National Geographic reveals the top 25 travel destinations in 'Best of the World 2026'

Find retired which experiences Nat Geo editors deliberation should beryllium booked for your adjacent trip!

National Geographic's apical destinations yearly database is backmost for "Best of the World 2026."

Twenty-five locations, from each astir the world, person been selected arsenic the apical picks for the astir unsocial question experiences adjacent year. Travel editors, contributors and planetary partners, alongside the Nat Geo team, consulted connected the world's champion food, beaches, architecture and much to sojourn successful the upcoming year.

Rowan Jacobsen follows a young sperm whale arsenic it swims down its parent disconnected the seashore of Dominica, location of the archetypal sperm whale reserve successful 2026.

Katie Orlinsky/National Geographic

National Geographic's "Best Of The World 2026" features unsocial destinations, from giraffes and zebras successful an East African nationalist park, to snorkeling with manta rays successful Fiji, and Maui's celebrated achromatic soil formation successful Hawaii. The database has unthinkable suggestions to fulfill immoderate "travel bug."

Nathan Lump, editor-in-chief of National Geographic, explained however "travel has the powerfulness to animate and alteration us."

Check retired the Little Missouri National Grassland, the largest grassland successful the United States and perfect for hiking and biking on the Maah Daah Hey Trail.

Chuck Haney/National Geographic

"In this year's 'Best of the World,' we particularly wanted to item unexpected destinations that the algorithms are astir apt not serving you - for instance, Uzbekistan's Khiva oregon Rwanda's Akagera National Park, "Lump said successful a property release. "Of course, we cognize that not each travel tin beryllium an off-the-beaten-path adventure, truthful we were mindful to see immoderate amazingly compelling places that are besides much easy accessible. Whatever benignant of traveler you are, our extremity is to guarantee we're sharing caller ideas that assistance you link with that feeling of find and joyousness that comes from a large question experience."

Fans should see Italy's Dolomite Mountains, and research successful picturesque scenery specified arsenic Lago di Braies (Lake Braies) successful the Tyrol.

Chris Burkard, Verb Photo/National Geographic

Whether touring the "snow monsters" of the Zao Mountains successful Japan, oregon exploring Spain's Basque Country beyond a full star eclipse, the curated enactment volition spark an involvement with each adventurers.

Full database of National Geographic's "Best of the World 2026":

• Akagera National Park, Rwanda, East Africa


• Basque Country, Spain


• Beijing, China


• Black Sea Coast, Türkiye


• Coastal Oaxaca (Costa Chica), Mexico


• Dominica


• Fiji


• Guimarães, Portugal


• Hull, Yorkshire, England


• Khiva, Uzbekistan


• Manila, Philippines


• Maui, Hawaii, U.S.


• Medellín, Colombia


• North Dakota Badlands, U.S.


• Oulu, Finland


• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.


• Québec, Canada


• Rabat, Morocco


• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil


• Route 66: Oklahoma, U.S.


• South Korea (Dongseo Trail)


• The Dolomites, Milan, Italy


• Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia


• Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada


• Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

For much of Nat Geo's "Best Of The World 2026" list, visit: natgeo.com/bestoftheworld.

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