Winter 2026
Read articles from this print issue of Afar Magazine.
Recently, a friend visited New York City from the San Francisco Bay Area. The trip marked her first time staying in Harlem, the uptown neighborhood where I’ve lived for more than a decade. Together, we took in the sidewalk vendors and music of 125th Street at night; in the mornings, we walked my dog in the 30-acre Morningside Park, which was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in 1895. She was delighted, she said, to experience a new-to-her slice of New York.
I am equally delighted to share my neighborhood with all of you: Harlem, with its long-awaited reopening of the Studio Museum, is featured in our Where to Go list, which we publish every year. For 2026, we’re celebrating 24 under-touristed places around the globe, with an emphasis on the lesser-known and the local—destinations such as Oulu, Finland (a 2026 European Capital of Culture), and Madhya Pradesh, which is home to more tigers than anywhere else in India, the country that counts 75 percent of the world’s tiger population.
Elsewhere in the issue, as part of our continued coverage in the lead-up to the 250th anniversary of the United States, we shine a light on Boston (page 25), which has award-winning restaurants, a rich arts scene replete with small galleries, and LGBTQ-history and music tours. In June and July it will cohost the 2026 World Cup along with 15 other cities in North America. In the feature well, contributing writer Lisa Abend takes a culinary-focused six-day road trip around Spain to meet the chefs helping to revitalize small villages; writer Jennifer Hope Choi travels to Canada’s remote Sable Island, an “ecological marvel”; and photographer Nathalie Mohadjer shares her experience in Siwa Oasis, Egypt, which draws travelers with its ruins.
Though each piece of the issue is remarkably distinct, taken together, they serve to inspire you to think differently about where to travel—a mission we’ll continue to expand on in 2026 with new types of storytelling in the magazine, which you’ll notice in our spring issue. We’re thrilled you’re along for the ride.
In good travel,
Katherine LaGrave
Executive Editor
Some Exciting News: Afar is now B Corp Certified, joining global businesses that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. We are pleased to add our B Corp commitments to our longstanding mission to make travel a force for good in the world.
