Lonely Planet's Best in Travel Revealed

Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016 is the highly anticipated collection of the world’s hottest trends, destinations and experiences for the year ahead. The bestselling, inspirational travel yearbook from the world’s leading travel authority highlights the top ten countries, cities and regions that Lonely Planet’s experts recommend travellers experience in 2016.

Botswana receives the accolade of number one country in the world to visit next year, followed by Japan and the USA, whilst Kotor in Montenegro tops the cities list, beating Quito in Ecuador and Dublin in Ireland. The region which Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016 declares a must-see in the coming year is Transylvania in Romania with West Iceland and Valle de Viñales in Cuba also making the top three.

 The destinations featured in the book are selected because they meet certain criteria; it could be that something special is going on in the year ahead or there's been recent development and a lot of buzz about the place, that it offers travellers new things to see or do, or that the Lonely Planet team of experts thinks it’s been overlooked and underrated and suggests travellers visit before the crowds do.

Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016 also contains 17 inspirational travel-themed lists, from the best value destinations for 2016, to the best animal adventures for families, the best places to seek silence and the best places to elope.

Selecting what to include in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel annual publication is a considered process involving the whole of Lonely Planet’s community: from its authors and editors all the way to its online family of bloggers and tweeters. Each year, they come up with hundreds of places that are not-to-be-missed. These are then whittled down by a panel of in-house travel experts who give each destination in the shortlist a score in line with criteria such as topicality, excitement and wow-factor.

www.lonelyplanet.com/best-in-travel features all of the Best in Travel 2016 destinations and additional advice on visiting them. Readers looking for a tailor-made travel adventure can take the Lonely Planet Best in Travel quiz, also on the website, to see which Lonely Planet must-see destination for 2016 is right for them; whether they’ll be roaming through the wilderness under epic skies, hiking through enchanted woods to fairytale castles, or quaffing fine wines on a paradise isle.
 

Top 10 Countries in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016:

1.      Botswana
2.      Japan
3.      USA
4.      Palau
5.      Latvia
6.      Australia
7.      Poland
8.      Uruguay
9.      Greenland
10.    Fiji

Top 10 Regions in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016:

1.      Transylvania, Romania
2.      West Iceland
3.      Valle de Viñales, Cuba
4.      Friuli’s wine regions, Italy
5.      Waiheke Island, New Zealand
6.      The Auvergne, France
7.      Hawaii, USA
8.      Bavaria, Germany
9.      Costa Verde, Brazil
10.    St Helena, British Territories

Top 10 Cities in Lonely  Planet’s Best in Travel 2016:

1.      Kotor, Montenegro
2.      Quito, Ecuador
3.      Dublin, Ireland
4.      George Town, Malaysia
5.      Rotterdam, the Netherlands
6.      Mumbai, India
7.      Fremantle, Australia
8.      Manchester, UK
9.      Nashville, USA
10.    Rome, Italy