything is planned in a way that you can bike to it. It is also one of the safest cities that I have visited and I had no problem pedaling around at night for groceries or leaving my hostel to go out with friends for a dinner late at night.

Band 7

One city that I visited recently and would like to visit again is the Kolhapur city. So I have been born brought up in Navi Mumbai and my village is somewhere near to the city that I mentioned earlier, Kolhapur city. Whenever we used to visit my village we would only explore the areas near my residence in the village area which was a traditional old hut and a small rural part of the residence with very old buildings and localities around. However, this particular city is a few kilometers away from my house in the village and it offers a blended kind of experience wherein there are many facilities and amenities like a city, a proper well-planned city would have to offer anyone like shopping malls and well-planned roads. But what really amuses me is people there still are in a very different zone in their own mind as in they follow the traditional cultures that are followed in any traditional old village. So despite of all the infrastructure developments that are taking place in that particular region people are still following the old regime wherein they are laid back and they enjoy the family time and they are not continuously moving like the people in Mumbai are, always on the top of their toes looking out for opportunities and working 24x7 round the clock. It is indeed said that Mumbai never sleeps but it is not the case.

Band 7

Last year, I visited Barcelona, a small city in Spain, and I'd gone there with my parents. We wanted to take an annual trip outside India, just to spend time together and connect. We tend to do this every year, to take a break from the day-to-day stresses of life here. Barcelona was much quieter than the populated cities that I'm usually exposed to in India. It was still very vibrant. What appealed to me the most was its art culture. I absolutely loved visiting the churches, I loved seeing the work of Anthony Gaudi. I went to Parc Guell, and it was very inspiring because I'm currently studying architecture. It was nice to learn from the local architecture there, local design over there. What was a little bit of a struggle in settling in there was the food, as we struggled to find a lot of vegetarian places. However, if given the choice, I would love to go back there.

Band 7

I would like to talk about Mumbai, which is one of the most famous cities in India. It is located on the west coast of the country along the Arabian Sea. Mumbai is also known as the financial capital of India. And it is also famous for Bollywood, the Indian film industry. The city has many interesting landmarks such as Gateway of India, Marine Drive, Satyarapati Shivaji Terminus and the Elephanta Caves which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of the things I like the most about Mumbai is its vibrant and energetic atmosphere. The city is always busy with people going to work, shopping in markets and enjoying street food. Mumbai is also known for its diverse culture. People from all over India live there. So, you can experience different festivals, languages and cuisines in one city. For example, you can try street foods like Vada Pav, Pav Bhaji and Bhel Puri which are very popular among locals and tourists. Another reason I like Mumbai is the scenic beauty of the sea and coastline. Places like Marine Drive and Juhu beach are perfect to relax, watch the sunset or spend time with your friends and family. Despite being such a busy city, it also has some peaceful spots like Sanjay Gandhi National Park where you can enjoy nature and escape the noise. Overall, Mumbai is a city that combines modern life, history and culture which makes it very special. I hope I can visit it soon to experience its lively streets, beautiful sea views and rich culture personally. I think living in or visiting Mumbai would be a very exciting and memorable experience for anyone.

Band 7

A city that recently left a mark on me was Kathmandu. Kathmandu is the capital city of Nepal. I visited Nepal in the last month with my friends. It was a trip that we took to have a vacation, have fun. The city was a very vibrant city. It had the perfect combination of tourist spots as well as local enjoyable places. The city had markets, it had restaurants, many tourist spots like palaces and museums. We enjoyed the museums thoroughly because it gave us a deeper understanding of the history of the city. As well as the cafes, the food there was amazing. I would 100% recommend anybody visiting Nepal to try their Jhol momos. They are awesome, very delicious. Apart from that, the city has vibrant flags everywhere. Every hotel, every house has these flags. These are known as Aum Mani flags. These are prayer flags originally from the Buddhist religion, I believe. Although it's part of the culture of the city more than the religion itself nowadays, it was an awesome sight and I would definitely want to visit it. I started missing the city as soon as I landed back in Mumbai. I would definitely go there again next month if possible.

Band 7

A city that I have been to and would love to visit again is Paris. It is a capital city of France and is an extremely beautiful place to be. I went there in 2025 on a trip with my parents and I would love to go there again. The place was beautiful and extremely exotic. For somebody living in India this was an out of world experience. The greenery over there, the clean air, the cars, the different kinds of people, the culture, the food was honestly an extremely enriching experience for me. I fell in love with the types of balconies over there. I know this is a very niche thing to fall in love with but the railings, if you have actually ever been to Paris and have focused on the railings over there, the French balconies have a different texture and different detailings that you hardly see around the world and that is something that has truly fascinated me. Another thing about Paris that I really love is the vibrant history over there, the culture, the tapestries woven in everything you see around the corner. The different museums, the different monuments like the Eiffel Tower, the Pantheon, Notre Dame, Palace of Versailles, every single monument over there speaks to you about its history and that I think is an amazing experience because it's really hard to get in any other place. Overall, Paris felt like a dream come true and I would love to visit it again and if I ever get the chance and I really hope that I do, I would love to move there and spend the rest of my life there.
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