Query on the index.php

i am using a php query to filter the data on a page

eg https://www.example.com/places/?city=new_york

is there a way of making this a “pretty url”

i.e https://www.example.com/places/city/new_york/
I have tried the htacess rewrite but it does not seem to be working

Is there another way of sending queris via php, the data is sent from a link
New York