Where to Go in 2026: Places That Are on the Rise and Off the Beaten Path

Yes, Paris is always a good idea.

But Bucharest, Romania (the “little Paris of the East”), has a lively bar scene and Belle Époque architecture—and draws a fraction of the crowds. Japan’s Sado Island surprises with pristine white-sand beaches and relaxing onsens and has none of the tourism congestion that plagues Kyoto. And St. Louis’s arts and culture offerings rival those in much larger cities.

Isn’t it time these places got their due?

In 2026, we want to lessen the burden on overtouristed destinations and expand visitation to more varied spots across the world. Read on to discover 24 emerging regions and overlooked locales—as well as the resources and recommendations to make these trips a reality. We chose these places because they allow for this kind of responsible travel, yes, but also because they will inspire you to start planning your next great adventure right now. —Edited by Ellen Carpenter

Photo by Jack Fenby

Adelaide, Australia

Aboriginal heritage, live music, and a flourishing food-and-wine scene meet on South Australia’s coast.

Historically, Adelaide, the culturally rich coastal capital of the state of South Australia, has never been as accessible as the country’s other gleaming metropolises. But that changed in December 2025, when United Airlines launched direct flights from San Francisco—the Australian region’s first-ever nonstop option from the U.S.

Adelaide’s story begins with the Kaurna people, whose history travelers can learn about at the Aboriginal cultural center Yitpi Yartapuultiku, which opened in June 2025 after recent reconciliation efforts. The name, meaning “Soul of Port Adelaide,” nods to its riverside location, where visitors can hike the restored shoreline habitat and take in Aboriginal art, along with dance and music performances, as part of the center’s programming.

Music is woven into Adelaide’s DNA. The capital marked a decade as Australia’s only UNESCO City of Music in 2025, and its musical chops are on display at the Thebarton Theatre—affectionately known as the “Thebby"—which reopened in October after an $8 million transformation, bringing new life to the nearly century-old venue. And each year, the city’s stages swell with international talent during Adelaide Fringe, Australia’s biggest arts festival, and WOMADelaide, a global celebration of music, arts, and dance.

Adelaide is also quietly evolving into one of Australia’s best food cities, thanks to top players like Shōbōsho, a Japanese izakaya restaurant that turns out salmon tataki on an indoor yakitori grill, and newcomers such as Homeboy, a coffee and “sando” shop run by 20-year-old TikTok star Tom Oswald. In 2026, the 19th-century Central Market, South Australia’s most visited attraction, will unveil a major expansion, doubling its footprint.

The culinary story continues just beyond the city limits in Australia’s famous wine country. In McLaren Vale, sip shiraz at Lino Ramble’s tasting room and pair braised kangaroo tail with a local chenin blanc at the Salopian Inn.

Where to stay: Opened in the city center in 2024, the Adelaide Marriott was carefully built into a historic post office, preserving the existing 152-year-old structure. There are references throughout to the post office (the Penny Blue restaurant, named for a rare blue stamp) and to the surrounding wine country (interior colors range from leaf green to dark red, following a vine’s life cycle). —Aislyn Greene

Photo by Eric Williams

Albuquerque, New Mexico

In this high-desert city, Route 66 winds its way past contemporary galleries and updated vintage hotels.

New Mexico’s largest city is a crossroads in more ways than one: where the Chihuahuan Desert meets the Colorado Plateau, where the adobe buildings of Old Town stand next to midcentury modern motor courts on Route 66. But Albuquerque, a common launching point to Santa Fe and Taos, is a destination in its own right.

Ahead of the Route 66 Centennial in 2026, Albuquerque’s Department of Arts & Culture partnered with Santa Fe’s immersive art organization Meow Wolf to tap local artists to develop large-scale murals and interactive art installations that will line the city’s 18-mile stretch of Route 66 (also known as Central Avenue), from the new Route 66 Visitor Center to the Singing Arrow neighborhood. The city is working with the collaborative arts group Friends of the Orphan Signs to revitalize historic neon signage—and keep Albuquerque shining bright.

Must-visit spots in town include the neon-lit KiMo Theatre, a pueblo deco downtown landmark that was recently restored and hosts everything from rock shows to ballets; Old Town’s Albuquerque Museum, where galleries tell the story of the city through artifacts and interactive exhibits; A. Hurd Gallery, displaying artist Anthony Hurd’s depictions of queer cowboys and a reimagined West; and Teddy Roe’s, a 1920s-style speakeasy in the alley behind Italian restaurant M’tucci’s Bar Roma, which itself occupies a former service station on Route 66.

Where to stay: The newly renovated Arrive Albuquerque is a former Route 66 motor inn, now reborn as a retro-chic 137-room, six-story hotel with a pool and a gallery highlighting the work of Southwestern artists. Its restaurant, DWTNR Cocktail Bar & Lounge, serves Southwestern and Pan-Asian plates such as coconut shrimp toast made with fried milk bread, and green chili smash burgers with hatch chili Velveeta. —Matt Kirouac

Photos by Corey Favino (L); Jesse Legg (R)

Birmingham, Alabama

This Southern hub is hungry for the title of top U.S. food city.

Pork ribs in red sauce, oysters on ice, fried green tomatoes, sugary French patisserie: Birmingham, Alabama, is quietly obsessed with food. “I wouldn’t say the cat’s out of the bag, but there’s a paw,” says Melissa Booth Hall with a laugh. Hall is codirector of the Southern Foodways Alliance, which protects and promotes Southern culinary culture and hosts an annual symposium in Birmingham that draws hundreds of chefs. “Serious foodies know Birmingham,” she says, “but I think [most] travelers are just waking up.”

Visitors should rise early on Saturdays for the downtown Farmers Market at Pepper Place, with about 80 farmers and vendors. From there, make a beeline to Continental Bakery, a mainstay of the English Village neighborhood, to get cinnamon rolls and wild-yeast sourdough loaves fresh from the oven.

For restaurants in town, James Beard Award nominations grow like the kudzu vine. José Medina Camacho, cofounder of the Mexican spirits–focused cocktail bar Adiõs, was a 2025 finalist for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service, and multiple Best Chef Southeast winners call the city home. One is Frank Stitt, a Southern food legend and owner of the Italian spot Bottega and the French bistro Chez Fonfon. Adam Evans won the award in 2022 for his Automatic Seafood & Oysters and co-opened a second spot, Current Charcoal Grill, in 2024.

Another chef gaining recognition is Rob McDaniel, a multiple James Beard Award semifinalist, who opened his second restaurant, the seafood-forward Bayonet, in 2025. “Our oyster list is extensive,” McDaniel says. “We also break down fish in front of guests. It’s important to who we are.”

Dining downtown has never been more vibrant. Recent openings include Armour House—a brasserie with an attached craft cocktail bar, Pogo—and Johin’na, a Japanese restaurant offering an omakase experience, oysters, and sushi (the Birmingham roll has crab, cucumber, fried catfish, and spicy mayo).

Where to stay: Elyton Hotel, Autograph Collection is set in a 1909 skyscraper of molded terra-cotta and pink granite. Located downtown in the theater district, it has 111 guest rooms and six suites. The Painted Lady debuted downtown in 2025 with 22 whimsically decorated rooms inside the historic Eyer-Raden Building. The hotel’s name is a nod to Louise C. Wooster, a brothel owner who went on to become a town hero as a nurse during a cholera outbreak in 1873. —Jenny Adams

Photo by Alexander Spatari/Getty Images

Bucharest, Romania

With a focus on restoring prewar buildings and a bustling nightlife, the former Communist capital lives up to its title as the “little Paris of the East.”

A 1930 printing house turned Gen Z culture hub. A World War II German headquarters transformed into a stunning hotel. A former sheet-metal factory brought back to life as a neon-lit nightlife destination. In recent years, Bucharest has converted industrial buildings into eclectic spaces, particularly in and around the Cișmigiu district.

At Palatul Universul, the former printing house, visitors should order a cocktail spotlighting Romanian-made pollen liqueur at Fix Me a Drink, attend a contemporary dance performance at Linotip, and check out goods from local makers at Mezanin Space.

A block from Boulevard Regina Elisabeta is No Room Taproom, a major player in the city’s growing craft-beer scene. And a few blocks away is Bar Ton, a hip listening bar where patrons can spend an evening drinking vermouth-heavy cocktails while enjoying DJ sets. After sunset, the place to be is Platforma Wolff, a sheet-metal factory turned club, for dancing until morning.

EVA Foundation, a new arts space dedicated to works by women, opened in October 2025 in a 1930s townhouse in the city center. The debut exhibition, Sirens, includes pieces by Judy Chicago and Jenny Holzer.

The past few years have also seen more variety in Bucharest’s food scene as Romanian classics are newly interpreted: At Arzu, in the old Jewish Quarter, diners can try stuffed bell peppers with a glass of Romanian mustoasă de măderat white wine. Or they can visit Soro Lume, on the eastern side of the city, for mushroom-glazed pork cooked overnight in a wood-fired oven.

Where to stay: The Corinthia Bucharest opened in March 2025 in a Belle Époque building that opened in 1873 as the Grand Hotel du Boulevard. It was later used as a German headquarters during WWII and as the Ministry of Culture during Romania’s Communist era. Now, the 30-suite hotel has a skincare-focused spa and a restaurant in the art nouveau ballroom. —Erin Vivid Riley

Photo by Matthew Digati/Visit Buffalo

Buffalo, New York

The city’s African American Heritage Corridor gets revitalized with a reborn jazz club and first-of-its-kind Black radio museum, setting the tempo for wider change.

In Buffalo’s burgeoning Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, history isn’t just behind glass—it’s on the mic. The Historic Colored Musicians Club & Jazz Museum, one of the nation’s oldest Black-owned clubs, will reopen in spring 2026 after a three-year, $3.2 million overhaul. The renovation adds an elevator-accessible performance space, upgraded lighting and sound for live-streaming, and new interactive exhibits. Museum president George Scott says visitors are often surprised by how deep Buffalo’s jazz roots run; the club’s stage has welcomed icons such as Ella Fitzgerald alongside homegrown talent like Elvin Shepherd and Dodo Greene. “[The Club] is going to be a big factor in drawing people to Buffalo,” Scott says. “They may come for Niagara Falls, but they leave with a love of jazz.”

On the same block, WUFO Black Radio History Collective will open in 2026 as the nation’s first museum dedicated to Black radio. Charting the evolution from reel-to-reel and cassettes to podcasts, it explores radio’s outsize influence on popular culture and civil rights. For WUFO owner Sheila Brown, the goal is simple: She wants visitors—especially young people—to leave “thinking that radio is still cool” and to understand the importance of “telling your own narrative.”

Change is afoot throughout the corridor. The 180-year-old Michigan Street Baptist Church, whose founding members were actively engaged in the Underground Railroad, unveiled a major interior restoration in January 2025. In October 2025 the city secured an additional $12 million in funding for the corridor project to repave streets, widen sidewalks, add landscaping, and more. “The whole area is changing,” Brown says.

That momentum can be felt citywide. The Buffalo Bills’ new $2.2 billion Highmark Stadium is expected to open in time for the 2026 NFL season, and the first phase of the 100-acre, $200 million Ralph Wilson Park will debut in 2026 along the Lake Erie shoreline with a pedestrian bridge and landscaped gardens. From the corridor to the lakefront, it’s clear Buffalo is ready for its next act.

Where to stay: The Richardson Hotel is set in a transformed 19th-century psychiatric hospital, a National Historic Landmark. Designed by Henry Hobson Richardson and with sprawling grounds by Frederick Law Olmsted, it’s now an 88-room retreat with Romanesque arches and original wood flooring. —Ashlea Halpern

Photo by Ethan Welty

Columbia River Gorge, Oregon and Washington

Come for the outdoor adventure and scenic drives, stay for the seasonal restaurants in this majestic Pacific Northwest landscape.

“There is but one Columbia River Gorge [that] God put into this comparatively short space, [with] so many beautiful waterfalls, canyons, cliffs and mountain domes.” This is how engineer Samuel C. Lancaster described the volcano- and flood-forged gorge more than a century ago, and the sentiment remains relevant today.

Marking the border of Oregon and Washington, the Columbia River Gorge begins 30 miles east of Portland and packs a stunning amount of natural splendor into its 80 miles: wildflower meadows, moss-covered rainforests, sheer cliffs, and nearly 100 waterfalls. It’s no surprise that Lancaster and other visionaries built the nation’s first scenic byway here, the Historic Columbia River Highway, between 1913 and 1922.

While just a fraction of visitors make it past Multnomah Falls, near the western entrance to the gorge, those in the know continue east to riverside towns such as White Salmon and Hood River. Portions of the historic highway are now a state trail for car-free recreation; one standout section is the new Mitchell Point Tunnel, a 655-foot-long cliffside passageway with riverview arches that opened in March 2025.

Hood River in particular is luring visitors with impressive culinary and beverage offerings. In 2023, Hiyu Wine Farm—a combination farm, tasting room, and restaurant serving multicourse seasonal meals—fetched a James Beard Award nomination for its wine program. From Ferment Brewing Company to pFriem Family Brewers, tasting rooms abound in this craft beer hub; Kings & Daughters’ new taproom, the Walled Garden, opened in fall 2025.

Where to stay: The upscale outdoors hospitality company Under Canvas debuted its latest glamping outpost near White Salmon in 2025. From April 23 to October 26, book one of its minimalist, Mount Hood–view tents, with evening s’mores and stargazing. For a cozy retreat, enjoy geothermal hot springs and snug rooms at Bonneville Hot Springs Resort & Spa, which reopened in February 2025 after a renovation. Hood River welcomed Lightwell Hotel & Spa in fall 2025. Located in a carefully restored 1904 building, it has 69 rooms and suites, a rooftop bar, and a spa with a hot tub, cold plunge, and sauna open to all guests. —Zoe Baillargeon

Photo by Shea Evans

Da Nang, Vietnam

Surf breaks, street eats, and jungle trails meet in this major port city.

The largest city in central Vietnam, Da Nang is framed by 40 miles of golden, Miami Beach–like coastline. Long a popular getaway for those living in Vietnam—a place to swim and surf and feast on noodle soups like mi quang—it’s finally capturing global attention after decades of being overlooked by international travelers headed to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Five airlines, including Emirates and Philippine Airlines, launched new flights in 2025 connecting Da Nang to Bangkok, Manila, and other cities in Asia. In 2026, Nobu is expected to open a 200-room beachfront hotel and Mandarin Oriental will debut 22 luxury residences.

The region is full of natural wonders. Just four miles south of downtown are the Marble Mountains, five limestone outcrops with pagodas, grottoes, and Buddhist shrines hidden inside caves. To the north is the Son Tra Peninsula, a coastal rainforest and nearly 11,000-acre nature reserve. Book a wildlife-focused tour with the woman-owned ecotourism company Next Continent to see critically endangered red-shanked douc langur monkeys while trekking along the coast.

Da Nang is also a gateway to Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage site just 40 minutes south. The ancient town was a bustling port from the 1400s to the 1800s, and its maze-like streets are filled with remarkably well-preserved buildings mixing Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, and European architectural styles. A ticket to enter Hoi An Ancient Town (about $5) grants visits to five of 22 heritage attractions, including the 17th-century Phuc Kien Assembly Hall, a pagoda with a green tiled roof and intricate wooden carvings of people and animals. At night, take a boat ride along the Hoai River surrounded by floating, glowing lanterns.

Where to stay: InterContinental Da Nang, the only luxury hotel set in the rainforest, is a perfect base for spotting wildlife. Guests can also indulge in an eight-course menu (scallop mousseline, wagyu beef) at the city’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, La Maison 1888. At the beachfront Tia Wellness Resort, meanwhile, enjoy spa treatments, cooking classes, and wellness activities while staying in private villas. —Liz Provencher

Courtesy of Scenic Group

East Antarctica

New small-ship voyages open access to the world’s most remote frontier.

Travel to Antarctica is at an all-time high. But while more ships are departing from Ushuaia, Argentina, for the Antarctic Peninsula, lesser-visited East Antarctica offers a more exclusive experience, with fewer crowds, towering ice cliffs, and a better chance to see emperor penguins.

A growing number of small-ship expedition cruises are departing from Hobart in Tasmania, Australia, or New Zealand’s South Island, including ones from Heritage Expeditions; Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours; and Aurora Expeditions, whose newest purpose-built ship, the Douglas Mawson, made its maiden voyage in December 2025. It takes about a week to cruise to East Antarctica, and the journey is far from uneventful, moving from open ocean to drifting sea ice and vast tabular icebergs. Expect talks by onboard experts such as polar explorer Robert Swan, who joins Scenic Tours’ expedition “Antarctica’s Ross Sea: Majestic Ice & Wildlife” in January 2026; or there might be visits to subantarctic islands—perhaps Australia’s Macquarie Island, home to four species of penguin, including royal penguins with their striking yellow crests.

Travelers’ first glimpse of Antarctica might be the immense Ross Ice Shelf towering 160 feet above the cobalt depths of the Ross Sea, where orcas and humpback whales cruise the pack ice and Weddell and crabeater seals rest on ice floes. Or it could be Cape Adare, home to the world’s largest accessible Adélie penguin colony, with an estimated 330,000 breeding pairs. Shore excursions offer a chance to walk among penguin, seal, and seabird colonies and explore the region’s human history, with preserved huts once used by explorers, including Ernest Shackleton, Carsten Borchgrevink, Robert Scott, and Douglas Mawson, now open-air museums. And only here can adventurers see the jagged peaks of the Transantarctic Mountains marching toward the South Pole.

Where to stay: For those leaving from Hobart, the Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, is a short stroll from the Mawson’s Huts Replica Museum and the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery, with its long-term Antarctica exhibition Islands to Ice. The hotel is home to the Italian-inspired Peppina, from celebrated Australian Italian chef Massimo Mele. Travelers departing from Queenstown, New Zealand, will want to soak up sublime Lake Wakatipu views from the Roki, a luxury hotel that opened in September 2025 with 15 suites, including a grand seven-bedroom option with a rooftop balcony and private sauna and spa. —Sarah Reid

Photo by Alexander Elwing

Eleuthera, Bahamas

Nassau’s quieter cousin promises pretty pink-sand beaches and plenty of solitude.

About 70 miles east of Nassau, the Bahamian island of Eleuthera draws its name from the Greek word eleutheria, which means freedom. And that’s exactly what travelers will feel here. Even with the summer 2024 opening of Lighthouse Point on Eleuthera’s southernmost tip (Disney’s latest private cruise destination in the Bahamas), there’s a sense of place and peace here that’s far removed from the mass tourism that can overrun other Bahamian destinations such as Nassau and Grand Bahama during high season.

It’s easy to spend a few days exploring Eleuthera’s narrow, 110-mile spine, from tony Harbour Island—with its tidy grid of streets lined with pastel-colored cottages that conjure both New England and Key West—to Governor’s Harbour, established in 1648, one of the oldest settlements in the Bahamas.

Travelers will want to stop at roadside stands for flamingo-pink conch shells or fresh mangoes and sapodillas. Adventure seekers should make their way to the precipice above Sapphire Blue Hole to take the leap into one of several natural sinkholes—reminiscent of Mexico’s cenotes—pocked into Eleuthera’s karst topography. There’s also fine dining for those who want to get dressed up and clink champagne glasses; book a table at the Fig Tree in the Potlatch Club, a mid-century modern social club set on a former pineapple plantation and reborn in June 2024 as one of Eleuthera’s most luxurious boutique resorts.

Mostly, however, the island’s timeless appeal comes from breathing easy knowing there’s nowhere urgent to be, lingering on flour-white and blush-pink beaches with hardly a soul in sight. It’s something that will come naturally, the Potlatch Club’s co-owner, Hans Febles, assures guests. “Eleuthera is not a place you come to do,” he says. “It’s a place you come to be.”

Where to stay: Ben Simmons and his wife, Charlie, opened the Farm in late 2024, one of four properties in their Little Island Hotels chain. Its 12 elegant wooden cottages are surrounded by fruit trees and are just a five-minute stroll to the beach. Most of the restaurant’s produce—avocados, eggplants, and more—is grown on-site. Just across the sound, fronting Pink Sand Beach on Harbour Island, Coral Sands Inn & Cottages’ recent renovations fully embrace tropical maximalism, with seashell details and shades of pink and sherbet. The eight sea cottages have private paths that lead directly to the sand. —Terry Ward

Courtesy of Uncle Hon’s BBQ

Far East London

A new cultural quarter and a slew of creative restaurants make this the city’s most exciting area.

London’s epicenter of cool has been on a steady eastward march for decades, and now, culture lovers will want to venture a bit farther: Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, invested more than £1 billion ($1.33 billion) to transform the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park (where the 2012 Games were held) into the East Bank cultural quarter. Located east of Hackney and Bethnal Green, it’s easier than ever to get there, thanks to the Elizabeth line, which links Soho to Stratford in 20 minutes.

February 2025 saw the opening of Sadler’s Wells East, an outpost of London’s premier dance theater, followed in May by the V&A East Storehouse, which brings together 250,000 artifacts from the Victoria & Albert collection, ranging from samurai swords to Elton John’s stage costumes. Its nontraditional storage-facility aesthetic has earned it (loving) comparisons from architecture critics, who have likened it to an Ikea warehouse and a cabinet of curiosities. Visitors can book an appointment to interact with items as part of its radical “order an object” program. Next up, V&A East, an associated museum with rotating exhibits, will open in spring 2026, with the new home of the BBC Music Studios debuting nearby later in the year.

Beyond cultural institutions, the surrounding postindustrial neighborhoods of Hackney Wick and Fish Island (actually a peninsula bounded by canals) have been bubbling with ground-level creativity for years. Recent openings include the Black-owned community hub Badu Café; Unlock, a pizzeria and cocktail bar run by two Neapolitan siblings; the Chinese-Texas-style Uncle Hon’s BBQ; and Inis, a seasonal Irish spot with a killer full Irish breakfast. Between meals, visit the not-for-profit Community Sauna Baths and Coven, a Black-owned queer venue.

Where to stay: The 145-room Stratford, Autograph Collection pairs Scandinavian-inspired interiors with plant-filled rooftop terraces. In May 2025, the hotel welcomed Kokin, a wood-fired Japanese restaurant offering Portuguese bluefin tuna collar and tempura lobster. The Gantry London, Curio Collection by Hilton sits just two minutes from the bustling Stratford International Station and has 291 rooms and suites, as well as a Colombian coffee shop, a steak house, an Afro-Caribbean restaurant and music venue, and a “sparkling bar” serving U.K.-made sparkling wine and other fizzy drinks. —Nicholas DeRenzo

Photo by Zigy Kaluzny/Getty Images

Fort Worth, Texas

From cowboy culture to Black history, Cowtown is putting its heritage front and center.

Thanks to Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album and shows like Yellowstone, Fort Worth’s Western roots feel more current than ever. The city’s legendary Stockyards, a National Historic District since 1976, have been reimagined with boutiques and restaurants taking up residence in the area’s former mule and horse barns. Even Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan has gotten in on the action, purchasing and remodeling the renowned Cattlemen’s Steak House in 2025. (Now he’s at work on a private members’ club downstairs.) The spirit of Cowtown lives on with year-round rodeos at the Cowtown Coliseum; the annual Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo (including the Cowboys of Color Rodeo on January 19, 2026); honky-tonking at Billy Bob’s; and the world’s only twice-daily cattle drive along East Exchange Avenue.

In November of 2026, the National Cowgirl Museum will debut a 16,000-square-foot expansion; one of the new exhibits will feature a number of outfits from country singer Miranda Lambert’s Velvet Rodeo residency in Las Vegas. Until then, visitors can take in Soldaderas to Amazonas: Escaramuzas Charras, an exhibit that brings Mexico’s all-female equestrian tradition to life through vibrant dresses and embellished saddles.

But there’s more to Texas’s fourth-biggest city than rodeos and honky-tonks. Groundbreaking for the National Juneteenth Museum is slated for early 2026 in the historic Southside neighborhood. The museum—whose founding board member, 99-year-old Opal Lee, was instrumental in making Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021—will focus on the legacy of emancipation and the ongoing struggles for equality, justice, and unity. “We’re located in an area that was somewhat of a Black Wall Street in the early 20th century,” says Christopher Blay, director of public programs. “We are part of what’s bringing this community alive again.” Designed by the Bjarke Ingels Group, it will feature immersive exhibitions, a 250-seat theater, and a food hall spotlighting diasporic cuisine. The building will have a courtyard designed in the shape of a nova star, which is at the center of the Juneteenth flag, symbolizing a new path forward.

Where to stay: The Nobleman Fort Worth opened in May 2025, incorporating the facade of an old firehouse in the Near Southside neighborhood. Inside, an original fireman’s pole and staircase lead to art-lined walls and a brasserie, Duchess, serving rib eyes, roast chicken, and fried eggplant schnitzel. Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel is set to reopen in 2026, bringing fresh life to the 1920 W.T. Waggoner Building, a neoclassical marble, brick, and terra-cotta tower. —Nora Walsh

Photo by Dror Baldinger FAIA

Harlem, New York City

As iconic institutions reopen after major renovations, the upper Manhattan neighborhood and Black cultural capital is ready to share its rhythm and resilience with visitors.

The heady swing of jazz legend Duke Ellington and his contemporaries still reverberates in the storied Manhattan blocks from 110th to 155th streets. And now, the stretch—which contains multiple historic districts—is poised to offer residents and visitors reasons to explore more deeply.

Its revitalization will be especially visible in some of the neighborhood’s most famous institutions. The Studio Museum in Harlem—which reopened in November 2025 with seven floors of galleries, workshops, artist studios, and education centers—represents the street, the stage, and the sanctuary. And under the longtime direction of chief curator Thelma Golden, the new museum edifice also represents a fourth social sphere with its “inverted stoop” inspired by Harlem brownstones, which invites people to sit and find community.

Less than a five-minute walk west of the museum is the legendary Apollo Theater on 125th Street. Originally a burlesque venue, by the 1930s it became a home for some of the world’s most transformative Black artists, helping launch the careers of James Brown, Luther Vandross, H.E.R., and many more in its long-running Amateur Night competition. As the main Apollo Theater undergoes a major renovation and preps for its grand reopening in late 2026, live performances continue at Apollo Stages, next door in the Victoria Theater.

Also set to reopen in 2026 is the National Black Theatre, which is located at the corner of 125th Street and Fifth Avenue. It was founded by the late actress Dr. Barbara Ann Teer in 1968 to provide a platform for new and emerging Black voices. From here, head south to the Harlem Meer in Central Park: In April 2025, the $160 million Davis Center was unveiled on the meer’s shore with a massive swimming pool, winter skating rink, turf field, and pavilion, completely transforming the north end of the park.

Where to stay: Renaissance New York Harlem Hotel opened in 2023 at the Victoria Theater on 125th Street with a Cajun-inspired restaurant, lobby lounge, and 211 rooms and suites, many with stellar city views. For a homier stay, consider the Mount Morris House, a fully restored 1888 Victorian townhouse that has two spacious suites overlooking Marcus Garvey Park. —Shannon J. Effinger

Courtesy of andBeyond Suyian Lodge

Laikipia, Kenya

Community-focused wildlife conservancies, rare protected species, and sustainable luxury lodges make Laikipia East Africa’s new center of responsible safaris.

“There are lions here,” whispers Segera Retreat guide Peter Ngimat, stopping the Land Cruiser. Not three minutes later, a lioness stalking a zebra creeps out of an acacia thicket on a 50,000-acre wildlife conservancy in the grasslands of Kenya’s Laikipia Plateau. What tipped him off? A footprint? An antelope’s alarm call?

“A feeling,” says Ngimat, who was raised in a nearby village and sharpened his instincts growing up in the bush. “Sometimes you just know.” Located about 140 miles north of Nairobi, Laikipia is a county with an economy driven by both agriculture and tourism. Since British settlers first claimed land there in the early 20th century, the area has faced persistent conflict between large-scale commercial ranchers and pastoralists.

Today, many community-run or private conservancies are based on former farms and work hand in hand with locals, like Ngimat, to transform degraded land into prime habitat for more endangered species—including African wild dogs—than anywhere else in East Africa. “These conservancies create a direct link between conserving wildlife and earning a livelihood,” Ngimat says. “Then the community naturally feels a strong sense of ownership and responsibility.”

If Laikipia is known for one animal, it’s the rhinoceros. The region’s stronghold of rhino sanctuaries, including Ol Jogi and Borana, added another to their ranks in June 2025 when the Zeitz Foundation and Kenya Wildlife Service moved 21 black rhinos into the new Segera Rhino Sanctuary. This was a major milestone in the effort to establish what will become the Kenya Rhino Range Expansion, one of the largest interconnected rhino sanctuaries in the world with some 840,000 acres.

Where to stay: Opened in July 2025, andBeyond Suyian Lodge in the Suyian Conservancy offers views across the plains to Mount Kenya from 14 suites with private plunge pools. Segera Retreat is located on a private reserve and has 10 villas and houses. The property also has an extensive collection of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora curated by owner Jochen Zeitz, the cofounder of Cape Town’s Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa. —Alexandra Owens

Photo by Manuel ROMARIS/Getty Images

Madhya Pradesh, India

This central India state surprises at every turn, with tiger reserves and otherworldly stargazing.

Often called the heart of India due to its central location, Madhya Pradesh is also its tiger stronghold, home to 785 of the big cats—the highest number of any state in the country, which itself is home to 75 percent of the world’s tiger population. But the thrill of spotting wildlife here goes beyond big cats.

In Satpura National Park, the only reserve in India to allow guided walking safaris in its core zone (a highly protected area with limited tourism activities), visitors can glimpse sloth bears, leopards, and hundreds of bird species (kingfishers, crested serpent eagles) while winding through dense tropical forests and streams. To the southeast and straddling Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, Pench National Park—said to have inspired Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book—offers classic jeep safaris as well as cycling routes through teak and bamboo groves. Its rich wildlife includes gaur (known as the Indian bison), wild dogs, and, of course, tigers.

Pench also impresses after dark. Free of light pollution, the park is renowned for clear stargazing. Lodges such as Pench Jungle Camp can arrange star walks and telescope sessions, plus local forest department–run dark-sky safaris to spot constellations and the Milky Way.

Where to stay: Jungle Camps India runs conservation-driven lodges in Pench, Kanha, and Rukhad, offering eco-conscious cottages and luxury tents, with night and day safaris led by trained naturalists. Close to Satpura Tiger Reserve, Reni Pani Jungle Lodge has earthy-chic cottages and a handful of canvas tents overlooking a water hole. The property specializes in immersive, low-impact safaris—think walking trails, canoe trips, and overnight wilderness camping. —Poonam Binayak

Photo by Luna Wang/Unsplash

Menton, France

France’s last coastal stop before Italy is also its most delicious.

More than 300 days of sunshine a year define this Franco-Italian border town, nicknamed the “Pearl of France,” where candy-colored buildings cascade between the Alpes-Maritimes and glittering Riviera beaches. Menton’s mild, subtropical microclimate is so uncommon that its lemons—intensely fragrant, with an edible rind and no bitterness—have Protected Geographical Indication status and can’t be grown anywhere else on the continent.

Menton offers a tranquil version of the French Riviera, with Italian influences woven through its architecture and restaurants. The Italian Argentine chef Mauro Colagreco has spent two decades building a restaurant mini empire, starting with his now three-Michelin-starred Mirazur, and his vision of a more sustainable way of dining has quietly transformed the town. His Mitron Bakery is the place to go for breads made with ancient wheat flour; La Pecoranegra, for wood-fired pizzas; and Casa Fuego, for grilled meats and seafood. In 2026, coinciding with Mirazur’s 20th anniversary, Colagreco will inaugurate his most ambitious project yet: an 11-suite luxury hotel set beside Mirazur’s garden.

Restaurants across Menton celebrate the incredible bounty of the region. At Pasta Piemonte, Luisa Delpiano Inversi serves lemon ravioli and other fresh pastas, and at JR Bistronomie, chef Jérôme Rigaud creates traditional Gallic dishes with Italian influences, such as a caramelized tomato tart and red mullet fillets with fennel, tomato confit, and basil.

There’s more to Menton than food. Wander beyond the old town’s winding streets to discover 137 rare citrus varieties at the two-and-a-half-acre Jardin d’agrumes du Palais Carnolès, surrounding a former Monaco royal summer residence, or visit the Palais de l’Europe to see its Jean Cocteau exhibition (through August 2026). Travelers should also pop into Les Sablettes Beach Club, part of Menton’s newly redesigned seafront promenade.

Where to stay: The boutique Hôtel Gabriel reopened in 2025 with 35 charming rooms and a patio bar in Menton’s historic center. Housed in an elegant 1885 neoclassical building designed by architect Hans-Georg Tersling, the sumptuous Villa Genesis has sea-view terraces, a pool, and impeccable service. —Jenn Rice

Photo by Tero Suutari / Business Oulu

Oulu, Finland

Art, innovation, and the beauty of the north converge in this 2026 European Capital of Culture.

Given its location only 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle, it’s unsurprising that Oulu, Finland’s northernmost major city, has managed to fly under the radar for so long. But in 2026, a continental spotlight will hit the lively university town, one of the year’s two European Capitals of Culture. A three-day winter festival in mid-January will kick off a yearlong celebration of the region with more than 1,000 events, exhibitions, performances, and public art projects.

Oulu’s year of culture leans into its northern grit and offbeat humor. (This is the city that hosts the Air Guitar World Championships.) There’s Frozen People, an electronic music festival taking place on the sea ice, and Polar Bear Pitching, a Shark Tank–style competition where entrepreneurs propose start-ups while waist deep in Arctic waters. The concert Beyond the Sky will look to the cosmos with a multimedia blend of astrophotography, orchestral music, and imagination.

Plans to honor the culture of the Sami, the European Union’s only Indigenous people, include the debut of a new opera, Ovllá, exploring the reclamation of their heritage and the community’s subjugation by the state. For intrepid palates, the five-course surprise menu at Oula Kitchen & Bar in the Lapland Hotels Oulu is a culinary journey of the north’s diverse bounty (think: reindeer, arctic char, lingonberries). For something lighter and livelier, Cafe Konstantiina pairs Finnish pancakes with live music and theater performances. In August, Arctic Food Lab, a group focused on promoting northern gastronomy, hosts Summer Night’s Dinner, a half-mile-long communal table that runs through the city center where anyone can bring food and make new friends.

Where to stay: Lapland Hotels Oulu reopened in May 2025 after the first stage of a major renovation; in January an additional 96 rooms will be available, some with private saunas. De Gamlas Hem, a home for wealthy seniors in the early 20th century, now operates as a 17-room boutique hotel with a seasonally driven restaurant. —Susan Portnoy

Photos by Luo Yang/Belmond/Apartamento

Penang Island, Malaysia

Hike highland trails and devour delicious hawker fare in a multicultural haven.

Penang Island, one of two parts of the Malaysian state of the same name, has the whimsy and color palette of a Wes Anderson film, the energy of a major city, and arguably Asia’s most interesting food scene. But don’t call it a melting pot. “A melting pot seems to suggest you throw everything in and don’t recognize the original ingredient,” says Ooi Geok Ling, former director of Penang Global Tourism. “We are probably more of a salad, a rojak—there’s a special sauce that binds it, but every piece stays itself.”

That mix is especially vivid in George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site where crimson three-wheeled rickshaws roll past ornate Chinese clan temples and colorful shophouses that have been transformed into restaurants and hotels, such as the forthcoming 15-suite Soori Penang. Along and just off the half-mile Street of Harmony, four different houses of worship—an Anglican church, a Hindu temple, a Chinese Buddhist temple, and a mosque—stand within steps of one another. The island’s multicultural community comes together in festivals, too, from the Hindu celebration of Thaipusam each winter to the George Town Festival every August.

Food here unites. Penang’s hawker stalls dish out fiery, subtly smoky char koay teow noodles and tangy assam laksa; some of them are among the island’s 27 Bib Gourmand spots. There are also two Michelin-starred restaurants, Au Jardin and Auntie Gaik Lean’s Old School Eatery. In 2024, UNESCO recognized Malaysia’s breakfast culture as an Intangible Cultural Heritage: Woven deeply into daily life here, it’s a blend of Malay, Chinese, and Indian dishes such as nasi lemak (coconut rice served with egg, anchovies, sambal, cucumber, and more) and roti canai (a flaky flatbread served with a dipping curry), and the meal offers a chance for people to gather and enjoy their mornings together.

Though Penang is ringed by sand, it’s not a beach destination so much as a place of hills and hidden trails. Locals volunteer to maintain footpaths that wind into the granite highlands, some carved in whimsical animal shapes, like the Unicorn Trail. “The volunteerism in our hiking is very, very special,” says Ooi Geok Ling.

Where to stay: The Millen Penang, Autograph Collection opened in February 2025 in George Town with 146 rooms and suites, two restaurants, a spa, and an infinity pool with views of the Andaman Sea. —Kathryn Romeyn

Courtesy of Fairmont

Rabat, Morocco

The Moroccan capital is fast becoming a cultural hub thanks to new museums, hotels, and Africa’s largest music festival.

“Why would you take people here?” That’s what Farah Cherif D’Ouezzan, the founder of the Rabat-based Center for Cross Cultural Learning, recalls being asked when she first began running study abroad programs and educational trips to Morocco’s capital in 1995. For years, travelers have flocked to the country’s other imperial cities—Marrakech, Fès, and Meknes—but this outpost on the northwestern Atlantic coast has been largely overlooked, considered more of a governmental hub.

That’s changing. In June 2025, Rabat’s annual Mawazine music festival welcomed a record 3.75 million people who came to see performers including Afropop pioneer Salif Keita and Grammy Award–winning rapper Kid Cudi. In 2026, the city will bear the title of UNESCO World Book Capital, recognized for its “54 publishing houses, the third-largest international book and publishing fair in Africa, and a growing number of bookstores,” according to UNESCO. And two new museums—of African culture and archaeology—are expected to open in late 2026. Visitors can also dig into Rabat’s history at Chellah, a first-century B.C.E. archaeological site that reopened after a major restoration in 2024 with Roman and Marinid ruins surrounded by landscaped gardens.

For D’Ouezzan, the draw of Rabat lies in its small scale and unhurried pace: watching kids jump into the Bou Regreg River from the earthen red walls of the Kasbah of the Udayas, a citadel from the 12th century; connecting with residents like Mohammed Aziz, who’s eager to discuss the books at his store, Bouquiniste El Azizi; and tasting bastilla, a multilayered pastry with poultry and almonds, at the restaurant Dar Chrifa. In Rabat, D’Ouezzan says, “You have time to stop and talk to people, taste the food, and see everything.”

Where to stay: Fairmont La Marina Rabat-Salé opened in 2022 with a rooftop pool and 186 elegant guest rooms. The Waldorf Astoria Rabat Salé is set to open in early 2026 inside the Mohammed VI Tower, Morocco’s tallest building. At the northern end of the medina is Euphoriad, a 19th-century residence transformed into a stunning riad by Moroccan architect Chafiq Kabbaj. It now has eight rooms and suites, a two-story duplex with bay windows overlooking an interior garden, and a terrace pool with panoramic views. —Yulia Denisyuk

Photo by Rocio Arrieta

Saba

The tiny Dutch Caribbean island offers craggy cliffs, coral reefs, and quietly charming villages without the crowds.

Touching down on Saba feels like landing on the edge of the Earth. A smooth 12-minute flight from Sint Maarten wraps with a white-knuckle descent onto the world’s shortest commercial runway—a narrow strip carved into a cliffside. From there, a drive up “the road” (there’s only one) cuts through Saba’s four villages, home to just 2,000 residents in total: Hell’s Gate (or Zion’s Hill), known for its historic buildings and scenic views; Windwardside, the most tourist-friendly, with restaurants, hotels, and shops; St. John’s, a small residential village; and the Bottom, the island’s capital, set in a bowl-like valley.

Saba isn’t your typical tropical escape. There are no white-sand beaches, large resorts, or major cruise ships, just the wild beauty of the “Unspoiled Queen of the Caribbean.” The tiny island is only five square miles and sits at the tip of a dormant underwater volcano. Most travelers come for world-class diving with thriving marine life, including spotted eagle rays, hawksbill turtles, and tiger sharks. (The island and its unusually large specimens of tiger sharks were recently featured on an episode during Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.) Others come to summit the 2,910-foot Mount Scenery, often shrouded in clouds. But there’s plenty to do at sea level, too.

Visitors can swim at “wandering beach,” a rare black-sand stretch at Wells Bay that appears sporadically, depending on the tides and the season. Another option is to hike Mas Cahones Hill with James Johnson, aka Crocodile James, a native Saban whose family has lived on the island for eight generations. He helped build the hiking network by hand, and shares the island’s stories and secrets as he leads treks along the best trails. Book a tour through the Saba Conservation Foundation’s website or by calling them directly.

Where to stay: Juliana’s Hotel is set on the slopes of Windwardside, within walking distance of the parks, shops, and restaurants in the area. The boutique hotel offers ocean-view rooms and traditional gingerbread-style Saban cottages. (Opt for the spacious Orchid Cottage.) Opening in February 2026 at the foot of Mount Scenery, the Scenery Hotel will be Saba’s first luxury boutique property, with bungalow-style rooms and secluded suites as well as a restaurant and infinity pool. —Bianca Bujan

Photo by Maibaru Travel

Sado Island, Japan

This under-the-radar spot rewards those in the know with tranquil shores, bountiful seafood, and a legacy of gold.

Off the coast of Japan’s Niigata Prefecture, Sado Island is easily accessible from Tokyo via a two-hour bullet train and a 60-minute ferry ride. But despite a striking landscape of forested mountains, wide sandy beaches, and aqua-marine bays, the island—the sixth largest in the Japanese archipelago—is a world apart from the country’s heavily Instagrammed, over-touristed hot spots. Today Sado is home to fewer than 50,000 residents and is largely unknown among international travelers.

During the summer months, when the temperatures reach the 70s and 80s, Sado’s dramatic coastline draws Japanese beachgoers. The island has a remarkable bounty, including sweet shrimp, abalone, and Sado beef as well as persimmons that are famous throughout Japan.

The 400-year-old Sado Island Gold Mines are the largest gold and silver mines in Japan: Doyu no Warito, a mountain split in two by a massive 98-foot-wide, 243-foot-deep chasm, was hand-dug in the 1600s at the start of the gold rush. In 2024, the mines were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site; now, they feature video reenactments with local people instead of professional actors and offer tours that navigate underground shafts where life-size animatronic “miners” greet visitors.

Another only-in-Sado experience is a trip in a tarai-bune, the tub boat depicted in the 2001 animated film Spirited Away by acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki. Though they’re more of a tourist draw these days (Yajima-Kyojima is a popular boarding point), the wooden vessels are sometimes still used for fishing and, per tradition, operated primarily by women. The anglers have a glass-bottomed box that floats alongside the boat, serving as a window into the Sea of Japan.

Where to stay: In 2024, the hospitality brand Nipponia opened a scattered collection of stand-alone kominka (traditional rural homes). The historic houses, which have been immaculately restored, operate as a single full-service hotel. Guests can choose to have a breakfast basket delivered each morning; every element—from the rice to the horse mackerel and miso—is local to Sado. Visitors can also stay in seaside hotels and onsens, such as the elegant Hotel Oosado, known for its exceptional food and open-air baths. —Freda Moon

Photo by Kevin Faingnaert

Southern Peru

With colonial cities, celebrated gastronomy, and new tented camps, this region delivers a journey that blends adventure with tradition.

Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa would often say that, to him, “Peru is Arequipa.” The towering figure in Latin American literature (who passed away in April 2025) praised his hometown, located more than 600 miles south of Lima, for its wild volcanic setting, proud mestizo culture, and plazas lined with perfectly preserved 16th-century buildings in pearly volcanic stone, earning Arequipa its nickname, the White City.

Travelers should begin here to plot grand adventures across Southern Peru, as well as to feast on Arequipa’s gastronomy, recognized by UNESCO for its purity and tradition. Vargas Llosa, in particular, was a fan of Arequipa’s women-run picanterías—like Picantería La Cau Cau II and La Nueva Palomino—which serve hearty local dishes such as chupe de camarones (a river shrimp chowder) and adobo (a tangy pork stew) alongside chicha de guiñapo, an alcoholic drink. After fueling up in Arequipa, explore the world’s highest navigable lake, Titicaca, or the gaping Colca Canyon, which is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, with SA Expeditions, a B-Corp–certified company that puts together some of the most adventurous tailor-made trips in Peru.

“The best part about the south—apart from its astonishing views, traditions, and cultures—is how raw, real, and true everything feels,” says Lorenzo Masias, head of commercial at the high-design Peruvian hotel brand Andean, which has built adventure lodges across Southern Peru, helping open it up to international travelers. This includes two new safari-style tented camps: Puqio, which debuted on the rim of Colca Canyon in 2024, and Tinajani, which launched in the red-rock Tinajani Canyon in April 2025. Andean’s latest hotel will rise in 2027 on Suasi Island, on Titicaca’s isolated northern coast.

Where to stay: Sleep under vaulted ceilings in a converted 16th-century monastery at Cirqa, a Relais & Châteaux property with a plunge pool and rooftop terrace overlooking Arequipa’s historic center, with views of the city’s volcanoes. Then head out to remote Tinajani, six hours away, where wannabe archaeologists can immerse themselves in an earlier era of Andean exploration, when geographers and anthropologists searched for the “lost cities” of the Inca. Set on a 400-acre private conservation area, the retreat has just six tents, and daily excursions include bike rides along the canyon and hikes among the puyas de Raimondi plants. —Mark Johanson

Photo by Whitney Curtis

St. Louis, Missouri

The Gateway City reemerges as an artistic hub of America’s Midwest.

St. Louis’s artistic resurgence has been years—even decades—in the making. Half a century ago, residents voted to tax themselves to make cultural attractions free for visitors, but the momentum really picked up in 2018, when the Gateway Arch and its surrounding national park reopened as part of the $380 million CityArchRiver project. The riverside landmark suddenly became more than just a photo op—it symbolized the city’s broader reinvention, where the arts are leading the way.

The Grand Center Arts District has emerged as one of the country’s best artistic hubs, focused on repurposing historical structures and giving local creators space to grow alongside international artists and Broadway touring companies. September 2025 saw the reopening of Powell Hall, the 100-year-old home of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, following a $140 million renovation and a 64,000-square-foot expansion, as well as the debut of the Sovereign, a 1,200-capacity concert venue.

The Old Courthouse—where Dred and Harriet Scott sued for their freedom and Virginia Minor, founder of the first women’s suffrage organization, attempted to vote—reopened in May 2025, marking the final phase of the CityArchRiver project. Visitors can learn about Black life in 19th-century St. Louis at the courthouse’s Pathways to Freedom exhibit.

St. Louis isn’t just focused on attracting audiences, but on building community, as well. The city began investing in housing for artists through the STL Art Place Initiative, which transforms vacant properties into affordable live-work spaces. The new projects join a slate of cultural mainstays, from the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary, to Shakespeare in the Streets, which pairs seasoned playwrights with locals to write and perform original plays based on the Bard’s stories.

Where to stay: The 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis opened in 2023 with 173 rooms, showcasing art exhibitions and partnering with local entrepreneurs. The free on-site museum means you’re only one elevator ride away from thoughtful and immersive installations, including The Way Out West, which covers the stairwells and carpets with hundreds of photographs of native flora and fauna. At the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, guests check in on the eighth floor and are immediately rewarded with panoramas of the Arch and the Mississippi River. Keep the good views going at the Sky Terrace’s rooftop pool and private cabanas. —Caitlin Morton

Photo by Morgan Levy

Stockholm Archipelago, Sweden

A new trail allows adventurous visitors to explore 20 islands in the Baltic Sea, easily accessible from the Swedish capital.

Want to summer like a Swede? Skip Stockholm and instead head to its archipelago, which technically begins a few minutes outside of the city, covers an area the size of Houston, and comprises some 24,000 postcard-perfect, tranquil islands. Navigating it is easier than ever, thanks to the Stockholm Archipelago Trail, a hiking path network that launched in October 2024 to help support local businesses and encourage responsible visitor flow.

The trail covers 170 miles across 20 islands—connected by ferries—with well-marked paths. Travelers with a week to explore would be wise to choose a portion, such as the center and northern archipelago. Begin an hour from Stockholm in Vaxholm, considered the archipelago’s capital, and after checking into the newly restored Waxholms Hotell, walk a mile and a half to the Bogesundslandet peninsula and its 7,000-acre Bogesundslandet Nature Reserve, thick with pine and oak trees.

From Vaxholm, boats to surrounding islands leave regularly, providing travelers with a choose-your-own-adventure experience. For a nature reserve with a hiking trail and swimming coves, head to Grinda. To sweat like a Swede, visit the island of Finnhamn and reserve a beautiful beachfront sauna before plunging into the sea just beyond. And for typical Swedish fare and a tattoo in the same afternoon, stop by Jeppes Gästgiveri, a restaurant and bar (and makeshift tattoo parlor) on the island of Möja, which has only 150 year-round residents. When it’s time to catch your next ferry, head down to the dock and raise the semaphore (the foldable sign on the jetty) to let the boat know it should stop.

Where to stay: Ingmarsö B&B has six rooms spread across two former farmhouse buildings on its namesake island. Its divine breakfast is best enjoyed outside. Dating to 1906, Grinda Wärdshus was once the summer home of the Nobel Prize committee director. Today it includes a sprawling terrace overlooking the nearby sound, a lobby stocked with books and games, and a restaurant decorated with photos of legends who have visited over the years. —Katherine LaGrave

Photo by Michel Colaci

West Cork, Ireland

On the southern stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way, travelers can uncover a less harried coast.

Many people on a first trip to Ireland head for the southwest, visiting places like the Ring of Kerry and the Lakes of Killarney. The Irish, though, go to West Cork, which marks the start or end of the 1,500-mile Wild Atlantic Way along Ireland’s west coast. Here, traffic thins and slows just off the main street, and tree-lined backroads lead to craggy peninsulas. Although this is part of the country’s “wild” corner, there’s a hint of softness here. Visitors will find enchanting towns, such as Kinsale and Clonakilty, as well as sandy beaches, rocky lookout points, and the occasional landmark lighthouse, like Galley Head outside of Rosscarbery. This is a place to linger and watch the bay full of bobbing boats at Glandore Harbour or the waves rolling in at Owenahincha Beach.

On tiny Garinish Island, a 15-minute ferry ride from Glengarriff, wander among lovingly tended Italian gardens that are open to the public. For total peace, visit the Bronze Age–era Drombeg Stone Circle at dawn, and at night, join Atlantic Sea Kayaking for a moonlit adventure at Castlehaven Bay and a chance to see the water glow with bioluminescence.

Arriving in the tiny village of Baltimore, travelers will feel as if they’ve hit the bottom of Ireland, but from here a 10-minute ferry ride leads to the artists’ haven Sherkin Island. Or head farther out to Cape Clear Island, where lavender grows between the stone walls, to try Cape Clear Distillery‘s seaweed-flavored gin. Back in Baltimore, the “Works of Art” tasting menu of two-Michelin-star Turkish restaurant Dede at the Customs House awaits.

Where to stay: Dunmore House in Clonakilty offers peace and quiet with views overlooking the Atlantic. Its Adrift restaurant relies on local ingredients, including many from its own Ocean Garden. Native, a sustainably designed eco-guesthouse in Ballydehob, opened in 2024 and has three guest rooms and two garden suites. Twenty percent of its profits go toward financing a local rewilding project. —Yvonne Gordon