Which places do the travel experts recommend?
Here’s a list of top destination lists from expert sources across the travel industry, from guidebook and magazine publishers to travel agents, tour operators and websites.
LONELY PLANET
Top 10 U.S. destinations: Asheville, N.C.; Western Washington; Lincoln, Neb.; California’s southern desert region; Montana’s Flathead Valley; Atlanta; New York’s Adirondack Mountains; Texas Hill Country wine region; Denver; Florida’s “Emerald Coast”
Top 10 countries: Canada; Colombia; Finland; Dominica; Nepal; Bermuda; Mongolia; Oman; Myanmar; Ethiopia
Top 10 cities: Bordeaux, France; Cape Town, South Africa; Los Angeles; Merida, Mexico; Ohrid, Macedonia; Pistoia, Italy; Seoul, South Korea; Lisbon, Portugal; Moscow; Portland, Ore.
FROMMER’S
Montreal; Karasjok, Norway; Bermuda; The Pantanal, South America; Mississippi River; Paris; Sulawesi, Indonesia; San Francisco; Fatima, Portugal; Nashville; Panama Canal; Nan Madol, Micronesia; Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda; Germany; Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Maine; Haida Gwaii, B.C.; Doha, Qatar; Cuba
THRILLIST
Houston; Salt Lake City; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Miami; Las Vegas; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Cincinnati; Nashville; Atlanta; Chicago; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Orlando, Fla.; Portland, Ore.; Columbus, Ohio
AFAR MAGAZINE
First 10 on a list of 100 destinations: Skala Sikaminias, Greece; Bermuda; West Sweden; Okinawa, Japan; Kyushu, Japan; Hokkaido, Japan; Arizona; Puerto Rico; Singapore; Buenos Aires
U.S. destinations: Asheville, N.C.; Marfa, Texas; Portland, Ore.; Yolo County, Calif.; Haines, Alaska; New Orleans; Black Rock City, Nev.; Nashville; Park City, Utah; Santa Barbara, Calif.; Chicago; Philadelphia; The Catskills, N.Y.; Los Angeles; Cape Cod, Mass.; Pittsburgh
U.S. TOUR OPERATORS ASSOCIATION
Top “hot” destinations: Cuba, Italy, Iceland, United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, China, Vietnam
Top emerging or off-the-beaten-path destinations: Cuba, Iceland, Croatia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Myanmar, Iran, South Africa and Morocco, Cambodia and India
TRAVEL LEADERS (TRAVEL AGENTS)
Domestic destinations: Orlando; Maui, Hawaii; New York City; Las Vegas; Alaska cruise; Honolulu; Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Miami.
International destinations: Caribbean cruise; Cancun, Mexico; London; European river cruise; Rome; Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Paris; Mediterranean cruise; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Playa del Carmen/Riviera Maya, Mexico
TRAVEL + LEISURE MAGAZINE
North America: Montreal; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Baja Wine Country, Mexico; Veracruz, Mexico; Indianapolis; Cincinnati; Honolulu; Nashville; Norfolk, Va.; Philadelphia; Jackson Hole, Wyo.; Tofino, B.C.; Bermuda
South America: Salta, Argentina; La Paz, Bolivia; Angra dos Reis, Brazil; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Nicaragua; Panama City, Panama; Pisco, Peru; Montevideo, Uruguay
Africa: Okavango Delta, Botswana; Tamouda Bay, Morocco; Cape Town, South Africa; Madagascar; Rwanda; Seychelles
Asia/Middle East: Cambodian Coast, Cambodia; Hampi, India; Kanazawa, Japan; Jerusalem; Al Jabal Akhdar, Oman; Suzhou, China; Laos
Oceania: Noosa, Australia; Perth, Australia; Queenstown, New Zealand
Europe: Helsinki, Finland; Jura, France; Provence, France; Hamburg, Germany; Paros, Greece; Belfast, Northern Ireland; Turin, Italy; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Oslo, Norway; Belgrade, Serbia; Malaga, Spain; Lake Lucerne, Switzerland; Devon, U.K.
FODOR’S
Helsinki, Finland; Hokkaido, Japan; Lima, Peru; Canada’s national parks; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Medellin, Colombia; Aarhus, Denmark; Madagascar; Cyprus; Hong Kong; Oaxaca, Mexico; Edinburgh, Scotland; Alaska; Saxony, Germany; Wellington, New Zealand; Marfa, Texas; Kyiv, Ukraine; Laos; Denver; Minho region, Portugal; Yorkshire, England; Washington, D.C.; Bordeaux, France; Cape Town, South Africa; Antigua and Barbuda