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Where to Go in 2026: Trending Destinations, New Places & Travel Inspiration

Browse 59 country guides, take our country matcher quiz, and find your next trip — from 2026's trending cities to the new places appearing on every major travel index this year.

6 Country guides
65 Cities covered
188 Articles published
2026 Trend data baked in
From our writers

The places we keep going back to

For me, two visits within a single year were enough to understand why so many people return to Porto Santo again and again. It's not an island of endless attractions or nightlife — its charm lies in the atmosphere, the pace of life, and the feeling of space and calm that becomes harder to find elsewhere in Europe.
— Denis Zaykovskiy in Porto Santo: Eleven Kilometres of Sand, Silence and Atlantic Light · Portugal
When you think of traveling to Brazil, if all that comes to mind are breathtaking beaches and Amazon forest adventures, São Paulo may surprise you. This megalopolis is home to more than a dozen Michelin-starred restaurants, jaw-dropping museums, and a lively Brazilian music scene.
— Jéssica Cruz in Top São Paulo Neighborhoods for Hotels, Food & Culture From a Local Journalist · Brazil
Buenos Aires boasts the best of everything — meat, soccer, literature, coffee shops, street markets, theater, and tango, to name just a few. At least that's what the porteños, or locals, will tell you — to protests from the rest of Latin America.
— Daniel Schweimler in The Best of Buenos Aires: Food, Culture & Nightlife Beyond the Tourist Trail · Argentina
From the 2026 lists

The one pick to know in each category

The LocalsInsider team follows the trends too. Here are a few things shaping where people are going this year, drawn from the 2026 lists by Condé Nast Traveler, Tripadvisor, eDreams, American Express Travel and National Geographic.

Trending city Madeira, Portugal Tripadvisor #1 trending Best country Japan CN Traveler Readers' Choice Most-booked city Bangkok eDreams ODIGEO
Wellness country Bhutan Six Senses · Amankora
European city to watch Oulu, Finland 2026 Capital of Culture
EDM festival Tomorrowland Boom, BE · sold out at release
Hike of the year Trans Bhutan Trail 250 miles, reopened 2022
Wellness island JOALI BEING Raa Atoll, Maldives
Anticipated opening Kanal—Pompidou Brussels, opening 2026
Best hiking country New Zealand Multi-list consensus
Biggest event World Cup '26 US · Canada · Mexico, Jun–Jul
Where Airbnb is dead Barcelona, NYC, Singapore Bans, caps, 3-month minimums

Browse all 59 countries

Europe (29)

Austria 1 Vienna coffee houses, Salzburg, Hallstatt, Innsbruck for skiing Croatia 3 Dubrovnik, Split, Hvar, the Dalmatian coast islands Cyprus Paphos, Limassol, Nicosia, the Troodos mountains Czech Republic 1 Prague Old Town, Český Krumlov, Moravian wine country, Karlovy Vary spas Denmark 9 Copenhagen design, Aarhus, Bornholm island Estonia Tallinn's UNESCO Old Town, Tartu's university city, Saaremaa island, Baltic saunas Finland 1 Helsinki design, Lapland Northern Lights, Finnish saunas, archipelago France 8 Paris neighborhoods, Provence villages, the French Riviera and wine regions Georgia 5 Tbilisi sulfur baths, Kakheti wine country, Kazbegi mountains, Svaneti Germany 1 Berlin neighborhoods, Munich beer halls, Hamburg, the Black Forest Greece 6 Athens, Santorini, Crete, the lesser-known islands Greenland 5 Nuuk, Ilulissat icefjord, dog sledding, Northern Lights, Disko Bay whales Hungary 1 Budapest thermal baths, ruin bars, Lake Balaton, Tokaj wine, Eger Iceland Ring Road planning, Reykjavik, glacier hikes, Northern Lights, and the seasons that work best Ireland 2 Dublin pubs, Galway's music, Kerry coast, Belfast Italy 9 Rome, Florence, Venice, Tuscany — where to go, what to eat, and the boutique hotels worth flying for Lithuania 1 Vilnius Old Town, Trakai castle, Curonian Spit, Baltic cuisine Malta 5 Valletta, Sliema, Gozo island Montenegro 5 Kotor Bay, Budva beaches, Durmitor national park, Tara Canyon Netherlands 6 Amsterdam beyond the canals, Rotterdam's architecture, Utrecht's charm Norway Oslo, Bergen, the western fjords, Lofoten, and Tromso for Northern Lights Poland 2 Kraków Old Town, Warsaw, Gdańsk Baltic coast, Zakopane mountains Portugal 5 Lisbon, Porto, Madeira and the Azores — insider tips and slow-travel routes Serbia 2 Belgrade nightlife, Novi Sad EXIT festival, Serbian food, rakija culture Slovenia 1 Ljubljana, Lake Bled, the Julian Alps, the Soca Valley Spain 5 Madrid, Barcelona, Andalucia, the Balearics Sweden 1 Stockholm islands, Gothenburg, Lapland for Northern Lights Switzerland 2 Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne, the Alpine resorts United Kingdom 7 London neighborhoods, Edinburgh, the Cotswolds, the Lake District

Asia (12)

China 5 Beijing Great Wall, Shanghai Bund, Xi'an Terracotta Warriors, Chengdu pandas Hong Kong 1 Central, Kowloon, Lantau islands, dim sum, the Peak views India 4 Delhi, Rajasthan palaces, Goa beaches, Kerala backwaters Indonesia 7 Bali villages, Java, Lombok, the Gili Islands Japan 2 Tokyo neighborhoods, Kyoto temples, Osaka food, where to stay, what to eat Mongolia 1 Ulaanbaatar, Gobi Desert, Khövsgöl Lake, Naadam festival Singapore 2 hawker centers, Marina Bay, Gardens by the Bay, neighborhoods worth exploring South Korea 5 Seoul neighborhoods, Busan, Jeju Island, Jeonju Taiwan 3 Taipei night markets, Tainan temples, Taroko Gorge, Sun Moon Lake Thailand 10 Bangkok rooftops, Chiang Mai food, the southern islands (Phuket, Krabi, Koh Tao) Uzbekistan 1 Samarkand's Registan, Bukhara's old city, Khiva walled town, Silk Road Vietnam 9 Hanoi old quarter, Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Ha Long Bay

Middle East (4)

Oman 1 Muscat, Nizwa, Wahiba Sands, Musandam fjords Saudi Arabia 1 AlUla's Nabataean tombs, Riyadh, Jeddah's UNESCO old town, Red Sea diving Türkiye 9 Istanbul, Cappadocia balloons, the Aegean coast, Antalya United Arab Emirates 4 Dubai luxury, Abu Dhabi culture, Ras Al Khaimah mountains

Latin America (8)

Argentina 3 Buenos Aires neighborhoods, Mendoza wine, Patagonia, Iguazu Brazil 1 Rio neighborhoods, São Paulo, Salvador, Florianopolis, the Amazon Chile 1 Santiago, the Atacama desert, Patagonia, Easter Island, wine country Colombia 1 Cartagena, Medellín, Bogotá, Santa Marta Costa Rica 1 Manuel Antonio, Nosara, Monteverde, Arenal Mexico 2 Mexico City neighborhoods, Oaxaca, Tulum, Yucatán, Baja Peru 3 Lima's food scene, Cusco, Machu Picchu, the Sacred Valley Uruguay 1 Montevideo, Punta del Este beaches, Colonia colonial town, Uruguayan asado

North America (1)

USA 7 National parks, city neighborhoods, eco-friendly stays — beyond the obvious

Africa (4)

Egypt 2 Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, the Red Sea, Sharm el-Sheikh Kenya 1 Nairobi, Masai Mara safari, Lamu coast, Amboseli Morocco 4 Marrakech, Fez, Chefchaouen, the Sahara, Essaouira South Africa 1 Cape Town, Kruger safari, the Garden Route, winelands

Oceania (1)

Mauritius 1 Indian Ocean beaches, luxury resorts, hiking the interior, Le Morne

Browse by 65 cities

Europe (41)

Paris London Rome Barcelona Madrid Lisbon Amsterdam Berlin Munich Vienna Prague Budapest Warsaw Vilnius Copenhagen Stockholm Helsinki Reykjavik Dublin Edinburgh Florence Venice Milan Naples Palermo Athens Santorini Porto Lyon Marseille Nice Zurich Antwerp Aarhus Bornholm Valletta Sliema Belgrade Tbilisi Faroe Islands Veneto

Asia & Middle East (13)

Tokyo Kyoto Osaka Seoul Hong Kong Bangkok Chiang Mai Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City Saigon Bali Mumbai Istanbul

Americas (8)

New York Los Angeles Vancouver Mexico City Lima Medellín Buenos Aires Montevideo

Oceania & Africa (3)

Sydney Cape Town Nuuk
Off the beaten path

Not-so-obvious picks

Two of our most-read editorial deep dives in this category.

Greenland · Editor's pick

Nuuk: the world's smallest capital is suddenly easy to reach

On the edge of the ice-blue Arctic, Nuuk isn't just Greenland's capital — it's the beating heart of one of the world's most startlingly beautiful landscapes. With just over 20,000 residents, it's one of the smallest and coldest capital cities on earth, yet home to over a third of Greenland's entire population. New direct flights from Copenhagen (plus upcoming routes from New York and Chicago) have transformed access.

by Martin Danemaq Read the full Nuuk guide → Europe · 65 islands

Lesser-known European islands worth visiting in 2026

As Ibiza, Mallorca and the Canaries grapple with overtourism — Barcelona is phasing out 10,000 tourist apartments by 2028 — more travelers are skipping the obvious in favour of quieter islands that still feel authentic. Our full list spans the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Nordic seas.

  • Porto Santo, Portugal — eleven kilometres of golden sand and silence
  • Faroe Islands — sea-cliff hikes and the lake-above-the-ocean illusion
  • Bornholm, Denmark — Baltic smokehouses, cliffs and cycling
  • Procida, Italy — the southern alternative to Capri
See all 65 islands →
Try it yourself

Which country matches your travel style?

Six quick questions across 53 countries — climate, budget, pace, landscape, vibe — with cities to visit, experiences you'll love, insider tips, and the realistic budget for each result.

Take the quiz →
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All 6 where to go articles