Every roadshow is unique and the decision of which cities to visit is normally an easy one: you go where your investors and potential investors are. In a recent roadshow organised by a London-based agency Media Tree, three teams travelled to 27 cities, attended 130 one-on-one meetings and gave 25 presentations to 925 investors. They travelled on 35 flights and trains and had 70 car transfers – a total of 33,967 miles.

For an IPO roadshow the obvious place to start is your home market: a French company, for example, will always garner a large share of its equity in Paris from key French institutional investors. In certain instances, a retail placing means covering regions as well. Monday in Marseilles and Tuesday in Toulouse might not sound glamorous, but can be every bit as important as hitting the world’s key financial markets.

After a company has sewn up its home market in the first day or two, it typically goes abroad. In Europe, initial targets are London, Frankfurt, Paris and Milan. Companies also go to Zurich and Geneva, usually on the same day. Logistically, they cover Edinburgh and probably Dublin in the wake of London, since a few large accounts, such as Pioneer in Dublin or Scottish Widows in Edinburgh, are based there.

Amsterdam is another important money center, as are other Dutch cities where pension funds reside: Eindhoven, Rotterdam and Utrecht. Roadshows covering smaller markets might include Copenhagen, Madrid, Munich and Stockholm, and sometimes Cologne and Dusseldorf.

In the US the first ports of call are New York and Boston.  More companies are visiting San Francisco and even San Diego, for Nicholas Applegate and Brandes.  Utility sector roadshows hit Los Angeles to see key fund manager Capital International’s oil and gas analyst.  A stop in Denver for Fidelity, Janus, and Invesco can also be worthwhile.  For companies with a full US listing, consider Fort Lauderdale, Kansas City, Austin, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Toronto – Canada’s financial center.