Where will you travel next?

By George Stone, TRAVEL Executive Editor

What do a wildlife corridor in Belize, a First Nations trail in Canada, a national park in Mozambique, a cultural capital in Italy, and Spain’s Alhambra have in common? If you guessed they’re all on our Best of the World 2022 list, start packing your bags!

Although the pandemic changed when, where, and how we move about, the world is opening up again. Our global editors picked the planet’s 25 most exciting destinations for the year ahead. Five categories—Nature, Adventure, Sustainability, Culture and History, and Family—frame amazing experiences for everyone.

There’s a lot that I love about this list. A number of destinations are within reach for North Americans: You can count the stars in northern Minnesota (pictured above), embrace the allure of Atlanta, and learn about history and wildlife in Maryland. Other epic adventures are farther afield, including a wild safari in Namibia and a tea immersion in China.

This year’s list celebrates 10 UNESCO World Heritage designations—from Spain to Bonnaire, Japan, Russia, Ecuador, and beyond—in honor of the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention in 2022.

Above all, our Best of the World list celebrates inspiring places, welcoming communities, and curious travelers who are eager to explore again. Here are six awesome adventures. Read our story for more reasons to unleash your wanderlust.

DIVE DEEP IN PALAU

When you arrive here, the stamp in your passport will include the Palau Pledge, which all visitors must sign, promising that “the only footprints I shall leave are those that will wash away.” The eco-pledge was drafted by and for the children of this remote western Pacific archipelago to help protect Palau’s culture and environment from the negative impacts of tourism. Eighty percent of the nation’s waters—recognized by Nat Geo’s Pristine Seas project as one of the richest marine ecosystems on the planet—is preserved as the Palau National Marine Sanctuary (pictured above, stingless golden jellyfish). “From the air, Palau looks like paradise on earth,” says Pristine Seas founder and Nat Geo Explorer in Residence Enric Sala. “When you get underwater, you’re transported to a different world.”

FOOTPRINTS IN PALAU

RUN WILD IN AUSTRALIA

Green shoots of regeneration are appearing in Australia, of which some 72,000 square miles were burned during the 2019-2020 bushfires, leading to the deaths of nearly three dozen people and more than a billion animals. Drive the Great Ocean Road, in Victoria’s Otways region, and then take a hike at Wildlife Wonders, an educational oasis amid lush ancient forest and waterfalls. Wandering through thickets of eucalyptus gives a chance to spot koalas, wallabies, and bandicoots endemic to this unique ecosystem. Your visit helps support the region’s celebrated Conservation Ecology Centre. (Pictured above, Great Otway National Park.)

WILD AUSTRALIA

CLIMB HIGH IN COLORADO

If you want unparalleled views of the Continental Divide, climb hand over foot up North America’s highest via ferrata. Arapahoe Basin’s “iron way” (pictured above)—a climbing route of metal rungs and cables—begins at the base of granite Rocky Mountain cliffs and ascends nearly 1,200 feet to a 13,000-foot summit. A glance below reveals a weathered Colorado landscape dotted with green moss and pink and purple flora, and rock gardens created by the cliffs themselves. The thin air is occasionally punctuated by the shrill peep of a marmot or pika. While the climbing experience is not for the faint of heart, you don’t have to be Alex Honnold to make it happen. A little adventure is good for the soul.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY

GO GREEN IN GERMANY

Mining and steel production once dominated the densely populated Ruhr Valley, in Germany’s western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Today, the region is repurposing postapocalyptic-looking industrial sites as parks and open-air cultural spaces. The most famous (pictured above) is the UNESCO World Heritage site of Zeche Zollverein (Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex), now home to an outdoor swimming pool, ice rink, and walking trails. You can rent a bike in Essen for a car-free Ruhr Valley trip along cycling routes, many of which follow former railway tracks, or explore on foot via the 96-mile-long Hohe Mark Steig, a trekking trail opened in 2021.

A RUHR ADVENTURE

HONOR HERITAGE IN JAPAN

Most visitors to Hokkaido, Japan’s wildly scenic northernmost main island, do not know much about the Ainu, Indigenous people from the northern region of the archipelago. That could change as more people visit the National Ainu Museum and Park complex at Upopoy, which opened in 2020. Upopoy has a pressing three-pronged mission: promote, revitalize, and expand Ainu culture before it becomes extinct. Particularly at risk is the Ainu language, which is unrelated to Japanese or any other language, and is considered critically endangered by UNESCO. Listening to conversational Ainu and playing games to learn pronunciation are part of the new museum’s permanent exhibition. (Pictured above, another Ainu folk collection at the Kayano Shigeru Nibutani Ainu Museum, in Hokkaido.)

GO NORTH

TASTE TEA IN CHINA

One of the oldest cultural landscapes in China is slated to become one of the country’s newest UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2022. The Ancient Tea Plantations of Jingmai Mountain in Pu’er, which collectively form the world’s largest ancient artificially cultivated tea plantation, features about 1.13 million tea trees, the oldest of which is 1,400 years old. Located in the remote southwestern corner of China’s Yunnan Province, the region was a starting point of the legendary Ancient Tea Horse Road. This 11th-century network of routes was named for its primary purpose: trading Chinese tea for Tibetan horses. Many of the region’s tea plantations remain, as do the four local ethnic minority groups—the Blang, Dai, Hani, and Wa people—who retain their own languages, customs, and festivals. (Pictured above, a Pu’er tea estate.)

STEEPED IN HISTORY