The Best Maps in Cities Skylines Heading into 2023

Foggy Hills is a great starter map with 74% buildable area and access to the two flowing rivers in the center, which also serve as a land divider. With a flat structure, this map is perfect for you beginners to experiment with different mechanics and buildings within the game.

Although it isn’t the prettiest place out there, it's ideal for figuring out your planning style and getting familiarized with the more technical aspects of Cities: Skylines.

Oracle Lake, unlike its name, is home to a large river cutting south through the western side of the map with wider areas and runoffs forming lakes. This body of water essentially cuts your map into two, giving you a separate plot of land to do with as you wish.

Despite the large river, this map still provides a 78% buildable area with large flatlands and hills cresting on the west and east borders, providing more variety in your city.

Noyou Port is the first map on this list offering bay access, opening the doors for you to experiment with Cargo Shipping as well as the various leisure possibilities of a coastal area. Although it's hidden away in the southwest corner, it still offers two rivers in the center, giving you three large chunks of land to build a more stylized city.

With 80% buildable area, a very flat terrain, and two connecting highways, Noyou Port might just be the home for your next metropolis.

Welcome to the beautiful land of Seven Lakes. As the name suggests, this map is the home of seven unique lakes across the center. Even with all the water though, these lands still boast 81% buildable area and allow for more style in the structure of your city center.

Made for more of a confident and creative Mayor, Seven Lakes offers a bit of pizazz to your next city.

Simply put, the Grand River is a flat expanse of plains with slight hills to the south and a large, or grand, river flowing through its center. With 84% buildable area and highways on either side, its basic format allows for much versatility in the creation of your next city.

Although maybe not the most unique map, it’s another good beginner map as no DLC is required and it also allows for the use of more “niche” buildings like hydroelectric dams.

Two Rivers is another great vanilla map as it offers two intersecting rivers, creating a lake in the center, set on a flat expanse squared off by three highways. These features allow you to have more variety in the amenities your city can offer its residents. Also allowing you to explore more of the minute mechanics and services in Cities: Skylines.

From a quiet, rural lakeside town to a unique island home, Two Rivers might just be the ideal place for your next project.

Garden River is the first map on this list with the addition of mountains. But it wouldn’t have its name without the presence of a large river flowing through the southern half of the map.

A quite unique offering of Garden River though, is the 4 bay-like areas of the river itself. This not only gives you more of a dedicated section for coastal areas and amenities, it also gives you the choice of a beachside or mountainside coastal community.

Although more of a niche map, Meandering River offers quite the layout for those of you that like a lot of variety in the physical features across your map. Sometimes limiting the amount you can do in your city, certain unique geographical aspects can breathe that extra bit of life into your experience.

With a windy river cutting through the center, dense forests strewn about, mountains to the south and an 83% buildable area, this map might just be the one you needed to start your next world-renowned city.

Northwood Hills may have the lowest buildable area on this list at 72%, but if you fancied the variety of the last one, it might be a pretty good option for your project. Adorned with a river that splits in two at the center of the map, another small river in the northwest, five different lakes, and plenty of mountains in the South, this map doesn’t fall short of variety in its geography.