After touring all 50 states, the British comedian likes San Francisco most, with its close proximity to Sequoia National Park and Big Sur.

Question: What is your favorite city in America?

Stephen Fry: Yes, I’m always asked what was your favorite city, what was your favorite state. City, well I love New York. I just adore it. I do like Chicago, but I think if I could choose any city to live in I’d probably choose San Francisco, not just because the beauty of San Francisco itself. It’s a great town, but because of its nearness to northern California generally, and there is so much in northern California right up through to the Sequoia National Park up to Oregon, the Oregon state line and down below in also Big Sur area and the vineyards, and you know that part of America is just simply unbelievable, so I would probably say the favorite city is San Francisco and maybe northern California if called it a separate state, but So. Cal. as they call southern California has its charm to, but I loved Kentucky actually. I loved South Carolina, the lowlands of South Carolina, Buford. Montana takes a heck of a lot of beating just for sheer physical beauty. The lower of New England is wonderful, New Hampshire, Maine. Maine people are so great. Maine is the lovely… Down east as well, which is the absolute… Ironically up east is what it really is, but it’s called down east and marvelous people, marvelous, marvelous. I mean it’s just a hell of a country. It really… You’ve got yourself quite a nation here.

 Recorded December 8, 2009