Botswana tops charts of countries to visit

BOTSWANA, Transylvania and the Montenegro city of Kotor have been chosen by travel guides company Lonely Planet as the best travel destinations for 2016.

In its 11th annual travel listing, Best in Travel 2016 listed the city of Kotor on the Adriatic Sea as a well-kept secret with its breathtaking bay, coining it a “miniDubrovnik” – referring to the highly regarded Croatian holiday destination further up the coast.

Kotor was somewhat of a sur- prise top selection, considering that Lonely Planet’s previous top city destinations were Washington DC in 2015, Paris in 2014, San Francisco in 2013 and London in 2012.

Kotor topped the city list ahead of Ecuador’s capital Quito, with Ireland’s Dublin, George Town in Malaysia and Dutch city Rotterdam rounding out the top five.

Lonely Planet’s top choice for countries to visit was Botswana followed by Japan, the US, the Pacific island country of Palau and Latvia.

The top five regions in Best in Travel 2016 are Transylvania, Romania; West Island around Montreal; the Vinales Valley in western Cuba; the Friuli wine region in Italy; and Waiheke Island off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand.

Best in Travel 2016 is published in English, France, German, Italian and Russian. – dpa