Where To Travel In 2026: 15 Big-Trip Ideas For Your Most Ambitious Travel Year Yet

There are at least two ways to read this list. Yes, it is a guide shaped by our decades of editorial experience spent chasing stories across continents. But use it that way and prepare for the full spectrum of travel reality. Some cities deliver sky-high luxury and biohacking spa treatments in five-star resorts, while others bring you close to millennia-old Mayan ruins on a wild coast. Many even manage to hold both worlds at once. Of course, we understand there are more than eight destinations that are equally worthy of the moniker ‘best places to visit in the world’.

But these best answered the questions: Are there major infrastructure upgrades, hotel openings, museum launches or restored heritage sites set for 2026? Is there genuine ‘value’ beyond typical tourism PR? Will the destination host global events? And here are our answers to those questions. (If you’re looking for some seasonal travel inspiration, check out our winter-specific guide to Europe, too.)

15 of the world’s best places to visit in 2026

Cairo, Egypt

With its pharaonic horizons and a skyline forever anchored by the Giza Plateau, Cairo has never lacked spectacle. However, there’ll be a renewed intensity around the Egyptian capital in 2026 as the country pushes toward a projected 18.56 million visitors, backed by the full opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum and a wave of luxury hotels reshaping how travellers experience the city. The GEM, now fully operational near the Pyramids, brings the entire Tutankhamun collection for the first time, pulling modern Cairo directly into conversation with its ancient past.

Restoration work across major temples and upgrades to Giza access add another layer of reason to why we are confident of it as one of the best places to visit in the world in 2026, as the city’s calendar fills with trade and cultural fixtures.

Hong Kong

You never have to convince us to visit Hong Kong, home to some of the world’s densest skyscraper clusters (and a skyline that glows differently depending on the hour). But as 2026 rolls in, there are new reasons to be excited and include it in our ‘best places to visit in the world’ roundup. Art Central 2026 is set to return to Hong Kong’s iconic Central Harbourfront from March 25 to 29, 2026, with a VIP Preview on March 24, while nature lovers will notice spruced-up trails across The Peak, Lantau Peak, Tai Mo Shan, and Sai Kung Hoi, complete with improved waymarks and visitor panels.

Additionally, when it reopens mid-year, the Sky100 Observation Deck (closed since May 17, 2025, for major renovation works) will offer a whole new set of heart-thumping experiences. As we predict run-cation to be one of the biggest trends in 2026, the annual Hong Kong Marathon boasts the highest participation rate in the city, drawing thousands of local runners and elite athletes from around the world, with races ranging from 10 km to a half-marathon and the full marathon.

For the music-minded, concerts here in early 2026 include aespa on February 7 and 8, OneRepublic on February 21, BLACKPINK on January 24 and 25, DAY6 on January 17 and 18, and Tomorrow X Together from January 9 to 11. Other upcoming shows feature Lea Salonga on January 10 and Jacky Cheung on January 7. A major cultural festival, ComplexCon, is also scheduled for 2026, with details to be announced.

Naoshima, Japan: One of the world’s best places to visit

Naoshima, the tiny island in the Seto Inland Sea, has quietly become one of the world’s best magnetic art destinations (Kusama’s Pumpkin alone has lured legions of design pilgrims), and is now one of the unmissable places to visit for travellers. On May 31, 2025, the Naoshima New Museum of Art (NNMA) opened under the direction of Tadao Ando, introducing a minimalist space dedicated to rotating exhibitions of Asian contemporary art. Travellers with spring or summer trips to spare will be able to catch the inaugural exhibition featuring artists, such as Takashi Murakami and Cai Guo-Qiang, which undergoes a partial change between May 11 and June 6, 2026.

Between museum visits and ferry crossings, visitors can expect the full sweep of the Setouchi Triennale 2026, held from mid-April to early November across 17 participating areas, divided into spring, summer, and autumn sessions. These bring contemporary art into island villages, restored homes and coastal landscapes. According to a Docomo InsightMarketing survey, Europeans and Americans account for about 42 percent of all foreign visitors to Naoshima, compared with 18 percent for Kyoto, meaning Western travellers make up 2.3 times the share they do in Japan’s traditional cultural capital. As Benesse’s Yukari Stenlund told Nikkei Asia, interest in art “has taken hold more deeply in Europe and the U.S.”, and the numbers reflect that.

Jorhat, Assam, India

In an extraordinary outpouring of love and grief, four artists transformed the newly built flyover at Jhanji bridge in #Jorhat, #Assam into a canvas of remembrance for the state’s music icon, #ZubeenGarg.

Working through the night with their own resources and support from… pic.twitter.com/uaj40jfU7z

— India Today NE (@IndiaTodayNE) September 23, 2025

Despite being one of Assam’s cultural heavyweights, Jorhat has long been left off travellers’ best places to visit in the world lists. But if you look past the tea-estate calm and small-town pace, the city is building a momentum all its own, and 2026 is shaping up to be the year it breaks wide open. In September 2025, IndiGo reinstated the long-dormant Delhi-Jorhat route with a four-times-weekly service, which will finally give travellers a direct link to the region’s heartland.

Get, Set, IndiGo! 🛫️✨
We are thrilled to announce new routes to/from Assam with support from Hon’ble Chief Minister Sh. @himantabiswa & @MoCA_GoI :

✈️ Delhi-Jorhat from September 20, 2025
✈️ Additional daily early morning flights on Guwahati-Silchar & Guwahati-Dibrugarh…

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) June 16, 2025

On the cultural side, Jorhat’s historic twin-market origins along the Bhogdoi River, its role as the gateway to Majuli (the world’s largest river islands) and its proximity to Kaziranga National Park are drawing fresh attention. That momentum is landing at exactly the right time, as Skyscanner’s 2026 Travel Trends report logs a staggering 493 percent rise in searches for Jorhat, placing it above heavyweights like Berlin, Langkawi and Phuket. As one of India’s most culturally layered small cities, think tea estates, satras (monasteries), river islands and all, it’s finally stepping into the spotlight and proving itself as one of the best places to visit in the world.

Canberra, Australia: One of the world’s best places to visit

Australia’s capital is set for a buoyant year, with sunrise balloons drifting over Lake Burley Griffin and a renewed push to put the city back on travellers’ maps. The big driver? The 2025-26 ACT Budget, which is pouring targeted investment into tourism, hospitality and major events, is a move designed to strengthen Canberra’s national profile and grow its visitor economy. The free Canberra Balloon Spectacular returns in March, complete with balloon launches and lake cruises (a sunrise favourite). Telstra Tower, one of the city’s most recognisable landmarks, is also being revitalised under a government and Telstra partnership.

In the now, the allure of Canberra’s epic food scene and neighbourhoods delivers its own momentum. Braddon’s boutiques and cafés, NewActon’s design-led culture, Manuka and Kingston’s 1920s-era dining strips, and family-friendly stops in Gold Creek Village (Cockington Green Gardens; National Dinosaur Museum). Add nearly 140 vineyards and 30 cellar doors within 30 minutes, along with easy access to Tidbinbilla, Namadgi and the Snowy Mountains, and Canberra lands firmly on the list of 2026’s most strategically primed short-break destinations.

Mexico City, Mexico

Okay, it’s never ‘not a good year’ to do Mexico City, but 2026 is attracting enough high-profile events and upgrades that the city feels freshly charged, even by CDMX standards. New museums, literally the biggest FIFA World Cup tournament and a wave of neighbourhood revivals are reshaping everything from San Miguel Chapultepec to the eastern edge of Reforma.

This follows on the heels of major cultural returns, including El Rey León at the Telcel Theatre in early 2026 and the long-awaited reopening of the Museo Dolores Olmedo, which has been closed since 2020 and holds one of the world’s most important Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera collections. And for travellers flying in, American Airlines is boosting its Mexico schedule with more than 880 weekly flights from January 6 to 13, a winter capacity increase of over 10 percent, along with a seasonal Chicago to Mexico City route running from October 26, 2025, to March 28, 2026.

In less than a year, North America will host the 2026 @FIFAWorldCup — the most anticipated sporting event on the planet. ⚽

Today, we had the chance to meet with the FIFA World Cup @MexicoCity26 Host Committee to discuss ongoing preparations and strategic planning for next… pic.twitter.com/PRxJNzj9Ow

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) November 7, 2025

But the most anticipated moment in 2026 is FIFA’s return to Estadio Azteca, complete with a near-total renovation, new transport links feeding the southern districts and citywide fan zones taking over plazas from Tlalpan to Coyoacán. Expect packed streets, late-night taquerías running on overdrive and a capital that feels like the centre of the sporting world.

Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, is one of the best places to visit in the world

If you’ve only ever passed through Kaohsiung on your way to Taiwan’s beaches, hot springs, or the cultural heavyweights up north, this is the year to actually stay put and see what the island’s southern port city is doing with its moment. An easy 1.5 hours from Taipei by High Speed Rail, Kaohsiung has been leaning into its maritime identity and laid-back waterfront culture, helped along by a wave of international attention as its port is set to nearly double cruise calls in 2025 (107 ships compared to last year’s 59), part of a long-term strategy that’s bringing more than 100,000 visitors and new itineraries to Japan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Major concerts by BLACKPINK, TWICE and Super Junior have lifted the city’s profile even further, feeding a “concert economy” that spills into hotels, transport, and the city’s night-market circuit. In 2026, STARLUX will also open a new Kaohsiung base ahead of planned Northern Europe routes to Helsinki and Prague, while United Airlines has already cut the ribbon on its Kaohsiung-Tokyo Narita service. Looks like it’s going to be a big 2026 for Kaohsiung.

Medellin, Colombia

Medellín’s tourist lure has long centred on its rapid transformation and creative energy, and the numbers back it up. But if you need just one uncomplicated reason to put Medellín on your bucket list, think about the food. This is a city where Juan Manuel Barrientos’s El Cielo turns dinner into a multisensory ritual, from the famed Tree of Life to its signature Chocolatherapy, and where Memmoria plates Pacific-inspired creations like Nuquí tuna ceviche or the smoked-shrimp Footprints of the Pacific.

Add Carmen’s biodiverse tasting menus and the countryside escape to Martin Mulatto for branzino al fuego, and it is clear that in Medellín, even a single meal can justify the journey. Back to the numbers, international arrivals to the city have grown an estimated 17.2 percent in 2025, while Colombia welcomed 7 million visitors in 2024, a record the country is expected to surpass in 2026.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Many travellers, with their imaginations and memories fired by its Ottoman textures, see in Sarajevo a Slavic mini-Istanbul. The notes are most prominent in Baščaršija, the city’s delightful Old Town, where mosques, bazaars, kebab houses and smoky cafés shape the rhythm of daily life. It is hard to go far without being offered coffee, and harder still to accept without making friends.

Swiss International Air Lines and Eurowings will widen the city’s horizons next year with five new routes under a subsidised air service agreement with the local tourism board. Swiss will restore its Geneva link, complementing its existing Zurich service, with the route expected to operate twice weekly pending final confirmation ahead of the early-2026 launch. Eurowings is planning an even bigger expansion. In addition to its Cologne and Stuttgart flights, the carrier will add Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Hanover to Sarajevo’s network.

Ushuaia, Argentina

Travellers will undoubtedly chase bucket-list journeys to Patagonia’s glaciers and Antarctica’s icy frontiers. But head south to Ushuaia, and you can immerse yourself in a port city whose rugged landscape and wildlife traditions shape every season. Since the early Antarctic expeditions, the harbour has welcomed vessels bound for the Drake Passage, with cruise operators running November-to-April voyages that carry travellers past whales, albatrosses and drifting icebergs.

In the decades since adventure tourism took root here, local agencies have worked to protect fragile habitats while offering once-in-a-lifetime experiences. “A decade ago, about 35,500 Antarctic passengers set out from Ushuaia. Last year, about 111,500 did,” reported The New York Times. “This year, as the season draws to an end, the local port authority estimates that the number will be 10 percent higher. Many tourists will spend a night or two in town before or after their cruise, some choosing an Airbnb over a room at one of the city’s mostly humble hotels,” it further stated.

Hangzhou, China

Sure, it’s Hangzhou’s ancient pagodas, mist-wrapped tea fields and mirror-still lakes that first catch the eye. But what puts this historic metropolis on our best places to visit in the world hotlist is its appetite for continuously reinventing itself as a trendy tourism base. The city’s long-standing reputation reaches back to the 13th century, when Marco Polo called it “beyond dispute the finest and the noblest in the world,” a description it continues to live up to today.

Also, read our roundup of the must-have apps for China travel.

A new 6-billion-yuan cultural and tourism resort in Linping District is scheduled to open in 2026, bringing together Song Dynasty aesthetics with high-tech attractions designed to draw families and younger travellers. Another factor catching global attention is the extension of China’s visa-free policy to 45 countries until the end of 2026, a move expected to ease entry and lift international arrivals. The 2026 Sitting Volleyball World Championships, alongside momentum from the Volleyball World Cup, are also set to draw fans from around the world.

Peloponnese, Greece

In 2026, the Peloponnese is emerging as one of Greece’s (and even the world’s) most exciting tourism hotspots, driven by the launch of the Peloponnese Trails, a 1,730-kilometre certified network of hiking and cycling routes designed to open up the region’s mountains, coastlines and traditional villages. A major draw for culture lovers is the revamp of the Archaeological Museum of Nafplio, which will refresh one of the region’s most important heritage institutions.

Travel access is improving too, with Kalamata Airport (KLX) seeing an increase in direct international flights, making the region far easier to reach without routing through Athens. The Peloponnese is also set to gain rare worldwide attention, thanks to Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film The Odyssey, reportedly shot at standout locations including Pylos, Voidokilia Beach and Acrocorinth.

Silverstone, England, is one of the best places to visit in the world

Yes, yes, this is where the F1: The Movie was filmed. Tucked between Northamptonshire villages and the rolling English countryside, Silverstone (also known simply as “the home of British motorsport”) is arguably one of the best places to visit in the world, unitnetionally hiding in plain sight. And we won’t be surprised if 2026 will shape up to be its breakout year. The 2026 Formula 1 British Grand Prix will bring thousands of international fans to the circuit from July 2 to 5, adding four days of high-octane action.

Beyond F1, MotoGP will take over the track on August 6 and 7, while Run Silverstone and Cycle Silverstone invite athletes to tackle the iconic circuit in early September. There are also driving experiences, karting, the Silverstone Museum, and the Distillery tour to check out. By sitting just 22 km from Bletchley Park, 40 km from Oxford, and 61 km from the Warner Bros Studio Tour, Silverstone is also a gateway to broader English exploration.

Sharjah, UAE

Best known for its crowdless charm and rich cultural heritage, Sharjah sits just down the coast from Dubai, offering a striking contrast to its flashier neighbour. Recognised by UNESCO as the ‘Cultural Capital of the Arab World’ and Capital of Islamic Culture, tourism is likely to boom as a direct result of the expansion of Sharjah International Airport; it is projected to increase its passenger capacity from 8 million to 25 million annually by the end of 2026.

Other major annual events that’ll further drive interest include Ramadan Nights, a 21-day night bazaar and lifestyle festival offering shopping, entertainment, and food; Sharjah Light Festival, Sharjah Biennial, and the Sharjah International Book Fair, one of the world’s largest literary gatherings, all hosted at the Expo Centre Sharjah.

Also, learn about the day trips from Dubai that provide maximum exploration in a limited time.

Aruba

Aruba is stepping into 2026 with a renewed push to welcome travellers seeking both relaxation and cultural immersion. The island’s profile is set to rise with the inaugural Aerolíneas Argentinas flight to Oranjestad on January 2, 2026, opening direct connections for South American visitors and expanding Aruba’s accessibility beyond traditional gateways. Expedia’s 2025 Island Hot List also revealed that interest in Aruba is up 15 percent year-on-year. Some must-see events include grand parades of Aruba Carnival, live music at the Bon Bini Festival, every Tuesday (throughout the year) at Fort Zoutman and the Aruba Fashion Week, which will make a comeback in December.

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(Feature image credit: Hong Kong Tourism Board)

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The information in this article is accurate as of the date of publication.

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